1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Cars of tomorrow
Since 2008, when General Motors’ then boss delivered a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas 1 (offer) a glimpse of car making’s digital future. This year nearly 200 automotive firms signed up 2 the online event, which got cracking on January 5th. GM’s current chief, Mary Barra, addressed a speech that day. 3 other big carmakers, GM did not show up in person. But GM’s virtual show signaled how rapidly cars are evolving from oil—filled lumps of metal into devices stuffed with silicon.
Ms. Barra talked about GM’s transformation from automaker to platform innovator, celebrated its advances in commercial electric vehicles and autonomous driving, and 4 (release) a battery-powered version of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Rival firms raced to appear even more innovative. BMW demonstrated a system that changes a car’s paint colour at the press of a button. Mercedes-Benz went so far as 5 (claim) that its Vision eqxx concept, with interior materials fashioned from bamboo, cactus and mushroom, and a battery—powered range of 1,000km, was “reinventing the car”. Not 6 (overtake), consumer-electronics giants showed off their automotive stuff. Sony, a Japanese one, surprised many attendees 7 it announced a possible raid into car-making.
Other announcements were 8 (fancy) but more telling when it comes to the digitization of car-making. Mobil eye, the self-driving arm of Intel, which supplies chips to many big car firms, announced expanded deals with Ford, Geely and Volkswagen. Qualcomm, another chip-maker, inked new 9 with Volvo, Honda and Renault.
The courtship between carmakers and chip firms will only intensify. The worldwide chip shortage that knocked nearly 8m units off global car output is thankfully easing and annualized global car production could return to pre-pandemic levels by the second half of 2022, according to an investment bank. Still, car bosses are desperate to avoid a repeat. Many look enviously at Tesla, 10 own intimate rapport with semiconductor suppliers celebrated its full-year output for 2021 to a total of 930,000 vehicles.
