婴儿不会说话，只能通过哭来表达自己。而大人很难猜到婴儿为什么哭，对于新手父母来说更是如此。要是有一个能够翻译婴儿“语言”的机器就好了。
A translator for baby cries
by Emily Matchar
When my 8-month-old cries, I ask him if he's hungry, or wet, or just needs a cuddle.
What I need is a baby cry translator. And that's just what a team of researchers say they've developed.
cuddle /ˈkʌd(ə)l/ n. 拥抱、搂抱
translator /trænsˈleɪtə(r)/ n. 翻译、翻译机（由translate加上表示人或物的后缀-or）
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
"Experienced nurses or pediatricians（儿科医生） can identify why a baby is crying because they have experience," says Lichuan Liu, a professor of electrical engineering at Northern Illinois University, who conducted the research at the Digital Signal Processing Laboratory. "We talked to them, and they mentioned that based on the cry's sound there are some clues."
experienced /ɪkˈspɪəriənst/ adj. 经验丰富的
identify /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ v. 识别、辨认出
electrical engineering 电子工程学
Illinois /ˌɪlɪˈnɔɪ/ n. 伊利诺伊州（美国中部的州）
conduct /kənˈdʌkt/ v. 实施
signal /ˈsɪɡn(ə)l/ n. 信号
process /ˈprəʊses/ v. 处理
based on 基于
clue /kluː/ n. 线索
So Liu set out to identify the features of cries that can help mark them as expressions of pain or discomfort. These features include differences in pitch and frequency. The team then developed an algorithm based on automatic speech recognition to detect and identify these features.
set out 开始做某事
feature /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/ n. 特点、特性
mark /mɑːk/ v. 标记
expression /ɪkˈspreʃ(ə)n/ n. 表达（由express加后缀-ion变成名词）
discomfort /dɪˈskʌmfət/ n. 不舒服、不适（由comfort加上表示否定的前缀dis-）
pitch /pɪtʃ/ n. 音调
frequency /ˈfriːkwənsi/ n. 频率
algorithm /ˈælɡ(ə)rɪð(ə)m/ n. 算法
automatic /ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk/ adj. 自动的
speech /spiːtʃ/ n. 说出的话
recognition /ˌrekəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 识别、辨认
detect /dɪˈtekt/ v. 检测、探测
This "cry language recognition algorithm" was trained on recordings of baby cries taken from a hospital's neonatal（新生儿的） intensive care unit. It uses compressed sensing, a process that reconstructs a signal based on incomplete data, which is necessary for identifying sounds taking place in noisy environments.
intensive /ɪnˈtensɪv/ adj. 密集的、加强的（intensive care unit是重症监护病房，常常缩写为ICU）
compress /kəmˈpres/ v. 压缩
sense /sens/ v. 感觉、感知
process /ˈprəʊses/ n. 过程、步骤
reconstruct /ˌriːk(ə)nˈstrʌkt/ v. 重新构造（由construct加上表示重复的前缀re-）
incomplete /ˌɪnkəmˈpliːt/ adj. 不完整的（由complete加上表示否定的前缀in-）
data /ˈdeɪtə/ n. 数据
It can identify a baby cry against a background of, say, adult speech or loud television sounds or babbling（牙牙学语的） toddlers – that is to say, the actual environments where babies live. By classifying different cry features, like pitch, the algorithm can suggest whether the cry is due to sickness or pain, and identify the degree of urgency.
background /ˈbækɡraʊnd/ n. 背景噪音
say /seɪ/ v. 比如说
toddler /ˈtɒdlə(r)/ n. 幼儿
classify /ˈklæsɪfaɪ/ v. 分类
sickness /ˈsɪknəs/ n. 疾病（由sick加后缀-ness变成名词）
degree /dɪˈɡriː/ n. 程度
urgency /ˈɜːdʒ(ə)nsi/ n. 紧急
The team had experienced pediatric（儿科的） care providers assess 48 baby cry recordings for probable cause of crying – hunger, tiredness, gas pain, etc.★ They then compared these to the algorithm's assessments. The algorithm agreed with the humans 70 percent of the time.
provider /prəˈvaɪdə(r)/ n. 提供者（由provide加上表示人的后缀-er）
assess /əˈses/ v. 评估
probable /ˈprɒbəb(ə)l/ adj. 很可能的
cause /kɔːz/ n. 原因
tiredness /ˈtaɪədnəs/ n. 累、疲惫（由tired加后缀-ness变成名词）
gas pain 指腹部胀气
etc. 等等
★这句话里有个have someone do something的结构，意思是“让某人做某事”，这里的某人是experienced pediatric care providers，指经验丰富的儿科医生和护士。（如果把had experienced连在一起当成过去完成时就不对了）
assessment /əˈsesmənt/ n. 评估（由assess加后缀-ment变成名词）
So-called "uncommon cry signals" – signs of pain or sickness – are often very high-pitched and very loud compared to ordinary crying, Liu says. Identifying these cries could also be helpful in a hospital setting, to help doctors and nurses quickly figure out which babies need immediate attention.
so-called 所谓的
uncommon /ʌnˈkɒmən/ adj. 不平常的（由common加上表示否定的前缀un-）
high-pitched 音调高的
setting /ˈsetɪŋ/ n. 环境、场景
figure out 弄明白、找到（某个问题的）答案
immediate /ɪˈmiːdiət/ adj. 立刻的
Developing AIs to detect human emotions is challenging, says Julia Rayz, a professor of computer and information technology at Purdue University, where she studies human-computer communication.
AI 人工智能
emotion /ɪˈməʊʃ(ə)n/ n. 情绪、情感
communication /kəˌmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 交流、沟通
"Think how difficult it is for a human to recognize emotions in somebody that they don't know," she says. "Compare it to how much easier it is to recognize an emotion when we know a person. A computer has to go through the same thing, except that it usually generalizes the information across populations."
generalize /ˈdʒen(ə)r(ə)laɪz/ v. 使普遍适用（由general加后缀-ize变成动词）
Liu and her team continue to train the technology for greater accuracy. They also plan to add more features, such as the ability to identify and classify movement and facial expressions. This could give a more detailed reading of a baby's emotional and physical state.
accuracy /ˈækjurəsi/ n. 准确度
movement /ˈmuːvmənt/ n. 移动、身体活动（由move加后缀-ment变成名词）
facial /ˈfeɪʃ(ə)l/ adj. 脸部的、面部的（由face加后缀-ial变成形容词；facial expression就是面部表情）
detailed /ˈdiːteɪld/ adj. 详细的
reading /ˈriːdɪŋ/ n. 解读、理解
emotional /ɪˈməʊʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ adj. 情绪的、情感的（由emotion加后缀-al变成形容词）
physical /ˈfɪzɪk(ə)l/ adj. 身体的
state /steɪt/ n. 状态
（如果您发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，请把您使用的浏览器升级到最新版本就能正常显示了。）
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