Preparing Cities for Robot Cars
The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist’s dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn’t leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It’s hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.
While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars(and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions(排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.
Do we want to copy — or even worsen — the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport — an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing(叫车) services.
A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure(基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues(责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.
Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn’t extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.
1.According to the author, attention should be paid to how driverless cars can __________.
A.help deal with transportation-related problems
B.provide better services to customers
C.cause damage to our environment
D.make some people lose jobs
2.As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern?
A.Safety. B.Side effects.
C.Affordability. D.Management.
3.What does the underlined word "fielded" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Employed. B.Replaced.
C.Shared. D.Reduced.
4.What is the author’s attitude to the future of self-driving cars?
A.Doubtful. B.Positive.
C.Disapproving. D.Sympathetic.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Preparing Cities for Robot Cars
The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist’s dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn’t leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It’s hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.
While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars(and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions(排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.
Do we want to copy — or even worsen — the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport — an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing(叫车) services.
A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure(基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues(责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.
Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn’t extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.
1.According to the author, attention should be paid to how driverless cars can __________.
A.help deal with transportation-related problems
B.provide better services to customers
C.cause damage to our environment
D.make some people lose jobs
2.As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern?
A.Safety. B.Side effects.
C.Affordability. D.Management.
3.What does the underlined word "fielded" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Employed. B.Replaced.
C.Shared. D.Reduced.
4.What is the author’s attitude to the future of self-driving cars?
A.Doubtful. B.Positive.
C.Disapproving. D.Sympathetic.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist’s dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn’t leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It’s hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.
While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars (and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.
Do we want to copy - or even worsen - the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport - an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing (叫车)services.
A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues (责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.
Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn’t extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.
1.As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern?
A.Safety. B.Side effects. C.Management. D.Affordability.
2.What does the underlined word “fielded” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Shared. B.Replaced. C.Reduced. D.Employed.
3.What is the author’s attitude to the future of self-driving cars?
A.Positive. B.Doubtful. C.Disapproving. D.Sympathetic.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Some students are now busy preparing for the “Independent Recruitment(自主招生)” contest, in hopes of getting a “Pass” card at their first _______.
A. purpose B. performance C. desire D. attempt
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and preparing for the worst, Australian adventurer Peter Seiter wrote a farewell note to his family, put it in a bottle and threw it overboard. With a sense of bad feeling he wrote: “The ocean has a personality of its own. The place can be such a peaceful environment to be in, yet it can be frightfully violent. I’ve experienced both.” Fearing he wouldn’t make it home, he placed the note -- dated June 11, 1998 -- in a wine bottle and covered the bottle.
“I included my geographical coordinates, so if anything happened to me, they’d know my last place when I threw the bottle into the ocean,” says Peter, who was then sailing from the Azores in Portugal to New York and knew the Atlantic could be dangerous. He also included some money with his message, asking whoever found it to use the money to post the letter to his family.
Seventeen days later he reached his destination, having survived the dangerous seas, but he assumed his message in the bottle had not -- until it was found on shore, 11 years later!
Recently, American woman Katherine Ginn and her friend came across the bottle on a deserted beach in the Bahamas. “Alongside it they’d found a life jacket and, assuming the worst, opened the bottle and spent 24 hours drying it out so they could read my story and write to my family as I requested,” says Peter, 44. “I couldn’t believe it -- that after all these years my bottle had turned up with its contents, still undamaged.”
Overjoyed, he wrote to the pair, saying he was alive and living in Australia with his family.
Katherine posted him his letter, money and some broken glass of his bottle placed in a tiny box as a special souvenir. These special items now share pride of place among photos of Peter’s Atlantic voyage. “I can’t express what this old letter means to me,” Peter says. “It gives me a sense of hope and belief. It’s something special to share with my children as they grow up.”
1. Why did Peter have the idea of a message bottle?
A. He missed his family very much then.
B. He hoped to share his experience with his family.
C. He regretted taking a risk on the ocean.
D. He thought he might lose his life on the voyage.
2.As for the survival of the message bottle, Peter ________.
A. felt very certain about it
B. thought it had little chance of reaching land
C. took a long time to search for it
D. wrote a letter to Katherine
3.What can be inferred about the message bottle according to Paragraph 3 and 4?
A. Katherine found it by chance on a crowded beach.
B. It was 11 years before they came across it at sea.
C. Perhaps there was water in it when Katherine found it.
D. Peter couldn’t believe more that it was not damaged.
4.From the passage, we can learn that ________.
