You’re on the third lap around the car park, there are no open spaces, and you’re already 15 minutes late for your appointment. Right now you’re wishing you could jump out of the car and let it go find its own spot.
Now there’s an app for that. Virtual Valet lets your iPhone tell your car to park without you in it. “You pull up to the roadside, push a button on your smartphone and the car takes care of everything else,” says Aeron Steinfeld, the lead researcher for the project at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
To find its own spot, the system uses a sensor suite similar to those found in many luxury cars. This includes a motion sensor that scans for moving cars and pedestrians, and a forward-facing laser rangefinder normally found in adaptive cruise control to determine the distance of objects in front of the car. Information from these sensors is then fed to an onboard computer to plan the vehicle’s course. The user can watch the whole process from his or her phone.
Better still, it will be affordable. The team has spent the last year moving from high-end imaging and processing equipment to less expensive components. In experiments, the vehicle was able to navigate through a crowded parking structure, find an empty spot, and park all on its own. And the greatest appeal of the Virtual Valet Parking App is that it requires no change to existing parking facilities or infrastructure.
For the moment, the only car equipped for control by Virtual Valet is Carnegie Mellon’s modified (改进的) Jeep Wrangler, which the researchers have named NavLab11. But Steinfeld hopes that major car manufacturers will adopt the technology.
It might be more than technology that holds up the show, however. Self-driving cars have been licensed in only three US states — California, Nevada and Florida — and it’s unclear how this app would agree with self-driving laws. Until these questions are settled, your insurance provider might be unwilling to cover a ding from a parking incident.
1. It can be learned from the second paragraph that .| A．parking lots are too crowded |
| B．parking spaces are too limited |
| C．your car can park automatically via a smartphone app |
| D．you can leave your car alone if you can’t find a parking spot |
| A．How to determine the distance of objects. |
| B．How the Virtual Valet Parking App works. |
| C．How to use the system. |
| D．How to analyze the information about the vehicle’s course. |
| A．It is very cheap. |
| B．It can help your car park wherever you want. |
| C．It is very convenient to use. |
| D．It can adapt to the present parking facilities. |
| A．no car manufacturers show interest in the technology |
| B．there will be some difficulties in promoting the technology |
| C．the technology is now widely used in the US |
| D．the technology conflicts with self-driving laws in the US |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run around the needle without any problems.
Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practised sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.
1. The problem Howe was trying to solve was________.
| A．what kind of thread to use |
| B．how to design a needle which would not break |
| C．where to put the needle |
| D．how to stop the thread from getting caught around the needle |
| A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine |
| B．he got some of his ideas from dreams |
| C．he was one of Howe’s best friends |
| D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep |
| A．strange images are used to communicate ideas |
| B．images which have no meaning are used |
| C．we can never understand the real meaning |
| D．only specially trained people can understand them |
【推荐2】Winning a remarkable science award is really a big deal, especially if you are 12 years old. But Shanya Gill, a middle schooler from San Jose, California, won the top award in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge for designing a fire detection system that is superior to existing ones, as stated in the press release.
“The top winners have exhibited boundless curiosity,” Maya Ajmera president and CEO of Society for Science, said in the press release. “Their remarkable research not only reflects their talent but also paves the way for an exciting new future.”
Shanya’s inspiration came after a fire destroyed a restaurant in her neighborhood during the summer of 2022, reported The Washington Post. “I had never really experienced something like that before,” she told The Washington Post about the early morning fire at Holder’s Country Inn, which started in the kitchen. “They had smoke detectors, and yet it still burned down,” she added.
After she studied fire statistics, Shaya spent over a year developing a fire detection system that she believes could have prevented the fire. Unlike traditional smoke detectors that sense active fires from the smoke in the air, Shanya’s thermal (热的) imaging device is designed to stop fires from occurring.
With a thermal camera and a tiny computer, the device detects when a heat source has been left unattended for ten minutes and sends a text message warning. Shanya wants to bring the costs down to make it even more common than hardwired smoke detectors.
