1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. adjustments B. emit C. hit D. lanes E. players F. preventing
G. semi-autonomous H. shift I. supervising J. traditional K. worn-out |
Baby Steps Toward Autonomy…
Companies, like Google and Tesla, didn't even exist when Toyota introduced the Prius in1997. However, they have become major 1 in the auto industry recently. Both of them aim to introduce fully autonomous cars ---that is, cars that drive themselves---within the next several years.
Self-driving cars are expected to be much safer than human-driven ones. But even if the first robot cars 2 the roads in the next few years, most of us probably won't give up driving entirely for at least another 15 or 20 years. In the meantime, 3 cars will gradually take over certain aspects of driving.
Companies have been adding 4 features to cars since the 1990s---things like adaptive cruise control, which uses sensors to adjust a car's speed based on the traffic in front of it, and automated parallel parking. Some cars automatically stop—or at least slow down—if a driver doesn't step on the brake in time to avoid a crash. In a certain model developed in 2017, the driver will be able to change 5 simply by hitting the turn signal for two seconds (the car will take care of the rest). Within a few years, cars may be able to determine when an accident is likely and make 6 to the cabin---moving seats, closing windows , retracting the steering wheel.
Even better than preparing for a crash, of course, is 7 one. Some vehicles 8 warnings when they detect, through cameras and sensors, that a driver is getting sleepy. Future cars might take over for 9 drivers---or automatically pull to the side of the road and shut down. Biometrics(生物识别技术）could aid this process. If a car has sensors that can measure a driver's breath and heart rate, it could 10 into self-driving mode when a driver has a heart attack.
