首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It’s not technology that will determine the shape of land transport so much as political, economic and environmental considerati
It’s not technology that will determine the shape of land transport so much as political, economic and environmental considerati
admin
2010-07-06
37
问题
It’s not technology that will determine the shape of land transport so much as political, economic and environmental considerations. We can build stronger, quieter roads with better skid resistance now, but we don’t because of the cost.
The environmental lobby has had a huge impact on car manufacturers and emission control has improved a lot. But there’s still some way to go on the air pollution front, particularly for lorries which run on diesel fuel, which is bad because of its particulate emission when it is burnt.
Cars and lorries could be driven by electric motors if fuel-cells, which convert fuel into electricity without burning it, can be made more efficient. However, they’ve been advertised for a generation and have never really met expectations. American domination of the automotive industry makes rapid progress unlikely. Because the cost of gasoline is so low in the States, there’s not much incentive to develop fuel cells and electric vehicles for widespread use.
When it comes to communication, we already have Trafficmaster, which operates from transducers on motorway bridges to gauge the speed of the traffic and warn of blockages ahead. We also have global navigation satellites that can pinpoint your position. The challenge is to provide a full driver guidance system that can tell you the best direction to go in a way you can absorb at the wheel.
The next big step in transport technology will be automated roads: regulating vehicles in convoys on motorways so that they’re safer and can be packed closer together. Sensors would establish what is around each vehicle and electronic control systems would keep them moving in the right direction, at the right safe speed, with maximum comfort and economy. The technology is massively expensive now, but eventually it will become a reality. You would just pay a toll, couple your car into an electronic convoy and sit back to enjoy the journey.
Motorways will gradually become more like railways, with freight vehicles electronically coupled in trains running at relatively high speeds. At suitable intervals, they would uncouple to travel the remainder of the journey with their own driver. That’s almost certainly going to happen. In Adelaide there are already buses that run on an automated route for part of their journey.
That sort of combination if personal and centralized control is the direction we’re going in road transport, probably first of all for freight. Any rail system has in the end to be inflexible, it doesn’t go where you want, especially in rural communities, where the nearest station can be 30 miles away. We’re wedded to private cars, because of their flexibility and the pride people take in ownership -- not to mention the huge sums we’ve spent on the road network.
So cars aren’t going to go away. But under electronic control ’they will become greener and safer. In 50 years driving your own car on a fast motorway, mixed up with lorries, and passing at a closing speed of 150 mph within a few metres of people driving other vehicles in the opposite direction will seem. completely insanity.
What does the last sentence of the passage mean?
选项
A、In the future proceeding cars will be controlled by electronic systems.
B、People driving at a high speed are crazy.
C、On the motorways private cars are divided from the lorries.
D、Automatic cars will become popular.
答案
A
解析
文章最后一句话意为未来行驶的车将由电子控制的。文章最后一句话,五十年后,要是还有人在高速公路上开着自己的车,与卡车混在一起,以每小时150英里的最高速度在几米之内与开其他车迎面驶来的人擦肩而过,人们会认为他简直是个疯子。作者目的是要说明这种情况不会在五十年后发生。从文章总体看来,这种情形会被在电子控制下按序排列的车所取代。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PODd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语四级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语四级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
FamilyrelationshavechangedinrecentyearsinChina,aswehavemoreandmoreone-childfamilies.Theonlychildinthefamil
Duringtheadolescence,thedevelopmentofpoliticalideologybecomesapparentintheindividual:ideologyhereisdefinedasth
Whyare"HowTo"booksingreatdemandintheUnitedStates?
Whyare"HowTo"booksingreatdemandintheUnitedStates?
Whatwasthefirststepinfightingagainstinfectiousdisease?
Helandedinthiscountrywhenhewas4yearsoldwithoutawordofEnglish,andtherehehasrecentlygraduatedwithhonorsfro
TheInternetraisesmajorissuesandchallengesforeducation,notjustinChinabutallovertheworld.Yetitsimplycannotbe
Forthispart,youarerequiredtowriteacompositiononthetopic"OnDevelopingTourism".Youshouldwritecoherentlyandnea
In1971therewereabout3,700millionpeopleintheworld.Ifthepopulationwere【C1】______evenlyovertheearth’ssurfacet
随机试题
下列投保人具备投保的资格的是
只有当现有间接资料不能为认识和解决市场问题提供足够的依据时,才实行()。
下列症状中,属于原发疹的有()
A.肱骨外科颈B.尺骨粗隆C.髂嵴D.坐骨棘E.耻骨梳参与构成骨盆界限的是
A.木通B.石韦C.金钱草D.萆薢E.茵陈
外存储器是计算机的()。
某银行工作人员在与另一银行的工作人员接触时遵守职业操守规定的正确做法是()。
将以下4个句子重新排列组合,语序正确的是()。①这是值得每个网民深思的问题。②人人都有“麦克风”,在众声喧哗中如何让自己在公共空间的发言更客观理性文明?③“互联网+”时代,技术和平台赋予人们前所未有的新生活,在网上交流、交
把下列句子组成一段语意连贯的话,排序最恰当的是:①为解决人类问题贡献了中国智慧和中国方案②拓展了发展中国家走向现代化的途径③从人类文明进程看④给世界上那些既希望加快发展又希望保持自身独立性的国家和民族提供了全新选择⑤意味着中国特色社会主义道路、理
中国传统山水画中,勾勒设色、金碧辉煌、富于装饰意味者被称为()。
最新回复
(
0
)