8.Google,the leading company in self-driving technology,has completely renewed its development program.Previously,Google had cars built by other companies,but now it will start building its own cars.
For the past four years,Google's technicians had been working on a way to return control to the human driver's steering wheel (方向盘) in a dangerous situation.However,Google now says that the switch from automation to human control will not be possible anytime soon.Google's heads realized that relying on a human that may be reading,working,or sleeping to take over in an emergency wouldn't work.So what's the solution?
Google has started to build a series of 100 experimental electric cars that look like a Smart car or Fiat 500.The only difference?There is no steering wheel,gas pedal (油门) and brake (刹车).The only things a human passenger controls are a red"e-stop"button for panic stops and a start button.The car's face is designed to make it seem friendly and help people accept self-driving te chnology.
Google employees had taken part in a long experiment,in which they used self-driving vehicles to work every day.There were no crashes.This is a major change from competing self-driving projects.Mercedes Benz,BMW and Volvo have all developed some self-driving cars,but none completely eliminate the driver.For example,the Mercedes Benz cars will stop if the driver takes his hands off the wheel for over ten seconds.
Google will limit its early cars to a top speed of 25 miles per hour for safety reasons.These cars are designed to drive in or around cities,not on highways.However,a Google engineer commented that once their safety has been proven,there will be no limit to the speed.In the near future,Google's self-driving cars may make our roads much safer,and of course drivers may feel more relaxed on the way.
32.Unlike a Smart car,Google's electric carsC.
A.can run not only on land but also under water
B.are equipped with an unusual steering wheel
C.just offer two control buttons for a passenger
D.are environmentally friendly and run faster
33.The underlined word"eliminate"in Paragraph 4 can best be replaced by"C".
A.train
B.employ
C.remove
D.frighten
34.We can infer from the text that GoogleB.
A.will change the top speed of cars completely
B.may bring about a big change in transport
C.has made great progress in improving road safety
D.gives more attention to the experiences of drivers
35.What would be the best title for the text?A
A.Driverless cars:closer to reality
B.Crash testing & highway safety
C.How do self-driving cars work?
D.The future of Google Search.
分析 文章主要向我们介绍了谷歌公司正在研发中的无人驾驶汽车,而且这些汽车离我们越来越近了
解答 32.C.细节理解题.由第三段中的The only things a human passenger controls are a red"e-stop"button for panic stops and a start button可知,谷歌公司的电动汽车为乘客仅仅提供了两个按钮用来控制汽车,故选C项.
33.C.词义猜测题.由下文的For example,the Mercedes Benz cars will stop if the driver takes his hands off the wheel for over ten seconds可知,奔驰汽车还是离不开司机,所以这里是说奔驰、宝马和沃尔沃这些车企还没有完全"去掉司机",即:实现无人驾驶,故选C项.
34.B.推理判断题.由最后一段中的In the near future,Google's self-driving cars may make our roads much safer,and of course drivers may feel more relaxed on the way可知,在不久的将来,谷歌公司有可能在交通工具领域引发一场大的变革,故选B项.
35.A.标题归纳题.总览全文可知,文章主要向我们介绍了谷歌公司正在研发中的无人驾驶汽车,而且这些汽车离我们越来越近了,故选A项.
点评 本文是社会文化类阅读理解.做这类题材阅读理解时要求考生对文章通读一遍,做题时结合原文和题目有针对性的找出相关语句进行仔细分析,结合选项选出正确答案.推理判断题也是要在抓住关键句子的基础上合理的分析才能得出正确答案,切忌胡乱猜测,一定要做到有理有据