1 . On average, cars sit, doing nothing, 96 percent of the time. That makes them ideal candidates for the sharing economy. The potential to reduce traffic jams is enormous. A handful of car-sharing systems are already having a major impact on the total number of vehicles in our cities. Scholars have estimated that every shared vehicle removes nine to 13 privately owned cars from the streets.
The benefits will grow greatly as autonomous vehicles, that is, self-driving cars, currently available in experimental forms, gain a notable portion of the market. “Your” car could give you a lift to work in the morning and then, rather than sitting in a parking lot, give a lift to someone else in your family—or to anyone else in your neighborhood or social media community.
As a result, a single vehicle could go from one to 24 hours of use a day. A recent paper by our colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report s that, under such conditions, the mobility demand of a city like Singapore could be met with only 30 percent of its existing vehicles. In addition to vehicle sharing, autonomy could open up a new wave of ride sharing. Already applications such as Via, uberPOOL and Lyft Line allow different people to share the same ride, cutting operating costs and individual fares. Autonomy could boost ride sharing even more because all trips could be managed online. In cities, the potential for ride sharing is significant, based on analyses by our Sense able City Lab at M. IT.
New York City, for example, is obviously shareable. Our lab’s HubCab project gathered data from 170 million taxi trips involving 13,500 taxis in the city—specifically, the GPS coordinates (协调) for all pickup and drop-off points and corresponding times between the two. We then developed a mathematical model to determine the potential effect of ride sharing applied to those journeys. The project introduced the concept quantitative results revealed how taxi sharing could reduce the number of cars by 40 percent with only rainimal delays for passengers.
Combine car sharing and ride sharing, and a city might get by with just 20 percent the number of cars now in use, with its residents traveling on-demand. Of course, such reductions are theoretical. In real life, they would depend on how willing people are to share rides and adopt self-driving technology. But any drop in the number of vehicles could lower the costs and energy associated with building and maintaining our mobility infrastructure (基础建设). Fewer cars might also mean shorter travel times, fewer traffic jams and a smaller environmental impact.
1. What does the author imply in the first paragraph?A.Car-sharing is still in its infancy. |
B.Cars aren’t made full use of at present. |
C.Privately-owned cars have decreased by 13%. |
D.There have been fewer traffic jams in big cities. |
A.They can reduce the mobility demand of big cities. |
B.They will account for a large portion of the market. |
C.They can make it convenient for people to share the same ride. |
D.They will raise people’s awareness of environmental protection. |
A.how trip-sharing has helped the city |
B.how ride-sharing can be put into practice |
C.why people are worried about taxi sharing |
D.why mathematical models matter in making a city shareable |
A.We should share not only cars but also rides. |
B.People have no confidence in self-driving technology. |
C.The estimated reductions of cars on streets are theoretically groundless. |
D.Our mobility infrastructure cannot support the development of autonomy. |
1. How long will it take the man to get a visa by mail?
A.About three days. |
B.About two weeks. |
C.About three weeks. |
A.To Chiang Mai. |
B.To Bangkok. |
C.To Chicago. |
A.The man is planning a two-week trip. |
B.It’s not necessary to book a hotel in advance. |
C.The woman is a secretary. |
3 . If you frequent any kind of public transportation, then you’re well aware of certain types of passengers and passenger habits that are annoying. But it’s not just other passengers that get angry, there are certain things that drive the train attendant crazy.
We’ve all been there in that moment when someone boards a train trying to take several huge items with them to wherever they’re trying to go. They wind up taking up way too much space and blocking seats.
For some reason, people have a bad habit of talking very loudly to one another to a point where you can hear them from opposite sides of the train cart (车厢). This goes for playing music as well. Some people like to play music through their phone. This really bothers fellow passengers on the train.
A.Being really loud |
B.Arguing with others |
C.Here are some of the most annoying things |
D.Then who would be in charge of playing music on the train |
E.It’s one thing if you’re having something small such as an apple |
F.This can make things uncomfortable for everyone else on the train |
G.Plus when other passengers complain, guess who has to take care of it |
1. What can we learn about Mrs. Green?
A.She always drives very fast. |
B.She has an old and small car. |
C.She only drives a day every week. |
A.Blue. | B.Black. | C.White. |
A.Mike. | B.Mrs. Bates. | C.Joe. |
A.Neighbors. | B.Friends. | C.Relatives. |
5 . School Bus Safety in the United States
Each school day, millions of children ride school buses. Do you know that the school bus is one of the safest vehicles on the road? Less than 1% of all traffic deaths involve children on school transportation vehicles. However, children are more at risk when approaching or leaving a school bus. It’s important for you to understand school bus safety.
Stop for School Buses
When you see a school bus slowing down or stopping, it’s not just the bus that you need to have your eyes on — but the surrounding area, too. Children wait at least several feet away from a bus and often cross the street when they’re boarding or getting off the bus. This is why you must stop for school buses, and don’t attempt to pass.
Illegal School Bus Passing
Illegal school bus passing poses a significant threat to children and others on the road. In every state, it is illegal for you to pass a school bus while the stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing.
Understanding School Bus Lights
Learn the school bus laws in your state and always follow them, as well as the flashing lights that school bus drivers use to warn you.
Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children. You should slow down and prepare to stop your vehicle.
Red flashing lights and extended stop-arms indicate the bus has stopped and children are getting on or off. You must stop your car and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop-arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving, before you can start driving again.
1. What should you especially pay attention to when a school bus stops?A.Its driver on duty. | B.The direction in which you pass it. |
C.Kids getting on or off it. | D.The way to follow closely behind. |
A.After it has moved. | B.Before it begins moving. |
C.While its stop-arm is extended. | D.When the red lights are flashing. |
A.Parents. | B.Drivers. |
C.Teachers. | D.Students. |
1. Why was Jim unable to find Susan’s home
A.He hadn’t been told how to get there. |
B.He forgot to bring the map Susan gave him. |
C.He just spent thirteen minutes searching for her house. |
A.Come and get him. | B.Give him a new map. | C.Tell him the direction again. |
A.On foot. | B.By bike. | C.By bus. |
1. What does the man know about Zhuozheng Garden?
A.It was first built in the Qing Dynasty. |
B.It tops the other classical gardens in Suzhou. |
C.It is about 6 miles away from Gusu District. |
A.They are eighty miles apart. |
B.They are in opposite directions. |
C.They are quite close to each other. |
A.Tuisi Garden. | B.Liuyuan Garden. | C.Zhuozheng Garden. |
A.It is otherwise known as the Garden Museum. |
B.It features the Qing Dynasty's garden landscaping. |
C.It houses relics dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. |
People often get
1. What is the flight’s destination?
A.China. | B.The UK. | C.Mongolia. |
A.The movies will be played. |
B.The drinks will be served. |
C.The safety procedures will be shown. |
A.A tour guide. | B.A passenger. | C.A flight attendant. |
A.Vienna. | B.Rome. | C.Paris. |