Science is always advancing over time. A self-driving car from the Google may be coming to a street near you. However, you won’t be able to buy it now. “We’re working to build the world’s most experienced driver,” Kraft, director of the project, said. “Everything that we learn in one of our cars gets passed to all of our cars. But you may need to get over the idea of traditional car ownership along the way.”
Google’s software has already driven 5 million miles in U.S. cities, including an “early rider” test in Phoenix last April. Since then Google has grown confident enough to remove the “auxiliary wheel”: a human “safety driver”. Powering the vehicle’s self-driving functions is a series of cameras, radars and sensors on the car’s roof, which detect everything nearby from other vehicles and passers-by to cyclists.
Kraft stressed that Google’s cars aren’t connected—they don’t need a 5G wireless link to go anywhere. “The car has everything it needs to drive on the car itself.” He said, “There are no signals coming from outer space or something telling it to turn right.” The resulting ride may not be too exciting but safe. Kraft added. “We can see three football fields down the road, we would come to a stop before we ran into these crowds.”
Google’s system has a major advantage over the semi-autonomous（半自主的）systems of Tesla and Cadillac, both of which need continued human attention. Kraft said Google plans to have service in every major city by 2028 with thousands of cars driving themselves.
1. What does the underlined words “auxiliary wheels” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．A car that is very old. |
| B．A driver who has been trained well. |
| C．A part of a car used to sound the alarm. |
| D．A condition where a driver doesn’t know his role. |
| A．Because it can get away from danger easily. |
| B．Because it is equipped with 5G wireless link. |
| C．Because it can stop before the crowds occasionally. |
| D．Because it can keep a safe distance from everything nearby. |
| A．Google’s software has not been tested. |
| B．Google’s cars have not been put into the market. |
| C．Driving the Google’s car may not be too exciting. |
| D．Google’s cars still need driver’s attention all the way. |
| A．It’s affordable. |
| B．It’s still a theory. |
| C．It has a bright future. |
| D．It’s the most advanced by now. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Achieving a healthy work-life balance — an idea that has spread to countries around the world — has become one of the primary social goals today. This has resulted in an immediate need for companies to allow for a variety of workstyles such as working from home, while also providing a friendly work environment that can bring out the best in each employee.
It all sounds very promising, but in reality, most offices today feature (以……为特色) the same boring designs. To make matters worse, air conditioning is often kept to a minimum to cut electricity costs, while windows are covered with blinds to prevent dizziness from longer exposure to natural light. Employees who work indoors are forced to spend most of their days in these unpleasantly warm environments. Since the choice is to build costly new offices that are brighter and more open, there is a real need for solutions that can create a sense of brightness and openness.
This is where Mitsubishi Electric’s revolutionary new technology comes into play. It is a lighting solution to produce the exact deep blue color of a clear sky. Using this technology, offices can work in a way that was not possible with previous LED lights.
The blue skies that are seen on a clear day are produced by what is known as Rayleigh scattering (散射). Because blue light waves are shorter than red light waves, they are scattered towards us more strongly — this is why the sky looks blue during the day.
Mitsubishi Electric’s LED skylight uses the same phenomenon to artificially create the sky’s deep blue quality. It is made up of a slim sky blue panel (嵌板) and a four-sided frame. Of the four frames, only three are lit up at any given time, while the fourth remains dark as if the light were entering at an angle — an important detail that creates the false idea of actual sunlight pouring in through a skylight. Thanks to this technology, one can remain in a closed room and still enjoy the great excitement of looking up at a deep blue sky.
1. What is a healthy work-life balance like according to the writer?| A．It encourages employees to work indoors. |
| B．It improves employees’ health conditions. |
| C．It brings out the best of every employer. |
| D．It includes different kinds of workstyles. |
| A．The costly choices of most old offices. |
| B．The promising future of office workers. |
| C．The work conditions in the offices today. |
| D．The virtual solutions to improve productivity. |
| A．By letting actual sunlight pour in. |
| B．By lighting three sides of the frames. |
| C．By changing the previous LED light. |
| D．By showing pictures the deep blue sky. |
| A．Colorful. | B．Boring. | C．Dizzy. | D．Enjoyable. |
【推荐2】Universe started in the third grade when she and her father watched a blood moon — a total lunar eclipse (月食) — outside their Skokie house. “It is just really cool how the universe can change and how something like that happens,” Dobek said.
