时间:2019-01-12 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(三月)


英语课
By Tony Budny
Washington
27 March 2008
 

An upstart car company in the United States is seeking to take advantage of rising oil prices.  Aptera has produced a three-wheeled vehicle that can reach speeds of 136 kilometers per hour and operate on little gasoline.  VOA's Tony Budny has the story in today's Searching for Solutions report.


The vehicle looks like it comes from outer space, but Aptera executive Chris Anthony says, fear not. His company's new Typ-1 car runs on common household electricity, not jet fuel.  "It doesn't require a special charger,” Anthony said.  "We got a charger installed in every home in America.  Just plug it in to your 110 [volt electrical] outlet 1."


Aptera has already received deposits from some 1,100 customers wanting an electric Typ-1, and deliveries begin later this year.  Aptera plans to produce another Typ-1 model, a gas-electric hybrid 2 that the company says could get nearly 131 kilometers per liter of gasoline. 


Aptera founder 3 Steve Fambro says, "It'll give around 300 miles per gallon [127 kilometers per liter] for the first 100 miles [62 kilometers].  And it goes down to around 130 miles per gallon [34 kilometers per liter] as you deplete 4 the batteries."


The car looks fragile, but it is made out of a molded composite material that the company says is half the weight of steel and 10 times as strong.  "It's very, very, very strong and can stand up to the durability 5 of a Formula One style crash," explains Chris Anthony.


Aptera also uses space-age design inside the car.  It has a touch screen system for navigation, a climate control system powered by solar panels, and a relatively 6 large storage area.  Recycled plastic makes up much of the interior. And cameras aid the driver's view around the car instead of mirrors.


So how much does a car that can do all this cost?  Around $30,000 - but, if it performs to expectations, Aptera hopes customers will consider it worth the price.




n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄
  • The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
  • Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。
n.(动,植)杂种,混合物
  • That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
  • The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。
n.创始者,缔造者
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
v.弄空,排除,减轻,减少...体液,放去...的血
  • Most native mammal species have been severely depleted.大多数本地哺乳动物的数量都已经大大减少了。
  • Elastic collisions deplete very little of the electron's energy.弹性碰撞中电子减少的能量非常少。
n.经久性,耐用性
  • Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。
adv.比较...地,相对地
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
学英语单词
-teenth
angular motion
appointment-only
ash-greys
autocratic leader
automatic data processing systems
Ban Nong Yang
Bandwidth-on-demand
bare the metal
basilar membranae
bonnett
catalogable permanent file
cheek retractor
chloroethylaminoanthraquinones
classical-styles
closure of simplex
collective body
community residents
copius
coraebus aesopus
crummy
cystomyxoma
dispension
disproportionateness
distrbuted processing
electro-gas arc welding
excitaton source
exhibition expenditures
false myxoma
fear-stricken
fibre grease
firiming agent
fix things up
fluidized layer
forage for
fund levy
go on an outing
graphic kernel system
gravity spectrum
gravity tectonics
green cormorant
guilt-trip
heliocentric declination
heterodyne interference
high speed steel end mill
Igo
in one piece nozzle
income-expenditures
interpretation of dreams
island-dwellers
Knelston
laid lower
lead crown glass
Leo III
linen fiber
load up on sth
lyme-hound
make gains
manufacturer's rep
mechano-chemical system
medical diagnostic radiation
metallographs
Middleton Stoney
missel-bird
Mogogelo
noas
note to the accounts
number identification
off-colo(u)r product
oystered
pal(a)eohydrology
Palespotted
pasta rocket
pasteur pipet
permineralised
planetary landing
plant room
plumbaginaceous
pulsed lasers
re-taining part of the extra profit
reed sweep
Resia
ring-a-ring
screen scarifier
sewerage of separate system
site autonomy
taint-hook
take springs out from
testing of soil
tetrazoles
think no small bear of
Tolbukhinski Okrǔg
toona sureni(bl.)merr.
total color blindness
Tristars
wages fund
wooden bridge
written calculation
yeast-liked
zero-zero gel
zhishi xiebai guizhi decoction