“Shanya saw a problem, went after it and tried to solve it, and that’s what we need to encourage with all young people,” said Ajmera. She also highlighted the significance of supporting individuals, especially girls and kids of color, in STEM fields.
1. What can we learn about Shanya from the first two paragraphs?| A．She gained a lot of money in the award. |
| B．She showed a curious nature as a schooler. |
| C．She set a big stage for young people her age. |
| D．She was junior to other winners in performance. |
| A．Her desire to win the science award. |
| B．Her experience of a destructive fire |
| C．Her interest in computer programming. |
| D．Her goal to improve STEM education for girls. |
| A．It can send out a warning against a potential fire. |
| B．It consists of two parts that are easier to conduct. |
| C．It can detect active fires from the smoke in the air. |
| D．It functions when a fire breaks out within 10 minutes. |
| A．Reliable. | B．Cooperative. | C．Innovative. | D．Generous. |
【推荐3】When you are sitting in the car, do you ever notice the drivers looking over their shoulders or side to side in the car? Well, they are doing this to check their blind spots! Blind spots make driving extremely difficult and increase the potential for car accidents.
Fourteen year old Alaina Gassler from Pennsylvania noticed her mother struggling with blind spots while driving their family car. So she came up with an ingenious solution that won the first place and $ 25,000 in the Broadcom Masters Competition.
Blind spots are the areas around the car that cannot be directly observed by the driver.There are two kinds of blind spots- on the back of the car that cannot be seen with mirrors, and blind spots at the front of the car as well.
When a driver is changing lanes, he has to look over his shoulder through the side windows to make sure that there is no vehicle in the blind spot. This invisible area is big enough to hide a car!
The other blind spot is created in the front by the A-pillar (柱子)- the material on either side on the windshield (挡风玻璃) that holds the glass and forms the frame of the car. In some cars, this pillar can be quite thick. Usually, people or cyclists can be hidden by this pillar.
Alaina's design was to get rid of the blind spot created by the front A-pillar of the car,the one that helps hold up the windshield.
She put a camera on the outside passenger side of the car which then sent the photos to a projector above the driver's head. Then, she covered the inside of the pillar in a reflective fabric onto which the image was projected, Basically, her device made the pillar ''see through'' and removed the blind spot on that side of the car.
Alaina's solution is very creative and could be improved by using LCD displays that will make it easier to see during day time as well.
1. What can be learned about blind spots during driving?| A．They cannot be get rid of. | B．They make driving thrilling. |
| C．They call for careful driving. | D．They cannot be indirectly seen by drivers. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Creative. |
| C．Ridiculous. | D．Invisible. |
| A．By improving the A- pillar. | B．By using a camera to capture images. |
| C．By replacing LCD displays in the cars. | D．By using a mirror on the outside of the A-pillar. |
| A．An Introduction to Blind Spots. | B．A Warning About the Road Safety. |
| C．Scientific Research on Blind Spots. | D．A Teen's Creative Solution to Blind Spots. |
【推荐1】An experimental cleanup device called RemoveDEBRIS has successfully cast a net around a dummy (仿真的) satellite, imitating a technique that could one day collect spaceborne garbage.
The test, which was carried out this week, is widely believed to be the first successful demonstration of space cleanup technology, experts told CNN. And it symbolizes an early step toward solving what has already been a critical issue: junk in space.
Millions of pieces of junk are turning around in orbit, the result of 50 years of space travel and few regulations to keep space clean. At orbital speeds, even a small bit of paint crashing with a satellite can cause critical damage.
Various companies have plans to send thousands of new satellites into low-Earth orbit, already the most crowded area.
The RemoveDEBRIS experiment is run by a company and researchers led by the U. K.’s Surrey Space Center and includes Airbus, Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and France’s ArianeGroup.
Guglielmo Aglietti, the director of Surrey Space Center, said that an operational version of the RemoveDEBRlS technology would cast a net that remains fastened to the main satellite so the debris can be dragged out of orbit. It could target large pieces of junk, including dead satellites up to 10 meters long.
