The next time you try for a high-ranking post, you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending phone call “made” by US President George W Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Of course, neither of them could really do that for you-you would just “borrow” their voices.
AT & T labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead famous people back to life.
The software, which turns printed text into speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person’s voice to say things that the person never actually said.
Possible customers for the software, which is priced in the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, and makers of automated voice devices(装置). The advances raise several problems. Who, for example, owns the rights to a famous person’s voice? (Some experts even believe that new contracts will be drawn that include voice-licensing clauses.)
And although scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to commit fraud(假冒), would the synthesized(合成的) voices at last be able to trick people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know?
Even Mr Fruchterman, one of AT & T lab’s possible first customers, said he wondered what the new technology might bring. “Just like you can’t trust a photograph anymore.” He said, “you won’t be able to trust a voice either.”
1．With the help of the speech software, it is most possible __________.
A．to improve a famous person’s speech
B．to say what you want in another’s voice
C．to make a speech much more easily
D．to help you to find a better job
2．It the speech software were widely used, ___________.
A．people would no longer believe each other
B．it would not be necessary to go for a speech by a famous person
C．no radio or TV broadcasters would be needed
D．recording of a voice alone would not be taken as a proof in the court
3．According to the passage, you can infer that ___________.
A．the software will turn out to be an immediate success in the market
B．the government will forbid the sale of the software in the market
C．it’s hard to decide whether the software will enjoy popularity
D．the software will soon prove to be nothing but rubbish
4．The passage mainly wants to __________.
A．introduce a new software B．explain the disadvantage of a new invention
C．advertise a new kind of product D．describe the future market of a new product