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(2018辽宁五校联考)
A research has shown that nearly 90 percent of traffic accidents are caused by human errors.So our aim is a fully autonomous (自动的) car that gets rid of the cause of most accidents:the driver.Researcher Hodgson points out, “For safety,the faster you can remove humans,the better,even if there are unfortunately a few accidents from new causes.It’s a question of balancing the number injured or killed by autonomous vehicles with the people whose lives are potentially saved.”
It’s an idea that Elon Musk, chief executive of electric car company Tesla Motors,has long believed. His company is determined to be the first to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle to consumers. Last year, Musk announced that Tesla’s 2017 goal was “to do an example drive of full autonomy all the way from L.A. to New York... and have the car park itself.”
However, even Tesla admits that there are problems to overcome—the software needs further validation (批准生效) and the appropriate regulatory approval needs to be in place.Indeed, recent crashes of Tesla vehicles and Google cars confirm that the software isn’t ready yet.
The U.K. government appears committed to encouraging the development of autonomous vehicles.It’s supporting four city trials, publishing the Modern Transport Bill to reduce red tape around their introduction and adapting the legal system to take into account problems such as insurance liability when a human
isn’t in control of a vehicle.
The insurance industry is similarly eager to help increase autonomy in cars. As the Association of British Insurers (ABI) points out,“Nearly 90 percent of road accidents are caused by human errors.” This costs motor insurers a shocking ￡ 20 million per day in claims.
1.What difficulty does the company Tesla Motors have?
A.New inventions may cause more injuries and deaths.
B.The company lacks confidence to make new creations.
C.The software should be made officially acceptable.
D.The traffic regulation has proved unreasonable.
2.What is the U.K. government’s attitude to autonomous cars?
A. Ambiguous. B. Positive. C. Cautious. D. Disapproving.
3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A.Insurance companies would like to support autonomous cars.
B.Human mistakes may be the key cause of traffic accidents.
C.Traffic accidents waste insurance companies quite a lot.
D.Motorists are surprised to hear about autonomous cars.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To show his deep love for autonomous cars.
B.To introduce a new development in technology.
C.To amuse readers with funny examples.
D.To provide a persuasive argument against autonomy.
语篇解读:研究表明近90%的交通事故主要是人为失误造成的。所以很多公司(如特斯拉)和政府开始制造或支持制造自动驾驶汽车,希望借此来减少交通事故。
答案及剖析:
1.C 细节理解题。从第三段中的...Tesla admits that there are problems to overcome—the software needs further validation(批准生效) and the appropriate regulatory approval needs to be in place.可知,特斯拉公司的问题是,他们的软件需要批准,即需要得到官方的认可与接受。
2.B 细节理解题。根据第四段中的The U.K.government appears committed to encouraging the development of autonomous vehicles.可知,英国政府鼓励自动驾驶汽车的发展。
3.A 主旨大意题。从最后一段可知,保险业也在急切地帮助提升汽车驾驶的自动性,因为人为失误造成大量的交通事故,机动车投保人需要向保险公司大量索赔。
4.B 主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了自动驾驶汽车的发展以及政府对这一技术的支持等,因此本文的写作目的是介绍一项新的技术。