The RemoveDEBRIS satellite will conduct a few more experiments in the coming months, including testing navigation features that could help guide the satellite to a specific piece of debris.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the success of this week’s experiment was exciting, but he cautioned against “over- publicizing” it.
There are still enormous barriers to clear before operational cleanup tasks are underway, he said, and the most discouraging is figuring out how to fund such projects.
Aglietti, the Surrey professor who helped lead the RemoveDEBRIS project, said “The challenge will lie in persuading the relevant authorities to sponsor these tasks.” Aglietti said he hopes RemoveDEBRIS will conduct a few cleanup tasks per year, targeting the largest pieces of junk in the most crowded orbits.
1. What is the use of the RemoveDEBRIS satellite?| A．Demonstrating space technology. |
| B．Imitating a developing technique. |
| C．Collecting wastes existing in space. |
| D．Symbolizing great progress in space. |
| A．By throwing a net to take the junk from orbit. |
| B．By fastening it to the main satellite tightly. |
| C．By dragging satellites up to 10 meters long. |
| D．By targeting large pieces of junk carefully. |
| A．Accomplish. | B．Support. | C．Oppose. | D．Provide. |
| A．The RemoveDEBRIS Project Is Perfect |
| B．How RemoveDEBRIS Is Invented in the Lab |
| C．Why the RemoveDEBRIS Satellite Is Invented |
| D．Satellite Collects Space Junk for the First Time |
【推荐2】Solar cars aren't so familiar to us as solar water heaters on top of buildings. However, they're already in races. Solar-powered cars, to be exact, are powered by solar cells that convert (转换) solar energy into electricity. Every few years a collection of strange-looking low black vehicles gather in Australia for the World Solar Challenge, a solar-powered car race covering 3,020 kilometer from Darwin to Adelaide. Various teams from around the world will join in the race, most of which are sponsored (赞助) by universities and companies. The most successful team in the past decade has been a Dutch team from Delft University. Another team, consisting of Hawaiian high school students, was the subject of a famous film, Race the Sun.
The solar-powered cars are allowed to drive through the Outback, the remote and arid areas in the centre of the country in the World Solar Challenge. averaging over 90 km/hr. The purpose of the race is to promote the development of solar-powered cars. This aim has been more than realized, as solar technology has improved so much since the first race in 1987 that the cars can now go well over the legal speed limits. In fact, new rules have been introduced to reduce speeds.
The new aim for solar powered vehicles makers is to develop cars larger and more comfortable than the racing models. In December, Swiss teacher Louis Palmer completed a 17-month, 52,000 km trip around the world in a "solar taxi". His three-wheeled car pulled a trailer with solar cells and batteries. Palmer's solar car can travel 300 km on a single charge, and reach the speed of 90 km/hr. The prototype (原型) was expensive but he hopes that, if mass produced, it would sell for around 10,000 Euros.
1. According to Paragraph 1, solar-powered cars are .| A．invented in Australia | B．used as taxis in daily life |
| C．powered by electricity | D．produced in large numbers |
| A．takes place every year | B．is sponsored by universities |
| C．aims to develop solar cars | D．features cheap and comfortable cars |
| A．He's the winner of the race this year. | B．He's travelled around the world by air. |
| C．His solar car can travel 300 km per hour. | D．His solar car cost more than 10, 000 Euros. |
| A．Solar-powered Cars | B．Race the Sun |
| C．Car Race in Your Dream | D．Future Transportation |
【推荐3】Plant breeding(育种) is the science of changing the characteristics of plants in order to produce desired ones. Genes in a plant are what determine what type of characteristics it will have. Plant breeders try to create a specific outcome of plants and potentially new plant varieties by changing the genes of the plants through breeding, which is making new plants from parents of different varieties or species.
People all over the world are arguing about its benefits and disadvantages. Some people use the technology to produce desired characteristics of plants and animals. Other people are concerned that the genetically engineered plants may harm the environment and worried that they may be dangerous for people to eat.
