Self-driving cars are just around the corner. Such vehicles will make getting from one place to another safer and less stressful. They also could cut down on traffic, reduce pollution and limit accidents. But how should driverless cars handle emergencies (突发情况)? People disagree on the answer. And that might put the brakes on this technology, a new study concludes.
To understand the challenge, imagine a car that suddenly meets some pedestrians in the road. Even with braking, it’s too late to avoid a crash. So the car’s artificial intelligence must decide whether to swerve (急转弯). To save the pedestrians, should the car swerve off the road or swerve into oncoming traffic? What if such options would likely kill the car’s passengers?
Researchers used online surveys to study people’s attitudes about such situations with driverless cars. Survey participants mostly agreed that driverless cars should be designed to protect the most people. That included swerving into walls (or otherwise sacrificing their passengers) to save a larger number of pedestrians. But there is a hitch (困境). Those same surveyed people want to ride in cars that protect passengers at all costs — even if the pedestrians would now end up dying. Jean Bonnefon is a psychologist at the Toulouse School of Economics in France. He and his colleagues reported their findings in Science.
“Autonomous cars can completely change transportation”, says study coauthor Iyad Rahwan. But, he adds, this new technology creates a moral dilemma (道德两难) that could slow its acceptance.
Makers of driverless cars are in a tough spot, Bonnefon’s group warns. Most buyers would want their car to be programmed to protect them in preference to other people. However, regulations might one day instruct that cars must act for the greater good. That would mean saving the most people. But the scientists think rules like this could drive away buyers. If so, all the potential benefits of driverless cars would be lost.
Compromises might be possible, Kurt Gray says. He is a psychologist at the University of North Carolina. He thinks that even if all driverless cars are programmed to protect their passengers in emergencies, traffic accidents will decrease. Those vehicles might be dangerous to pedestrians on rare occasions. But they “won’t speed, won’t drive drunk and won’t text while driving, which would be a win for society.”
1. The underlined word “challenge” in paragraph 2 refers to ________.| A．people’s negative attitudes towards self-driving cars |
| B．how self-driving cars reduce traffic accidents |
| C．the technical problems that self-driving cars have |
| D．how self-driving cars handle emergencies |
| A．self-driving cars’ artificial intelligence needs improvement |
| B．the busy traffic may be a problem for self-driving cars |
| C．people are in a moral dilemma about driverless cars |
| D．self-driving cars should be designed to protect drivers |
| A．Regulations are in favour of drivers. |
| B．Most people dislike self-driving cars now. |
| C．Self-driving car makers are in a difficult situation. |
| D．The potential benefits of driverless cars are ignored. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Critical. | D．Disapproving. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】More and more people like bicycling and it is no surprise. It is fun, healthy and good for the environment.
Maybe that's why there are 1.4 billion bicycles and only 400 million cars on roads worldwide today. Bikes can take you almost anywhere, and there is no oil cost! Get on a bicycle and ride around your neighborhood. You may discover something new all around you. Stopping and getting off a bike is easier than stopping and getting out of your car. You can bike to work and benefit(受益)from the enjoyable without polluting the environment. You don't even have to ride all the way.
Folding(折叠) bikes work well for people who ride the train. Just fold the bike and take it with you. You can do the same on an airplane. A folding bike can be packed in a suitcase. You can also take a common bike with you when you fly. But be sure to look for information by getting on airline websites. Not all airlines are bicycle-friendly to travelers.
Health benefits of bicycling
It helps to prevent heart diseases
Bicycling helps to control your weight
A 15-minute bike ride to and from work three times a week burns off five kilos of fat in a year.
Bicycling can improve your mood.
Exercise like bicycling has been shown to make people feel better, more relaxed and self-confident.
