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
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
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
Self-driving cars are so popular that the University of Michigan has even established a town called Mcity to allow car manufacturers to safely test their autonomous cars.
While Mcity can be used to simulate(模拟) many real-life road conditions, it cannot help test gestures drivers use to communicate their intention to other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists. To find a solution, US car manufacturer Ford, with researchers from Virginia Tech, initially considered using text as a way to communicate the car's intention, but decided it would probably not work universally. The option of using symbols was also discarded, because research shows that a majority of people do not have a good understanding of what they mean.
Finally, the researchers settled on light signals. A white light warned that there were no humans in the car. A slow blinking one indicated that the car was coming to a stop, while a rapidly flashing light cautioned passersby that the car was about to accelerate.
Then came the big challenge-testing the signals on real roads. “We needed to try out this new lighting to communicate the intention of the vehicle, but if you’ve got a driver behind the seat, you still have natural communication between humans,” said Andy Shaudt, who led the Virginia Tech research team. “So we needed to make it look like a driverless ear.”
The team designed a car seat costume(戏装) that the driver would wear to cover his/her face and upper body. Of course, the drivers could see very clearly. The researchers then equipped the car with cameras to capture human reactions to a light bar on the windshield(挡风玻璃), which flashed one of the three signals when appropriate. Six drivers, all keeping their hands low on the wheel so as not to be detected, took turns to test driving the car through the busy streets.
The overall reaction to the flashing lights was very encouraging. Who knew costumes could be useful for more than Halloween?
1.What did the team first consider using as a way to communicate the car's intention?
A. Light B. Language
C. Symbols D. Sound
2.The underlined word “they” in the second paragraph refers to .
A. svmbo1s B. drivers
C. researchers D. flashes
3.What does a rapidly flashing light mean?
A. The car was coming to a stop B. There was no driver in the car
C. The car was about to speed up D. The car was about to slow down
4.The car seat costume was intended to .
A. amuse the driver B. attract the pedestrians
C. warn the cyclists D. confuse the people
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday. There are so many places of interest to visit. And if you enjoy seeing more than just the city centre, there’s no better way to explore than by car.
Hire Charges | |
What’s included | What’s not included |
● Unlimited mileage (里程数). ● Expenses on oil, maintenance ( 保养 ) and | ● Personal accident insurance. ● Garaging, petrol, parking and traffic fines. |
Repairs, which will be repaid on production of invoices (发票). ● Full insurance cover but exclusive of personal |
Conditions of Hire
1. The shortest rental period at these especially low prices is three days. For prices and for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel.
2. Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car. But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be ab le to help you.
3. The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed.
4. Upon delivery the driver(s) will be asked to sign the car hire company’s Conditions of Hire.
5. If you decide to hire a car, just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us. A booking fee of £12 as part of the car hire cost is required.
6. Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before date of hire), a cancellation charge of £12 will be made.
1.According to the advertisement, what will a car hirer pay extra money for?
A. The cost of repairs to the car.
B. The cost of maintenance of the car.
C. Insurance against damage to the car.
D. Insurance against injury to the driver.
2.If you hire a car for four days, .
A. you are offered a particular car
B. you are offered a car at a special price
C. you are guaranteed an enjoyable holiday
D. you are guaranteed a onetime airport pick-up
3.The following statements are true EXCEPT .
A. you can make a booking in advance
B. you are required to fill in a form before you hire a car
C. you can ask for canceling the booking anytime by paying extra£12
D. you have to pay a booking fee when you hire a car from the company
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
As self-driving cars come closer to being common on American roads, much of the rhetoric(说辞)promoting them has to do with safety. About 40,000 people die on U.S. roads every year, and driver errors are linked to more than 90 percent of crashes. But many of the biggest advocates of autonomous(自动的)vehicles aren’t car companies looking to improve the safety of their existing products. Huge support for itself-driving technologies is coming from Silicon Valley giants like Google and Apple.
Those of us who have studied the relationship between technology and society tend to look more carefully at the motivations behind any technologically push. In this case, it’s clear that in addition to addressing safety concerns, Silicon Valley firms have a strong incentive(动机)to create a new venue for increasing the use of their digital devices. Every minute people spend on their mobile phones provides data—and often money—to tech companies.
At present, digital devices and driving are in conflict: There are serious, often fatal, consequences when drivers use smartphones to talk or to text. Regulators and safety advocates look to resolve dial conflict by banning phone use while driving – as has happened in almost every state. But the tech companies are taking a different approach. The obvious answer for Silicon Valley is creating an automobile in which continuous cellphone use no longer poses a threat to anyone.
In recent years, the amount of time adults spend on their mobile devices has grown rapidly. At the moment, it’s around four hours a day for the average adult in the U.S. However, that rapid growth is likely to slow down as people run out of time that’s available for them up to use their devices. Unless, of course, there’s a new block of time that suddenly opens up. The average American now spends about 48 minutes in a car every day, a sizeable opportunity for increased cellphone use.
Sop as the public conversation around autonomous cars highlights the safety advantages, don’t forget the tech industry’s powerful desire for more profits, which goes well beyond simply saving us from ourselves.
1.Who are responsible for most traffic accidents in American?
A. Car companies. B. Drivers.
C. Tech companies. D. Self-driving cars.
2.What pushes Silicon Valley to promote self-driving technologies?
A. To make more money. B. To reduce traffic accidents.
C. To limit the use of digital devices. D. To support car companies.
3.What does the underlined phrase “a new block of time” possibly refer to?
A. The working time. B. People’s spare time.
C. The time spent in the car. D. The time spent on mobile devices.
4.What can we know from the passage?