There are many reasons for changing plants in this way. International development agencies believe that breeding new crops is important for ensuring food security by developing new varieties that are higher yielding, disease-resistant, drought----tolerant or regionally adapted to different environments and growing conditions. For example, some genetically engineered plants can live through frost or draught. As a result, farmers can make more profit because fewer plants will die.
Some genetically engineered plants are more nutritious. They have less fat,taste better or stay fresher than non-genetically engineered plants. This will allow people to buy better-quality fruit and vegetables. Some can resist natural pests and viruses spread by insects. This reduces the amount of chemical needed to kill pests, which is helpful to the environment.
However, genetically engineered plants can cause unexpected problems. Genetically engineered plants that resist pests may pass on that characteristic to a wild relative. This may cause the wild plant to spread fast, because pests are not naturally killing it. They can also harm animals. A type of corn has been developed which kills a species of insect that destroys it. The pollen(花粉) from this corn, however, can also kill monarch butterflies----the most beautiful of all butterflies, which do not harm the corn.
Genetic engineering is a very new science and we have a lot to learn about the good it can do and the damage it can cause. The main concern is that not enough tests are being done to ensure it is safe.
1. According to the passage, what is the objective of plant breeding?| A．To change the genes of plants. |
| B．To produce preferable plant varieties. |
| C．To beautify the environment. |
| D．To assess the value of the practice. |
| A．Because food is of better quality. |
| B．Because drought and frost hardly happen. |
| C．Because farmers can make more money. |
| D．Because higher production is guaranteed. |
| A．Less harmful chemicals are used. |
| B．They can adapt to different environments. |
| C．Some beautiful butterflies are killed. |
| D．The food they produce taste better or stay fresher. |
(①= Paragraph 1,②=Paragraph 2,③=Paragraph 3, ④=Paragraph4，⑤=Paragraph 5，⑥= Paragraph 6)
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
【推荐1】The home of the future won’t be completely different and we will be living in houses and flats just as we do today. But people will want to shape their homes to match their dreams. No two homes will be the same. People will be able to buy “house kits” containing a basic house structure, with movable walls, doors and windows. They will put together the different parts to create the home they want.
Many jobs that we do today will disappear, others will still exist but will change and new jobs will be created. Skilled workers such as builders, gardeners and electricians won’t disappear because machines can’t replace them. Teachers will still exist because students need human contact. But they will be using modern technology in class more and students will be working more from home. The medical technology revolution and space travel will create new jobs which we can only imagine today.
Space holidays will develop in the future, but these holidays won’t be for everyone because they won’t be cheap. Short space trips will develop first, then space hotels will orbit the earth where it will be possible to have a longer vacation. By the end of the next century, there will be holiday centers on the moon with leisure facilities for families.
Paper won’t exist in the future. Instead, there will be e-paper which people will be able to use over and over again. This will develop in order to save natural resources. E-newspapers and e-magazines will replace traditional newspapers and magazines and we will download information and news articles from the Internet every day onto our reusable paper.
The laws of physics tell us that the earth is going to disappear sometime in the future. This isn’t going to happen tomorrow but scientists predict that it will happen in five billion years when our sun explodes (爆炸). We will have to explore the universe and find another home. At some point in the distant future, either we stay on the earth and die with it, or we leave and move to another planet. There won’t be any other choice.
1. What will homes of the future be like?| A．They will be completely different from those of today. |
| B．They will be very similar to our homes. |
| C．They will be movable as you want. |
| D．They will be different from one another. |
| A．become a very common way to spend a holiday |
| B．be the cheapest holiday choice for families |
| C．still only be for very rich people |
| D．attract a lot of people |
| A．Because it won’t waste natural resource. |
| B．Because young people like it. |
| C．Because it will be cheaper to produce. |
| D．Because it will be convenient to carry. |
| A．if we want to live a better life |
| B．if we want to save the human race |
| C．when the earth explodes |
| D．when the earth is too crowded to live on |
【推荐2】It was in 2005 that Chris Jones of the University of California, Berkeley put the finishing touches on the world’s first online household carbon calculator. He hoped that, if he could show people how much greenhouse gas was associated with daily activities, they might change their behaviour and contribute in some small measure to saving the Amazon. Seventeen years later, trackers are providing a wealth of often-neglected information about the carbon emissions of everyday life.
