The number of buses, taxis and other vehicles on Kenya’s roads is growing every day. Now, the country’s first electric-powered motorbikes are coming onto the market. The bike is designed to cut down on pollution and aimed at low-income communities. Most motorbikes used in Kenya depend on gasoline, but not this new motorbike.
Three university students developed the new ecotran bike. It catches the sun’s energy, stores it in batteries and uses it to charge (充电) the electric motor. Robert Achoge is one of the student inventors. “Our hope is that by the fifth year, we will be able to cover the whole of Kenya with the electric motorcycle so as to protect the environment and provide affordable transport.”
The students have set up a charging station for the motorbikes in Nairobi. The small battery can run for 70 kilometers when fully charged. Once the power is used up, the motorbike has to return to the station while another charged battery is connected to the bike. The U.S. African Development Foundation (ADF) is helping set up two solar-powered charging stations in the port of Kisumu.
Each ecotran bike costs about $700. One taxi operator says the new motorbike costs less to operate than that running on traditional gasoline. “When it comes to buying gasoline, there’s no need. It’s basically good for various things. As long as you won’t take quite a heavy load (装载), you can go with it anywhere. Otherwise, it may break down halfway. But now people still have a preference to the gas-powered bikes.”
A Nairobi businessman Kennedy Kusimba is selling the ecotran bikes. He hopes they will become popular. “We also know they are more reliable compared to the gas-powered bikes. They are more efficient (效率高的) and they will last longer.”
1. What has happened to the vehicles in Kenya?| A．Motorbikes are not allowed on the road. |
| B．A new kind of motorbike is hitting the road. |
| C．There are fewer buses and taxis in the street. |
| D．Traditional motorbikes don’t need gasoline any more. |
| A．It was developed by the ADF. |
| B．It can charge itself while running. |
| C．Its energy comes from the sunlight. |
| D．It does more harm to the environment. |
| A．It’s better not to use it to carry too much. |
| B．It is a good choice for the long-distance journey. |
| C．It will take the place of gas-powered bikes soon. |
| D．It is much more expensive than a traditional motorbike. |
| A．A research plan. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A business report. | D．A science magazine. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Have you ever seen a car without a driver? It sounds crazy, but these computer-driven driverless cars will soon be filling roads near you. Tech companies around the world have been designing and testing driverless vehicles and the technology is available already.
So, how do they work? The cars are covered in sensors that can detect other cars and obstacles on the road. Sensors on the wheels also help when parking. Road signs are read by cameras, and satellite navigation systems are used. Finally, a central computer system takes in all the information and processes this to work out when to accelerate, brake and steer. All you have to do is type in the destination.
Sounds like your idea of heaven? Sitting back, looking out of the windows and even watching a film while “driving” will all be possible with this new technology. In addition, computers are generally more efficient drivers than humans, meaning emissions can be reduced. They also drive more safely than people—they don’t get distracted by music or friends, they obey the speed limit and they have quicker reaction times in case of an emergency.
However, there are still many drawbacks of driverless cars. Computers will have difficulties making ethical (道德上的) decisions. If a child ran out into the road, would the computer choose to hit the child or turn aside sharply and potentially hurt the car’s passengers instead? Moreover, I personally find driving fun. I’d miss never being behind the wheel myself. There would also be legal questions. Should children or drunk people, be allowed in a driverless car by themselves? Or would there need to be a responsible adult with a driving licence in the car at all times?
Although being driven around by a machine would perhaps mean that no one needs a driving license, many people would be put out of a job by the popularization of driverless cars. Bus, taxi and train drivers would be made unwanted.
I’m not convinced I’d want a driverless car, but it’s only a matter of time before they’ll become more affordable and commonplace on our roads.
1. What do you need to do when using a driverless car?| A．Control the sensors. | B．Read the road signs carefully. |
| C．Check the satellite navigation systems. | D．Put the address into the computer. |
| A．Their emissions. | B．Their advantages. |
| C．Their testing process. | D．Their reaction to an emergency. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By analyzing their harmful effects. |
| C．By raising some questions. | D．By sharing personal experiences. |
| A．They will be less expensive. | B．They will consume less energy. |
| C．They will do more harm than good. | D．They will be more strictly controlled. |
【推荐2】Aeronautics (航空学) specialists from the University of South Australia spent months studying the dragonfly’s (蜻蜓的) night and creating 3D modele from digital images to build a winged drone (无人机). Study leader Javaan Chahl believes that winged drones based on the dragonfly’s shape and movement will simply be more flexible and energy efficient.