1. From the passage, we know that bicycling is becoming very .| A．popular | B．surprising |
| C．exciting | D．expensive |
| A．Driving cars is healthier than riding bikes. |
| B．Bicycling is enjoyable exercise for people. |
| C．Riding a bike pollutes your neighborhood. |
| D．Common bikes are welcomed by all airlines. |
| A．the benefit of cycling |
| B．the different kinds of bicycle |
| C．bicycling is healthier than driving |
| D．the disadvantages of riding a bicycle |
【推荐2】New England Fall Leaf Rail Travels
Fall colors and fantastic destinations throughout the East Coast and beyond come to life on fall leaf train tours. New England Fall Leaf Rail Travels through a backdrop of gold rust and dark red are the best way to experience nature's greatest event as scenic trains take travelers to some of the United States' leading destinations for leaves. Admire the changing colors as you travel aboard heritage and Amtrak train lines and enjoy an up-close look at the scenery with coach tours and beautiful passenger liners. Select from a variety of fall leaf trips that highlight colorful destinations through sightseeing tours and attractive trips. Dip yourself in the fat-beauty of the Midwest in places like Northern Michigan, where guests enjoy the sights of Mackinac Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Door County, famous for its spectacular Lake Michigan scenery and the endless wide countryside.
Travelers can go to the striking Smoky Mountains, stopping in beloved cities in both Tennessee and North Carolina. There are also packages that highlight New England in the fall, and these journeys include well-known regional destinations. The rail travels include guided tours in cities like Boston or scenic bus touts along byways. Some of the nation's most Picturesque heritage railways are also found in New England, for example, the Conway Scenic Railway in New Hampshire, which travels through the colorful peaks of the White Mountains
Charge:
Single price: $1,400 per person for 6 days
Group（more than one person）price: $1,200 per person for 6 days
Accommodation and airline tickets are included.
1. Which of the following are the highlights of the rail travels?| A．The oldest villages. | B．The latest trains. | C．Colourful leaves. | D．Traditional cultures. |
| A．Tour guides in Boston. | B．Free pictures of New England |
| C．A walk in the White Mountains | D．A hands-on climb to the top of the mountain. |
| A．$1,200. | B．$1,400. | C．$2,400 | D．$2,800. |
【推荐3】This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles. They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.
The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.
Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.
“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.
Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability (责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.
An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.
But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars,” Merat says. “You know — no driver.”
Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without human operation.
Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.
That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.
1. What does the phrase “death valley” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．A place where cars often break down. | B．A case where passing a law is impossible. |
| C．An area where no driving is permitted. | D．A situation where drivers’ role is not clear. |
| A．stop people from breaking traffic rules | B．help promote fully automatic driving |
| C．protect drivers of all ages and races | D．prevent serious property damage |
| A．Singapore | B．the UK | C．the US | D．Germany |
| A．Autonomous driving: Whose liability? | B．Fully automatic cars: A new breakthrough |
| C．Autonomous vehicles: Driver removed! | D．Driverless cars: Root of road accidents |
【推荐1】Self-driving Cars Could Be Allowed on the UK Motorways Next Year
Motorists could be allowed to let their cars drive themselves on motorways, using automated technology, as early as next year, under proposals being considered by the government.
While the technology has been expected to help navigate traffic jams at low speed, the government is considering legalizing it for use at speeds of up to 70 mph in the slow lanes of motorways, with the cars automatically staying in lane and slowing down for vehicles in front.
A crucial question in the government consultation, launched on Tuesday, is whether the driver will be held legally responsible for the car or whether the car will be defined as an automated vehicle.
While the driver must remain ready to take over when prompted by the vehicle, it could be ruled that the technology provider would be legally responsible when the Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) is engaged.
The transport minister, Rachel Maclean, said the outcome could be a significant step forward in changing the way cars are driven: “Automated technology could make driving safer, smoother and easier for motorists, and the UK should be the first country to see these benefits, attracting manufacturers to develop and test new technologies.”
The AA backed the moves. Edmund King, president of the motoring organization, said the government was “right to be consulting on the latest collision-avoidance system, which has the potential to make our roads even safer in the future”.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said it could prove “life-changing”, adding, “This advanced technology is ready for rollout in new models, so today’s announcement is a welcome step in preparing the UK for its use, so we can be among the first to grasp the benefits of this road safety revolution.”
However, some were skeptical (怀疑的) that cars would be designated as legally automated, as the government suggested. Jim Holder, editorial director of What Car (英国汽车杂志) said, “This is an industry under massive financial pressure. Why would they take on another huge insurance risk?”
