Maybe in the near future, driverless cars may become common on the roads. Driverless cars have already been test-driven thousands of miles.
Driverless cars are not suitable for extreme weather conditions.
Another issue is that driverless cars have maps programmed into their memory, but these maps aren't always updated and accurate. New roads are built, and old roads are closed down.
| A．The safety problems have almost been addressed. |
| B．However, they are not yet available for the public. |
| C．Many advantages can be associated to the driverless cars. |
| D．Driverless vehicles also have trouble adjusting to new roads. |
| E．They may become confused by fog, heavy rain, or heavy snow. |
| F．Due to this, a driverless car may get passenger to the wrong destination. |
| G．But the driverless car only takes action when the child is in its immediate path. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】What’s the furthest you have ever cycled? Perhaps you cycle to school or to work, or maybe at most a short cycling trip with friends? How would you feel about spending months on the road travelling solo from the UK to China，by bike?
As an experienced British cyclist and adventure lover, Pete Jones is at present making a long trip across the Eurasian Continent from Britain to China alone. For Pete, camping in the wild and cycling for long distances through inhospitable terrain (不适合人居住的地带) are his second nature.
Mr Jones is currently taking a great journey. Having lived on and off (断断续续地) in Xinjiang for three years, and having visited the country many times since 1992, Pete Jones is no stranger to China. But he says many people there are puzzled by his strong love for cycling, and they ask why he chooses to cycle when he can afford a car. Indeed, while there are about 400 million bicycles in China, where it has long been the preferred means of transport, rapid economic growth has caused an rapid development in car ownership.
Edward Genochio, another British cyclist who completed a 41,000 km trip to China and back, said one of his goals was to tell people cycling is a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly means of getting about.
In the UK, the last few years have seen a rise in the number of people choosing two wheels over four, with some estimates (估计) saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last five years.
Politicians also see cycling as a way to prove that they are concerned about the environment, with people such as London mayor Boris Johnson often riding to work by himself. But we may have to wait some time before we see him emulating (效仿) Pete Jones in attempting to cycle all the way to China.
1. What is the meaning of the underlined word “solo” in the first paragraph?| A．Alone. | B．Lonely. |
| C．Happily. | D．Hard. |
| A．cycling is good for health |
| B．cycling around the world is interesting |
| C．cycling is not polluting the environment |
| D．bicycles are a kind of safe transportation |
| A．Pete Jones’s desire for cycling led to his staying in China for three years |
| B．now the number of Chinese people owning cars is larger than those owning bikes |
| C．London mayor Boris Johnson will emulate Pete Jones to cycle to China in the future |
| D．both British common people and politicians see riding bikes as a good means of transport |
| A．An Adventure Lover | B．Cycling to China |
| C．What’s the Use of Bicycles | D．Three British People |
【推荐2】If electric bikes haven’t caught your attention yet, here’s one that might. Okapi, a Boston-based start-up, is producing a unique e-bike that bridges the gap between motorcycles and ordinary (普通的) bikes.
These aren’t normal bikes. If the futuristic (未来派的) appearance doesn’t give them away, the specs (规格) will: Okapi’s bikes have an all-electric range of up to 40 miles and a top speed of around 30 mph. Those aren’t crazy numbers, but they are more than adequate (足够的) for an ordinary bike. The company’s selling its bikes for just under $3,000. That’s in line with other e-bikes’ pricing, but Okapi’s bikes look more appealing than the others, which try (with varying degrees of success) to look like normal bicycles.
The bikes’ full suspension (暂停), hidden storage, and 1,000-watt motor all add up to a fun ride. Okapi’s design appears to be stronger and more able to handle the bumps (碰撞) than many other electric bikes, some of which appear to be modeled after old models. The main downside to Okapi’s design is that it supports a maximum (最大值) of 280 pounds, which may stop some riders from enjoying the bike.
Okapi’s approach to the e-bike is a little different from others’. While more than one company tries to hide their electric powertrain (动力系统) underneath slim bodywork, Okapi puts it all out for the world to see in a big, square battery pack. There’s almost a futuristic dirt bike look to the bike, which is less awkward (笨拙的) than it sounds.
