The term “multitasking” originally
More than 3. 5 billion people worldwide spend an average of three hours a day glued to their smartphones. Researchers found that people who lowered their usage by one hour every day were
We are writing
Today, there are groups of native people around the world that still live a traditional lifestyle. Some live in remote parts of South America,
Online eating shows, or Mukbang, originated in South Korea and have gained
We all know the Internet. It has affected the words we use greatly. It has been 20 years since the website Dictionary.com
7 . The world’s top automakers are increasingly offering more electric vehicle models. This growth is expected to continue， with more people choosing to hit the road with clean-running electric- powered cars.
Environmentalists have praised the automakers for taking major steps to limit harmful pollutants linked to worldwide climate change. But electric vehicles are also known for not producing another kind of pollution—noise. They run on batteries instead of fuel， and can operate in silence.
While many people might consider this a good thing， quiet cars can also cause problems. The main danger is that people walking in areas around electric vehicles face a greater risk of being hit if they cannot hear the cars coming.
Governments in the United States and Europe have recognized this problem. So， they have set requirements for manufacturers to add warning sounds to vehicles operating on electricity.
The U.S.Department of Transportation finalized its rules a year ago. The rules require electric and hybrid (混合能源) vehicles to be equipped with some kind of warning sound when moving at speeds up to 30 kilometers per hour. The rules are aimed at preventing injuries among people walking or riding bicycles and to protect the blind.
So what kinds of sounds can we expect to hear from the next generation of electric vehicles? One of the easiest solutions would be for carmakers to simply reproduce the sound a car would make if it actually did run on fuel. But many industry officials believe this would be a mistake.They say this would not support the electric vehicle’s true identity. It would also limit great possibilities to link the car’s sound to a whole new image, which could help increase sales.
Frank Welsch is head of technical development at Germany’s Volkswagen. He said that finding the perfect sound mix is not an easy process. “The electric vehicle sound is its identity,” he said. “It cannot be too annoying. It cannot sound like anything we had in the past.”
An official from Mercedes-Benz said the sound was designed to provide a safe warning without annoying passengers inside the vehicle. He said the goal was to create a car that remains completely quiet on the inside, but fills the sound requirements and supports the model’s image on the outside.
It might seem strange to think that part of our automotive future is currently being developed in the same kinds of recording studios used by musicians. But that is exactly what is happening.
1. The underlined words “hit the road” in Paragraph 1 probably mean_________.| A．clean a road | B．start a trip |
| C．avoid an accident | D．reduce noise pollution |
| A．introduce the topic of the passage |
| B．list the advantages of automobiles |
| C．provide some facts about electric cars |
| D．stress the importance of saving energy |
| A．limit pollutants | B．increase sales |
| C．prevent injuries | D．make cars smarter |
| A．Electric Car Sounds Promote Sales to a Large Degree |
| B．Recording Studios Will Create Sounds for All Electric Cars |
| C．Governments Call on People to Design Electric Car Sounds |
| D．Electric Cars Need Creative Sounds to Replace Engine Noise |