Holder said trials of automated lane keeping technology so far were not reassuring, “They’re not necessarily at the point where you’d trust them enough. They work 90% of the time, but that’s not enough.”
1. What’s the main problem in the government consultation?| A．Whether motorists could be allowed to let their cars drive automatically. |
| B．Whether the self-driving technology is mature enough to keep the car safe. |
| C．Whether the driver will be held legally responsible for the car. |
| D．Whether the speed of self-driving cars should be capped. |
| A．Rachel Maclean. | B．Edmund King. | C．Mike Hawes. | D．Jim Holder. |
| A．To give proofs to support Jim Holder’s opinion. |
| B．To further explain Jim Holder’s argument. |
| C．To set examples of Jim Holder’s statement. |
| D．To contrast with Jim Holder’s previous ideas. |
| A．The author analyzes the government’s proposals objectively. |
| B．The author also approves that self-driving cars could be allowed on the UK motorways. |
| C．The author is skeptical that cars would be designated as legally automated. |
| D．The author is too conserved to express his or her opinions. |
【推荐2】Linus Torvalds, who’s from Finland, began programming computers when he was 11. As a young man, he finished lots of challenging programming tasks, just out of curiosity.
In 1991, when he was 21, Torvalds managed to get a very simple system working. He posted a message on the Internet, asking if anyone had suggestions for the free system for computers he was developing as a hobby. Several people responded. Torvalds added their ideas to his system and then shared it with them. A few weeks later, on October 5, 1991, Torvalds put a new version of his system on the Internet, allowing anyone to download it for free.
The system was later named Linux after Torvalds. And that pattern—getting suggestions, building them into the software, and then releasing it for free—has continued. The system is open for anyone to change and improve. Over the years, more and more people began using Linux. Many helped out, making it more stable and more powerful. For the first version of the system, Torvalds wrote about 10,000 lines of computer code. Today, Linux has roughly 30 million lines of code.
Large businesses began using Linux because it saved them money. Some companies created whole businesses out of offering and supporting Linux.
Linux has failed to gain traction among mainstream desktop users, where it has a market share of about 2.38 percent, or 3.59 percent if you include ChromeOS, compared to Windows (73.04 percent) and macOS (15.43 percent). However, Linux currently runs on everything from the smartphone we rely on every day to the International Space Station. Out of the top 100 million Internet servers, 96.3 percent run Linux. To rely on the Internet is to rely on Linux!
Thirty years after Torvalds first presented his system to the world, he’s still in charge of developing Linux. Now it’s the world’s most popular free operating system. Happy 30th birthday!
1. What made Torvalds develop his operating system?| A．His interest. | B．His confidence. |
| C．His tough experience. | D．His friends’ suggestions. |
| A．Its worldwide popularity. | B．Cooperation with other systems. |
| C．Large companies’ support. | D．The policy of opening up. |
| A．Benefit. | B．Recognition. | C．Assessment. | D．Improvement. |
| A．To analyze why large businesses use Linux. |
| B．To recommend a popular operating system. |
| C．To celebrate Linux’s 30 world-changing years. |
| D．To predict what operating systems will be like. |
【推荐3】“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives. But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives?
Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy(时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
1. The passage is mainly about _______.| A．problem with technology |
| B．improvements of our life with technology |
| C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life |
| D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology |
| A．share a truth about life |
| B．tell us what life was like long time ago |
| C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen |
| D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same |
| A．they liked to live simple lives |
| B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions |
| C．they were troubled by modern inventions |
| D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them |
| A．Busy on line | B．Free | C．Be able to | D．Be found by others. |
【推荐1】Cryonics is the practice of cooling dead organic tissue. This is used on humans or animals that have recently died. The hope is to bring them back to life in the near future. By law, it can only be performed on humans after they are legally dead. Many scientists and doctors think cryonics is totally morally unacceptable. However, there are also many who support cryonics.
Supporters of cryonics hope that future technology will improve. Molecular technology is especially hoped to reverse (逆转) the early stages of clinical death. It is hoped that this will enable the repair of tissue on a very tiny level. It could also allow damaged tissues and organs to regenerate. They also assume that disease and aging will one day be reversible.
