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You know how much your telephone has changed over the past 10 years? Your car will change even more than that in the next 10 years. One of the big changes is that cars will drive themselves.
“We definitely have the technology for it now, ” says Andrew Poliak of automotive technology supplier QNX. “We expect self-driving cars to be a mainstream thing between 2020 and 2025. ”
The American company Google has been working on a self-driving automobile for years. These cars are already on the roads in the United States and are truly self-driving. They have no steering wheels (方向盘) or pedals.
Last week, police ordered one of Google’s cars to stop for driving too slowly on a public road. The car was not breaking any law, so no one was punished.
Another American company, Tesla, added an “Autopilot” feature to its cars last month. With the Autopilot turned on, the vehicle drives itself. The car will speed up, slow down, brake and steer by itself.
You can take over driving any time by turning the steering wheel or touching a pedal. The car uses sensors to know when lane (车道) changing is safe and whether it should speed up or slow down.
Tesla Autopilot is made for cross-country driving. It keeps you in the lane and helps you avoid hitting other cars. It does not work as well on local roads, for it will not stop at a red light or stop sign.
Reporter Carolyn Nicander Mohr tried the Autopilot feature of a Tesla earlier this month. She had a hard time trusting the car to do what it should do.
She thought about disabling the Autopilot feature many times during her trip. She wanted to take control at every bend in the road and hit the brake when the car in front of her slowed down.
Yet the car drove perfectly.
Other companies are working on self-driving cars, too. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volvo and Toyota all have plans for such vehicles.
【语篇概述】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍了未来的自动驾驶汽车。
1. What’s the purpose of the question in the first paragraph?
A. To collect readers’ answers.
B. To introduce the topic of the text.
C. To describe the changes to telephones.
D. To show the development of technology.
【解析】选B。推理判断题。第一段提出的问题主要是为了引出文章的主题, 即自动驾驶汽车。
2. What do Andrew Poliak’s words suggest?
A. It is too difficult for people to make self-driving cars now.
B. Self-driving cars will be first put on the market in 2020.
C. There will be more self-driving cars in use in the future.
D. Nobody loves to use self-driving cars at the moment.
【解析】选C。推理判断题。根据第二段中的“We expect self-driving cars to be a mainstream thing between 2020 and 2025. ”可知, Andrew Poliak认为在2020至2025年, 自动驾驶汽车将成为主流, 因此也就意味着越来越多的自动驾驶汽车投入使用。
3. Why did the police stop the Google car?
A. It had no driver. B. It went too slowly.
C. It broke the traffic rules. D. It had no steering wheel.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第四段中的“police ordered one of Google’s cars to stop for driving too slowly”可知, 谷歌的这辆车之所以被警察拦停是因为行驶过慢。
4. According to the text, what can you learn about Tesla Autopilot?
A. It is true self-driving.
B. It can sense traffic lights.
C. It won’t work on freeways.
D. It isn’t safe in crowded areas.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第七段中的“It does not work as well on local roads, for it will not stop at a red light or stop sign. ”可知, 特斯拉的自动驾驶装置不适于在人多的地方使用。