A. this was Peter’s first voyage in the Atlantic
B. Peter spent eleven days in the Atlantic
C. without the life jacket, the bottle wouldn’t have survived
D. Katherine was a caring and careful person
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
In college, we were required to do an act of kindness, including preparing lunch for an elderly person. When I ______ the elderly person with the food, it never ______ to me that it would result in a new friendship and the discovery of a ______.
Bill was unable to ______ much. A nurse came regularly to help him move to and from the wheelchair ______ he has no relatives. Bill said he was delighted to see me and it was a ______ for him to eat a meal with me because he usually eats ______. He said the food was great, but he enjoyed having ______ even more.
Bill had many______ stories to tell about his travels to many places when working on the railroad. I was ______ a trip but hesitated about traveling by train. However, I would ______ be going by train after meeting Bill.
Perhaps the biggest______ of this project was that I suddenly realized that spending time with the elderly was fun. On the one hand, I am a good ______. On the other hand, older people want someone to know their inner world, so it is a perfect ______. I decided to focus my studies on the ______. Hopefully in the future, I can help even more people like Bill.
1.A.called on B.came across C.picked up D.turned to
2.A.happened B.appealed C.occurred D.proved
3.A.travel plan B.career path C.holiday destination D.cooking skill
4.A.talk B.eat C.sit D.walk
5.A.but B.because C.though D.so
6.A.treat B.fancy C.privilege D.waste
7.A.slowly B.little C.alone D.unhappily
8.A.family B.company C.fun D.health
9.A.adventurous B.fresh C.absorbing D.satisfying
10.A.intending B.pretending C.allowing D.requiring
11.A.unbelievably B.undoubtedly C.unexpectedly D.unhurriedly
12.A.aim B.impression C.problem D.bonus
13.A.student B.cook C.learner D.listener
14.A.choice B.deal C.match D.game
15.A.old B.poor C.disabled D.homeless
高三英语完形填空简单题查看答案及解析
----Another cup of tea? That’s your third since lunch.
----Yeah, well, I ____ all night preparing for my history exam. I can hardly keep my eyes open.
A. have stayed up B. stayed up
C. have been staying up D. will stay up
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
You probably spend a lot of time preparing for job interviews. But it's not just about being ready with answers to the interviewer's questions. 1. You should come prepared with insightful questions to learn more about the role and to make sure the company is a good fit.
2.
Companies are looking woo (争取) candidates in this job market and want to put their best foot forward—but it's important that you go into the conversation knowing what you are looking for from an employer. Asking what a typical day looks like can give you a helpful sense of the workplace balance and responsibilities.
Ask about career growth and development
3.. But be careful with how you ask this question. You don't want to come off as if you are expecting a promotion before even starting the job. Asking about employee support and development programs can also show how much an employer invests (投资) in employee development.
Ask how to be successful
4., so be sure to ask about it. To help get a sense of what employers will be looking for, try asking something like: "What does success look like for someone in this role?" or "How will my performance be evaluated
Ask autonomous questions
While most interviewers will finish the meeting asking if you have any questions, you don't have to wait for that moment. 5., ask a question to get more details. That not only shows you are listening, but also engaged and want to learn more.
A. Ask what it's like to work there
B. The process is a two-way street
C. If you have some important questions
D. We all want to make a living by working hard
E. If the interviewer says something interesting or vague
F. Knowing how your performance is going to be measured is important
G. We all want to work at a place where we have the opportunity to grow professionally
高三英语七选五困难题查看答案及解析
We made use of every minute ______ for the coming examination.
A. to prepare B. prepared C. preparing D. prepare
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Julie was preparing for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new model at full price.
A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.
Fortunately, there’s a solution.
The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.
Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.
Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: Leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.
Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a Web site and see the phone’s location.
He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety: “60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”
1.Why does the author mention Julie’s experience in the first paragraph?
A. To inform us that mobile phones are useful.
B. To introduce the topic for discussion.
C. To warn us that we should be careful.
D. To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip.
2.The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means ________.
A. Fear of losing mobile phones
B. Habits of using mobile phones
C. Eagerness for new mobile phones
D. Independence of mobile phones
3.Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?
A. Avoiding using phone for some time
B. Learning more about modern technology.
C. Protecting one’s phone against any damage.
D. Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work.
4.Why can the service called Asurion help to treat nomophobia?
A. It lets you know other people also lose their phones.
B. It will give you a new phone through insurance.
C. It enables you to reconnect with your acquaintance.
D. It gives you a prescription to treat nomophobia.
5.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Solutions to nomophobia.
B. New mobile phone technology.
C. Disadvantages of mobile phone.
D. Attitude toward mobile phone.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Shelly has been preparing carefully for the driving test so that she can be sure of passing it at her first ______.
A.intention B.purpose C. attempt D. desire
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析