VOA标准英语2008年-X Prize Foundation Sponsors Competition to Deve
时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(一月)
Detroit
18 January 2008
At the North American International Auto 1 Show in Detroit this week, there are hundreds of new cars on display that achieve high fuel efficiency and reduce pollution. Also on hand are representatives of the private X Prize Foundation, which is sponsoring a competition to create a vehicle that is both super efficient and appealing to consumers. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Detroit.
The competition aims at promoting the development of vehicles that use far less gasoline than those currently on the road. Part of the push comes from environmental concerns and part comes from the fact that petroleum 2 is selling for close to $100 a barrel.
Automotive X Prize Executive Director Donald Foley says backers of the competition want to move the industry away from vehicles that rely on petroleum-based fuels.
"We know that oil is a finite resource and even though the reserves today are considerable, we know that they are dwindling 3. By having fuel efficient vehicles using less and less of that oil, we know we are going to reduce our dependence 4 on that one form of energy," he said.
The X Prize Foundation is best known for the 2004 competition to design a human-piloted space craft that would leave the earth's atmosphere and return twice within a two-week period. The $10 million prize went to aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who gave financial backing to the project.
The Automotive X Prize is focused on developing a vehicle that can get 100 miles per gallon, or 43 kilometers per liter. The vehicles chosen for the final competition will compete in a cross country race in 2009 and 2010 that will test speed, urban driving and overall performance. Competition rules require that a vehicle must comfortably carry four adult passengers, meet U.S. auto safety standards and be ready for a production run of at least 10,000 cars.
Donald Foley says the winning car must have real market appeal. "Our competition is not about concept cars. We want real, affordable 5, practical vehicles that people want to buy," he said.
Already more than 50 teams from seven nations have signed up to compete. Ulrik Poulson from Denmark is one of the people with his eyes on the prize. His Connecticut-based company has developed a device using wheel-mounted disks that can turn any vehicle into a hybrid 6 that uses both gasoline and electricity for power.
"They are attached externally on to the rear wheels of an existing vehicle. They can actually be installed in three to four hours, with the vehicle standing 7 on the ground. It does not even have to be on a lift," he said.
Poulson's team plans to select a light-weight passenger vehicle already on the market and equip it with the hybrid system for the competition. Win or lose, he hopes the competition will draw attention to his product.
That is also a motivation for another competitor, automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin, who has already developed a luxury car that meets the X Prize criteria 8 and which could be available for purchase by the time the competition gets underway next year.
"One of the things that the X Prize is looking for is cars that can get 100 miles to a gallon and can be manufactured. With a little bit of luck, when the X Prize is ready, this car will be coming off the assembly line. So it will go right from the assembly line to the race," he said.
Beyond the monetary 9 award that comes with the X Prize and the profits he may gain from sales of his vehicle, Bricklin says the venture represents something more important. "My vision is a world in which we do not end up buying oil from people who do not like us, for starters, and at the same time have a cleaner world for my kids and my grandkids," he said.
If such a vision comes true, the streets of the future may be filled with vehicles that produce little pollution and transport people and cargo 10 safely and inexpensively.
- Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
- The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
- The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
- The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。
- The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句
- Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
- He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
- The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
- There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
- 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。
- After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
- They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
- The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
- There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。
- The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
- Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。