Electric bikes are getting cheaper, almost every day, but Okapi’s product charges a high price: The Starter Edition bike costs $2,989.98. The good news is that Okapi’s bike looks better and stronger than many offerings on the market today.
Though they’re not the most mainstream product out there, e-bikes are worth the coin at almost any price. If you’re considering buying an electric bike, do it. E-bikes absolutely (完全地) offer you an enjoyable and exciting experience, even on the cheaper end.
1. What do we know about Okapi’s new bike?| A．Its look is ugly. | B．Its speed is low. |
| C．It has the lowest price. | D．It has a limited load. |
| A．The battery pack. | B．Slim bodywork. | C．The electric powertrain. | D．Okapi’s approach. |
| A．Objective. | B．Unclear. | C．Conservative. | D．Supportive. |
| A．E-bikes: Cooler than You Think | B．E-bikes: a Future Leader of Bikes |
| C．E-bikes: a Better Replacement for Cars | D．E-bikes: a Mainstream Way of Transportation |
【推荐3】Americans with small families own a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van.
A small car can hold four persons and a large car can hold six persons but it is very crowded. A van hold seven persons easily, so a family with three children could ask their grandparents to go on a holiday travel. They could all travel together.
Mr. Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. In the van, the sixth and seventh seat are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases when they travel. When they arrive at their grandparents'home, the suitcases are removed from the two seats which can then carry the grandparents.
Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family are traveling to the mountain s or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are traveling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.
1. What kind of family is more likely to buy a van?| A．A family living in the countryside. | B．A family with much money. |
| C．A family with more than two children. | D．A family with grandparents. |
| A．They sold their second car. | B．They built a new place for a van. |
| C．They sold their old house. | D．They moved to their grandparents' house. |
| A．A motor car. | B．A motor home. | C．A motorbike. | D．A big truck. |
| A．To visit their grandparents at weekends. | B．To drive their children to school every day. |
| C．To travel with all the family members on holiday. | D．To do some shopping with all the family members. |
| A．Because some people think motor homes are cheap. |
| B．Because big families can put more things in motor homes. |
| C．Because they can take people to another city when people are free. |
| D．Because they can let families have a happier life when traveling together. |
【推荐1】All people have some special talents! You might be a great writer or artist. Maybe you can run faster than anyone else in your class. Many people enjoy using their talents to help others. Take people working in technology for instance.
For example, money reading apps help people with visual impairments (障碍) identify the value of money. They help them use the right bills and make sure they get the correct change back.
Have you ever lost the use of a leg? Whether briefly or permanently, you’ll know how useful wheelchairs can be.
What does the future hold for technology?
| A．Adults also use text-to-speech features. |
| B．And they’re becoming more advanced every day. |
| C．They use their talents to make new devices that help others. |
| D．Text-to-speech technology is also a huge help to these people. |
| E．Voice command technology is gaining increasing popularity now. |
| F．If your eyesight is limited, you know just how helpful that can be. |
| G．You might be amazed at some advances you’ll see in your lifetime. |
【推荐2】You have probably read about robots replacing human labor as a new era of automation takes root in one industry after another. But a report suggests humans are not the only ones who might lose their jobs.
In New Zealand, farmers are using drones (无人机) to herd and monitor livestock, assuming a job that highly intelligent dogs have held for more than a century.
The robots have not replaced the dogs entirely, Radio New Zealand reports, but they have appropriated one of the animal's most potent tools : barking.
The DJ-Innovations (DJI) Mavic Enterprise, a $3,500 drone favored by farmers, has a feature that lets the machine record sounds and play them over a loudspeaker, giving the machine the ability to mimic its canine counterparts.
Corey Lambeth, a shepherd at a farm with sheep and cows, told RNZ the machines are surprisingly effective.
“That’s the one thing I’ve noticed when you’re moving cows and calves --- that the old cows stand up to the dogs, but with the drones, they’ve never done that,” he said, noting that it means the drones move livestock faster, with less stress, than the dogs do.
Farmers told RNZ the drones come in handy for more than just herding cows and sheep. The robots allow farmers to monitor their land from afar, tracking water and fed levels and checking on livestock health without disturbing the animals.