Now a seventh grader at East Prairie Elementary School, Dobek recently won the national Discovery Education Lockheed-Martin Beyond Challenge by designing a space station for traveling to Mars.
Dobek competed by handing in a two-minute video where she presents her design.
“My design will not only ensure the safety of the astronauts (宇航员) but also make sure their comfort is out of this world,” she says in her video.
Dobek’s design calls for building the Mars Storage Station to store plentiful supplies. In the video, Dobek explains how her spacecraft (宇宙飞船) — the Adventurer — will land in a space station. Dobek’s design includes physical activity for the astronauts. They can choose their exercise machines and virtual (虚拟的) reality environment. So they will be able to watch downloaded shows and even see places on Earth such as their homes.
Dobek said she began her project by performing her research and then she constructed the design over three weeks to a month, working on it whenever she could, including on weekends.
When Andrea Smeeton, her teacher, saw the video and her design before they were sent, she said she had a feeling that she could win. “I don’t know why but maybe it was the excitement and the detail in the project,” Smeeton said. “I have taught for a long time and many of my students are gifted but this project is just very creative and it gives hope to a space program.”
Dobek and her parents traveled to Washington D.C. in April where they learned Dobek had won. When she texted her teacher the happy results, Smeeton admitted that she cried.
“I want to tell other kids to follow their dreams,” Dobek said. “Whatever they want to do, they should kind of just push for it. They should always try their best.”
1. What change did Dobek show after watching the total lunar eclipse?| A．She determined to be a scientist. |
| B．She took to working with her father. |
| C．She got interested in the universe. |
| D．She gave up her dream of becoming an astronaut. |
| A．It replaces the role of the Adventurer. |
| B．It enables astronauts to connect with their family. |
| C．It ensures the safety of the supplies in the spacecraft. |
| D．It aims to make life in the Mars space station comfortable. |
| A．She felt it was pretty amazing. |
| B．She felt it was a little disappointing. |
| C．She felt it was less fun than she had expected. |
| D．She felt it was as good as other students’ designs. |
| A．Energetic and friendly. |
| B．Productive and selfless. |
| C．Strong-willed and generous. |
| D．Forward-looking and inventive. |
【推荐3】The world has seen many inventions. While most people are proud of those associate with their names, there are things making inventors feel the other way.
The pop-up (弹出) advert, by Ethan Zuckerman
Pop-up ads are convenient for those who are interested, but most people get annoyed when they are on computers. They may contain computer viruses. Just as we would blame the inventor, the man humbly accepted his invention isn’t one of the best. In his essay, Zuckerman wrote about the most hateful thing, “I wrote the code to launch the window and run an ad in it.”
The emoticon, by Scott E. Fahlman
Emoticons began to occupy screens crazily in 2011 and gained great popularity, especially with young men. It had been four years since Fahlman first used a “smiley face” in a computer message. He created the emoticon as a joke marker. But things are different. “It has gone to places I don’t approve of,” he complained to The Wall Street Journal in 2013. “It shouldn’t have been created.”
The office cubicle (隔间), by Bob Propst
In 1968, Bob Propst came up with the idea office cubicles, something that “would build a futuristic and tidy office style with no real walls or doors and provide a more comfortable environment”. But the man has come to hate what he has invented, as Propst recalled to Fortune at age 80, “They’ve changed and just become cubicles”.
The K-Cup, by John Sylvan
It seems everyone has a Keurig coffee maker for K-Cups. John Sylvan invented the K-Cup, aimed at facilitating office life of white-collar workers. Now it’s common in houses and companies. However, the single-serve plastic coffee cups aren’t eco-friendly. “I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it”, Sylvan admits. But! Good news for Mr. Sylvan: Keuring now offers varieties of recyclable K-Cups.
1. When was the emoticon invented?| A．In 2007. | B．In 2009. | C．In 2011. | D．In 2013. |
| A．The pop-up advert. | B．The emoticon. | C．The office cubicle. | D．The K-Cup. |
| A．They benefit human life greatly. |
| B．Their creators are blamed by the public. |
| C．Their inventors feel regretful. |
| D．They are very popular with young people. |
