VOA标准英语2012--Self-Driving Cars: Science Fiction Future Is Near
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(十二月)
Self-Driving Cars: Science Fiction Future Is Near
The high-tech 1 company Google has a fleet of self-driving cars, which had logged 480,000 kilometers by August. Major auto 2 manufacturers in the United States and Europe also are working on the technology for autonomous 3 vehicles. Volvo is among the companies doing road tests and says it plans to sell driverless cars by 2020.
In September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads of his state. “Today we're looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality, the driverless car.”
The technology for these cars includes cameras, radar 4 and motion sensors 5. The systems have been improved through competitions sponsored by the U.S. government agency DARPA, the Defense 6 Advanced Research Projects Agency. Engineer Richard Mason of the Rand Corporation helped design driverless vehicles for DARPA challenge races between 2004 and 2007.
“And every two years, the cars came back and they took in 10 times as much data as they did before, so after four years, 100 times more data. Now, they also cost more, but there's just this exponential increase in capability,” said Mason.
Visitors to the recent Los Angeles Auto Show got a glimpse of the future, with its integration 7 of electronics and mechanics through robotics.
Cars have become much more fuel-efficient, and new electronic features are making Hondas safer, said Angie Nucci of Honda America. “A camera that's mounted on the passenger-side mirror actually engaged on your navigation screen so you can safely change lanes.”
Other safety features on some high-end models include collision warning systems on the front and the sides of the cars.
These systems help drivers, but don't replace them. Curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum said autonomous cars will go a step further and make the highways safer.
“By taking out individuals in the transportation equation you also remove most of the likelihood for an accident,” Kendall said.
He said consumers, however, may be reluctant to lose control. “It's going to take time for them to come to realize that the technology is indeed reliable, but it will have to prove itself first.”
Mason said the technology already works and the biggest challenge now is getting down the cost for driverless vehicles, from hundreds of thousands of dollars to something more affordable 8. He said that as the technology is refined, that will happen.
- The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
- The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
- 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。
- They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
- This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。
- They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
- Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。
- There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
- This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。
- 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。