A. We should teach people to strictly obey traffic rules.
B. The writer calls on us to look at autonomous cars wisely.
C. Car companies are the leading promoters of self-driving cars.
D. No solution to the conflict between mobile phone use and driving has been found yet.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Four out of the 48 self-driving cars on public roads in California have been involved in accidents in the last eight months, according to the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.
The agency began issuing permits for the testing of self-driving vehicles in September 2014.
Three of the four cars belonged to Google, the fourth to parts supplier Delphi.
Both firms denied their vehicles had been at fault.
Under Californian law, details of car accidents remain secret.
However, Google said its driverless cars had never been the cause of an accident and that the majority of "minor fender-benders(擦撞)" had been in the form of rear-end(后尾) collisions from other drivers.
"Safety is our highest priority. Since the start of our programme six years ago, we've driven nearly a million miles automatically, on both freeways and city streets, without causing a single accident," said a spokesperson.
Delphi told the BBC its vehicle was hit while still at a crossroads and was in human driving mode at the time.
"A police report indicates the fault of the accident is with the second vehicle, not Delphi. No-one was hurt in the incident," said a spokesperson.
An unknown source told the Associated Press that two of the accidents occurred while the vehicles were occupied by human drivers, and all four vehicles were going very slowly at the time of the collisions.
Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car programme, wrote in a blog post that there have been 11 accidents involving Google cars since the project began six years ago but not one has been caused by one of its vehicles.
"Rear-end crashes are the most frequent accidents in America, and often there's little the driver in front can do to avoid getting hit," he said.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Self-driving car accidents. B. Motor vehicle problems.
C. Self-driving vehicle problems. D. Traffic accidents in California.
2.We can learn from the passage that the self-driving cars ______.
A. caused the accidents when driven by human drivers
B. hit other cars and caused the accidents
C. were responsible for the accidents
D. were knocked into from behind
3.The passage intends to tell us that the self-driving cars ______.
A. are just road killers B. need to be improved
C. are in good quality D. shouldn’t be produced
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Has the world just witnessed its first ever robot suicide? Boring housework was seemingly too much for one cleaning robot to take, when it apparently rebelled and decided to end it all.
The robot was given the tiresome task of cleaning up some spilt grain before it climbed on to a kitchen hotplate 1.___ it destroyed itself, according to reports in Austria. It had reportedly grown tired of 2._____(force) to clean the house every day and decided to become a martyr(殉道者) to the robot cause.
“Somehow it seems 3.____(restart) itself again before it made its way along the work surface. Then it pushed a cooking pot out of the way and basically that was the end of it,” explained fireman Helmut Kniewasser, who 4._____(call) to deal with the fire at Hinterstoder in Kirchdorf. “It pretty quickly started to melt underneath and then stuck to the kitchen hotplate. It then caught fire. 5.___ _____ _____ we arrived, it had become just a pile of ash.” He added: “The entire building 6.____ _____be evacuated (疏散) and there was severe smoke damage particularly in the flat in which the robot had been in use. “It’s a mystery how it came to be started and ended up making its way to the hotplate.” 7.____ took an hour to clean and make the building safe. The homeowner plans to charge the robot’s manufacturer.
高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
--I think _____possible that he has got the ticket for tonight’s concert .
--So do I. He seemed very happy for the whole afternoon.
A. what B. it C. this D. as
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When it comes to second hand cars, one has to be as ________as possible about the source and the condition of them.
A.cautious B.patient C.urgent D.casual
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Even as Google plans to test its fleet(车队) of self-driving cars on public roads this summer, its business model remains a bit of a mystery. By 2025, as many as 250,000 self-driving vehicles could be sold each year globally, according to a study by an industry research firm.
"Vehicles that can take anyone from A to B at the push of a button could transform mobility for millions of people," said Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project. For now, Google has no plans to sell any of its self-driving cars. They are strictly for research. But they will hit public roads this summer near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. Previous testing has taken place only on closed courses.
The cars are built to operate without a steering wheel, accelerator(油门) or brake pedal. "Our software and sensors do all the work," Urmson said. "The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button." The prototypes(雏形) are the first of a 100-car fleet the tech giant is building.
In the long run, Urmson sees a future of safer roads — the majority of auto accidents are caused by human error — and fewer traffic jams. Robotic cars could also shuttle people who can't drive because of age or illness.
Google has said that self-driving cars could launch new business models in which people buy the use of vehicles they don't own. The company has already tested other types of self-driving cars on public streets, including modified Lexus sport-utility vehicles, under a special permit program by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that requires a human driver at the controls.
The state has issued six other companies permits to operate such cars, including Delphi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Tesla, Bosch and Nissan. The vehicles that will be tested on open roads this summer will have removable steering wheels, accelerator and brake pedals to allow "safety drivers" to take control if needed.
Google says the cars are safe. The vehicles have sensors that "can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, which is especially helpful on busy streets with lots of intersections," Urmson said. "We're looking forward to learning how the community understands and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle," Urmson said.
1.The passage informs us that self-driving cars ________.
A. will probably decrease traffic jams
B. have already passed necessary tests
C. have been purchased by some companies
D. will be able to communicate with drivers
2.According to Chris Urmson, ________.
A. software and sensors are vital for self-driving cars
B. self-driving cars can give driving orders to humans
C. self-driving cars are specially designed for the elderly
D. ordinary vehicles will be replaced by self-driving cars
3.The underlined word "intersections" in the last paragraph probably means ________.
A. accidents B. buildings
C. crossings D. vehicles
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A. Self-driving Car Avoids Human Errors
B. Self-driving Car Meets New Challenges
C. Google's Self-driving Car Enjoys Global Popularity
D. Google's Self-driving Car Graduates to City Streets
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析