Unit 07
Great scientists: Alan Turing

新知思想/自我提升
New Knowledge/Self-Development

BRAIN STORM

Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.

Do you know Alan Turing? What do you think is he known about? Take a guess!

VOCABULARY

Repeat  these  sentences  after  your  teacher.

1. Enigma (n.) 英格瑪(密碼);謎,令人費解的事物
The enigma code makes my head hurt.
密碼使我頭好痛 。 

2. lauded (v.) 讚美,讚頌
He was lauded for his accomplishments.
他為自己的成就而受到稱讚。 

3. tortured (n.) 受苦的,受難的
She is being tortured for information.
她正遭受折磨,以提供信息。 

4. deciphering (v.) 破譯,破解
John is good at deciphering codes.
翰擅長解密代碼。 

5. encrypted (v.) 加密的
The file is encrypted so it is safe.
該文件已加密,因此很安全。 

6. seminal (adj.) 具有開拓性的,有深遠影響的
Alan was also a seminal figure in AI.
艾倫還是人工智能領域的開創性人物。 

7. encapsulated (adj.) 概括,壓縮
Have you seen an encapsulated water bacteria?
你見過包囊的水細菌嗎? 

Dialogue

Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.

Andy, I just watched The Imitation Game. I didn’t realize the British mathematician Alan Turing had such a huge impact on history.
Andy,我剛看了《模仿遊戲》。我都不知道英國數學家艾倫·圖靈對歷史有這麼大的影響!

Yeah, Turing’s machine helped crack the Enigma code, and the invention was lauded as a stroke of genius that shortened WWII by 2 years. But like many brilliant minds, he was a tortured genius.
是啊,圖靈發明的機器幫助破譯了英格瑪密碼,這項發明也被譽為是天才之作,讓二戰足足縮短了兩年。但就像許多有才華的人一樣,圖靈也是個飽受折磨的天才。

Indeed. But he had so many scientific achievements, from deciphering encrypted messages to pioneering artificial intelligence.
確實。從破譯加密信息到開創人工智能,他擁有太多科學成就了。

Really? I only knew him as a codebreaker. I didn’t know he was also a seminal figure in AI.
真的嗎?我只知道他是個破譯密碼的專家,還不知道他在人工智能領域也是個重要人物。

Yeah, he also invented a device that encapsulated the core principles of modern computers and is essentially the progenitor of modern computing.
是啊,他還發明了一種機器,其中呈現了現代計算機的核心原理,可以說是現代計算機的鼻祖。

Since you’re so well versed in Turing now, what exactly is the “Turing Test”?
既然你對圖靈這麼了解,那“圖靈測試”到底是什麼呢?

It’s a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.
那是用於測試機器是否能表現出與人類相差無幾的智能行為的方法

So Turing wanted to prove that machines could think?
所以圖靈是想證明機器也能思考?

Yes, albeit differently. But it was accepted as a test for sentience, and it was a major landmark in AI.
是的,雖然不太一樣,但它也被認為是一種對感知能力的測試了,是人工智能領域的一個重要里程碑。

Fascinating! Well, I knew that his accomplishments were indelible, but now I fully understand why!
太厲害了!以前我就知道他的成就是不可磨滅的,但現在我完全明白是為什麼了!

Grammar

Stroke of genius

“A stroke of genius” is an idiom that means a brilliant idea or decision. For instance, in today’s lesson, the speaker says, “The invention was lauded as a stroke of genius that shortened WWII by two years.” As you can see, this phrase is frequently used in reference to sudden mental insights that solve problems.

To help you remember the phrase, think of a brilliant idea that suddenly strikes (or hits) a person much like a stroke of lightning.

However, the phrase “stroke of + noun” is not limited to genius. We can also say, “a stroke of fortune/luck” or “a stroke of madness.”

1.By a remarkable stroke of luck, she was unscathed by the 20-foot fall.

2.The 24-hour sale was a stroke of marketing genius that increased their sales tenfold.

3.His behavior seems so strange and unaccountable that it seemed to have sprung from a sudden stroke of madness.

4._______________________________________________________________________-.

DISCUSSION

Make a conversation with your teacher.

1.If you could be a great scientist in the time of the great scientists,  what would you hope to invent?