Jason Rentoul told RNZ last spring that a two-hour herding job that used to require two people and two teams of dogs could be accomplished in 45 minutes using a single drone. “Being a hilly farm where a lot of stuff is done on foot, the drones really saved a lot of man-hours,” he said. “The drone does the higher bits that you can’t see from the ground, and you would have to walk half an hour to go and have a look and then go, ‘Oh, there was no sheep there.’”
Farmers around the world are using drones. In South Africa, they monitor crop health from above, which boosts harvests, according to CN. In California, winemakers use drones equipped with sensors to grow healthier grapes, according to MIT Technology Review. Because drones fly closer to the ground, they are able to provide high-resolution images that are less expensive than hiring someone to fly an aircraft over a field, the publication reported.
In New Zealand, farmers say some dogs are learning to work alongside drones, identifying the machines as more co-worker than foe.
“A good herding dog, he's already figured out if the drones are working on that side. I’ll go over here (to the other side) and work over here," Rentoul said.
“For now,” farmers say, “there is still a need for herding dogs, primarily because they have a longer life span than drones, can work in bad weather and do not require an electrical socket every few hours to recharge.
“There’s definitely going to be places for dogs always on farm," Lambeth said. “The one down side of the Mavic drones or anything electronic is that you still need to bring them in and charge them.”
1. According to the passage, the drones can’ t replace the dogs entirely because ________.| A．the drones can’t bark as loudly as the dogs do. |
| B．the drones’ power and working conditions are limited. |
| C．the drones are much more expensive than the animal. |
| D．cows and calves are not used to seeing the drones. |
| A．Herding dogs will gradually lose their position on the farmland. |
| B．The drones can only copy the dogs' barking with the current technology. |
| C．The drones are multifunctional and leave the animals undisturbed. |
| D．The cost of using drones to monitor grapes is half the |
| A．Short service time and simple function. |
| B．Continuous maintenance and system upgrades. |
| C．Vulnerability to fierce animals and extreme weather. |
| D．Frequent absence and restricted battery capacity. |
| A．Robots are replacing human labor |
| B．Drones help keep livestock in line |
| C．Herding dogs will remain on farm |
| D．Farming is becoming surprisingly effective. |
【推荐3】For two centuries, the famous University of Cambridge debating society has hosted many prominent figures, from world leaders to scientists to comedians.
On Nov 21, the Cambridge Union hosted another extraordinary guest—a non-human debater called Project Debater. Designed by IBM, Project Debater is a machine that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to form a spoken argument. It can even listen and answer to opposite statements, much like a real person.
In the Cambridge test debate, it argued the topic: Al will ultimately (最终) do more harm than good. Before the debate, more than 1,100 arguments for the positives and negatives of AI were submitted (递交) to the IBM website. The machine then analyzed these sources and formed the basis of its arguments in minutes. Project Debater then showed off its AI by arguing for both sides of the debate.
Over a four-minute speech, it argued first that, “AI can only make decisions that it has been programmed to solve, while humans can be programmed for all situations.”
In support of AI, it then argued that AI would create new jobs and “bring a lot more efficiency” to the workplace.
This isn’t the first test for Project Debater. In June 2018, the machine went back-and-forth for 20 minutes against champion debater Harish Natarajan.
According to New Scientist, on both occasions, Project Debater repeated points and didn’t always sufficiently (充分地) support them.
Speaking to Cambridge Independent, Noam Slonim, the project’s lead engineer, said, “The AI is not perfect, but it’s going in the right direction.” The team hopes to improve the AI by researching why humans find certain arguments more persuasive than others. They also hope the test might provide well-informed viewpoints for society, governments and private companies.
1. What does the underlined word “prominent” mean in paragraph one?| A．Intelligent. | B．Outstanding. |
| C．Well-educated. | D．Creative. |
| A．can make decisions for all situations |
| B．argued with itself in the Cambridge test debate |
| C．can always find enough evidence to support its idea |
| D．defeated champion debater Harish Natarajan in June 2018 |
| A．It’s not so beneficial to humans. | B．It will defeat humans in time. |
| C．It remains to be improved. | D．It will ultimately do more harm than good. |
| A．a newspaper | B．a guidebook |
| C．a textbook | D．a research paper |