These supporters want to store the memory and identity from the brain of people who have recently died. Cryonics attempts to do this by using liquid that preserves the brain. If this is done before cooling, it will prevent injury. This cooling liquid saves the fine cell structures of the brain where memory and identity exist.
Critics of cryonics think this process is a waste of time and money. They base their opinions on the current level of science. It is true that cells, tissues, blood vessels, and some small animal organs can be reversibly preserved. Some frogs can even survive for a few months in a partially frozen state if they are kept a few degrees above freezing. But this is not true cryopreservation. There is no proof that the identity and memory of a person can be restored after death has occurred.
Critics also think that if it were possible to bring dead people back to life, it would cause many social problems. Critics worry it would cause a huge overpopulation problem. Many also think trying to reverse death is immoral because it is against the will of their God.
1. What can we know about cryonics from paragraph 1?| A．Cryonics is used before people's death. |
| B．All scientists aren't in favor of the use of cryonics. |
| C．Laws forbid the use of cryonics on legally dead people. |
| D．Cryonics tries to cool dead organic tissue by using liquid. |
| A．copy. | B．return. |
| C．freeze. | D．regrow. |
| A．It will make people's memory lost. |
| B．Injury will occur during the process. |
| C．There is scientific uncertainty about it. |
| D．It goes along with their religious belief. |
| A．The use of cryonics has a bright future. |
| B．Cryonics is still a controversial practice. |
| C．The practice of cryonics is limited by law. |
| D．There is an advance in medical technology. |
【推荐2】In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.
This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with the feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that-and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.
The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.
Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year—about 64 items per person—and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.
Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes-and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can’t be knocked off.
Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment—including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line—Cline believes lasting change can only be affected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.
1. Priestly criticizes her assistant for her _____________.| A．poor bargaining skill. | B．insensitivity to fashion. |
| C．obsession with high fashion. | D．lack of imagination. |
| A．accusation. | B．enthusiasm. | C．indifference. | D．tolerance. |
| A．Vanity has more often been found in idealists. |
| B．The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability. |
| C．People are more interested in unaffordable garments. |
| D．Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing. |
| A．Satire on an extravagant lifestyle. | B．Challenge to a high-fashion myth. |
| C．Criticism of the fast-fashion industry. | D．Exposure of a mass-market secret. |
【推荐3】We’re frequently told that our attention problem-being easily distracted-result from modern technology. If we truly want to focus, according to the popular belief, we need to turn off all our digital devices and quit social media.
Here’s my opinion about that idea. This era(时代)is no different than any other-there has always been a “crisis of attention”. Think about life long ago: people in ancient India or Europe didn’t have smartphones and social media, but they were faced with the same problem.
A crisis of attention can happen anytime you don’t allow yourself a break-when you don’t allow your mind to daydream, which may inspire your creativity. We are always engaged in something. With these digital tools at our fingertips, we have constant access to all these forms of communication, content, and interaction, and we don’t let our thoughts wander(漫游)freely. When was the last time you stood in line at a store and just…looked around? Thought about whatever came to your mind? Or did you pull out your phone, check your texts, read your email during that time?
We all do it. We catch ourselves all the time going from one type of mental engagement to the next. Like surfing online (clicking from link to link), we go from one task to the next and the next. We are “all task and no downtime”. Even something you might think of as relaxing is more engagement. Checking your phone messages may seem “fun”, but it’s just another task for your attention. Your attention is focused on task after task after task, without a moment for the mind to wander freely.
It’s not always realistic to unplug. We can’t just turn off our phones and pause our email. We can’t create a distraction-free world. The problem is not the existence(存在)of modern technology; rather, it’s how we’re using it.
1. Why does the author mention people in ancient India?| A．To argue against the popular belief. |
| B．To discuss the benefits of technology. |
| C．To suggest a solution to the attention problem. |
| D．To show the seriousness of the attention problem. |
| A．Chatting with friends. | B．Reading a newspaper. |
| C．Sitting back doing nothing. | D．Checking phone messages. |
| A．Work long hours. | B．Improve technology. |
| C．Stop using digital devices. | D．Balance work and leisure. |
| A．Culture. | B．Fashion. |
| C．History. | D．Opinion. |