Trackers work by asking users to answer questions such as: how many miles a year do you drive; how much is your annual household electricity bill; how often do you eat meat? They then calculate a personal or household estimate of emissions of carbon-dioxide equivalent(等价物) per year. What do they tell us?
Dr Jones describes the main household polluting activities as “cars, coal, cows and consumption, roughly in that order”. By far the largest single source of emissions is the family vehicle. Swapping it for an electric vehicle would save over 6 tonnes, or an eighth of the average American household’s yearly emissions.
No other change would elicit that much saving, though electricity in the home is responsible for over 5 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, so generating it with solar panels would come close. Like electric vehicles, a roof full of solar panels is not cheap. Changing diets costs less, and American households consume meat worth 2.7 tonnes of CO2e a year, far more than most people. If Americans went vegetarian, that would be like half an average solar roof.
Over the next 30 years, many countries are promising to move to net-zero carbon, implying that household emissions will have to be cut to close to nothing. Trackers, it seems, have daunting(令人怯步的) lessons for public bodies and private households alike.
1. Why did Dr Jones put forward the idea of carbon trackers?| A．To keep track of household activities. |
| B．To calculate the carbon emissions of everyday life. |
| C．To remind people to adopt a low-carbon lifestyle. |
| D．To learn how greenhouse gas was related to daily activities. |
| A．The purpose of the invention. |
| B．The targeted users of the invention. |
| C．The improvement of the invention. |
| D．The operating principles of the invention. |
| A．generate | B．accumulate | C．manage | D．consume |
| A．Trackers only give alarming lessons to private households. |
| B．The largest single source of emissions is the electric vehicle. |
| C．Consuming more vegetables than meat helps reduce carbon emissions. |
| D．Americans vegetarians spend half of their savings building an average solar roof. |
【推荐3】When did the voice inside your head start talking? I became aware of mine at about the age of 15. At night, I sometimes found it difficult to get to sleep because there was so much “mind chatter” inside my head.
In fact, mind chatter is quite common for human beings. Usually, whenever our attention isn’t focused, a stream of mental activities flows through our minds--thoughts about the future or the past, daydreams about various realities, or friends or other people. We often call this mental activity “thinking”, but this isn’t really so.
Real thinking suggests something active over which we have conscious (有意识的) control. It happens when we consciously use powers of reason and logic to evaluate different choices, make decisions and plans, organize our lives, solve problems and so on. But mind chatter isn’t like this. It’s purposeless, running through our heads no matter what our desires are and disturbing us.
For example, imagine you’re thinking about what courses to take for the next school year. As you are considering them, thoughts about your favorite subjects flood in, reminding you of a project that you really like. This makes you remember chatting with friends about a fascinating article on climate change. Suddenly, you remember the upcoming science fair and you worry about managing your time. All these thoughts leave you struggling to focus, and you end up seeking advice from classmates.
However, it’s unrealistic to expect to silence our mind chatter altogether. It’s such a natural part of our minds that it’s unlikely to disappear. We should accept it and treat it as a kind of physiological (生理的) process that takes place inside us but is not part of our identity. We should treat it in the same way that we treat the process like eating and the flow of our blood. We don’t get our sense of identity from them, so why should we identify with the voice inside our head?
1. How is real thinking different from mind chatter?| A．It is illogical. | B．It is related to active reasoning. |
| C．It lacks a clear purpose. | D．It is driven by desires. |
| A．Its inability to give advice. | B．Its connection to our memories. |
| C．Its impact on our concentration. | D．Its common presence in our mind. |
| A．It’s normal. | B．It’s unusual. | C．It’s beneficial. | D．It’s harmful. |
| A．To stress the importance of mind chatter. |
| B．To show mind chatter cannot define who we are. |
| C．To explain the link between mental and physical health. |
| D．To prove the human body’s physiological effect. |