Chabl’s team used a special photography technique to classify the wing shapes of 75different dragonfly species from museum collections. Their wings are long, light and hard. Plus, their long bodies give them excellent stability and balance, making it possible for winged drones to deliver awkward loads and undertake long observation missions.
Investigating the way that dragonflies remain stable during flight actually reveals the rechniques they use to get themselves out of tricky situations. Dragonflies are found to be able to perform upside-down back flips to regain balance and normal flight when they find themselves upside down mid-air. This special skill can even be performed while dragonflies are unconscious, which means it is a passive stability mechanism similar in concept to planes that are designed to glide to safety with their engines turned off. Engineers are looking to copy the dragonfly’s wings to create safer drones that can right themselves.
Of course, not all attempts to build dragonfly-like drones are successful. TechJet’s air vehicle was supposed to operate as an aerial camera, observation and security drone, but it failed before production got underway. Similarly, Insectothopter, an American dragonfly spy drone built in the 1970s, was deserted,
Yet the principles behind winged drones are solid. In fact, NASA has settled on a nuclear-powered autonomous craft called Dragonfly to explore the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034. NASA’s project is actually an air vehicle rather than a winged drone, but engineers are still convinced they can crack the code of nature’s most gifted flying insect and revolutionize unmanned flight along the way.
1. Why did aeronautics specialists spend months studying the dragonfly’s flight?| A．To build 3D models from digital images. | B．To clarify the flexibility and efficiency of drones. |
| C．To make winged drones modelled after it. | D．To display the shape and movement of the dragonfly. |
| A．glide to safety | B．avoid tricky situations |
| C．perform observation tasks | D．adjust themselves to stay stable |
| A．Skeptical | B．Supportive | C．Opposed. | D．Conservative. |
| A．Winged Drones: Still a Long Way to Go |
| B．A Dragonfly’s Flying Technique: Ferfect for Drones |
| C．Javaan Chahl: An Innovative Leader of Aeronautics |
| D．The Code of Nature: A Solution to NASA’s Space Exploration |
【推荐3】Have you ever imagined an insect-inspired robot, which weighs less than a gram, could one day help out in surgery (外科手术)?
Scientists have designed this small, “insect-bot” called mCLARI that can control and even change its body shape as it travels in different environments to fit through gaps. It’s 2 centimeters long, weighs less than 0.97 grams and can travel at a speed of 6 centimeters per second.It’s the smaller, faster replacement to CLARI, which was designed by the same team.
“Because of the robot’s small size and ability to change shape, we expect usage of this technology in four important areas,” the lead author Kaushik Jayaram said. These include disaster (灾害) response , check on high-value objects, environmental monitoring and medical treatment.
“In the long term, we hope such robots will be used more widely in moving through human bodies and performing surgeries that can’t be easily done at present,” Jayaram said. With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is moving closer to creating robots that can fit in different environments—just like the insects they’re inspired by.
The mCLARI robot has four legs and can move in narrow spaces by changing between running forward and side-to-side and can use different speeds in human bodies. Its legs are joined to its body through joints (关节), which enables mCLARI to change its body shape based on the environment it is in. For example, its legs can be lengthened up to 50% in certain spaces.
As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability while helping the surgeries. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on improving functions of robots,” Jayaram said. “And this is sure a great one-step forward of the technology. The robot will have entered the market by 2025 and will bring greater benefits to mankind, especially in medical treatment.”
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．Possible application fields of the robot. | B．Different types of the robot. |
| C．Several important features of the robot. | D．Working process of the robot. |
| A．Valuable but uncontrollable. | B．Modern but high-cost. |
| C．Heavy and time-consuming. | D．Advanced and effective. |
| A．Worried. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．Jayaram: A Scientist Studying Robot Intelligence |
| B．mCLARI Is Already Widely Available in the Market |
| C．CLARI: A Robot Invented by Inspiration from the Insects |
| D．A Tiny Shape-changing Robot Will Help Perform Surgeries |
