剑桥雅思15Test1阅读Passage2原文及翻译：无人驾驶汽车

每年年中左右，国内“雅思图”都要翘首期盼一件重要大事的来临:雅思真题的发布。无论是备考初期、后期,甚至已经考过雅思的学生，也无论是学生还是老师,都会密切关注新题的发布。今年6月初,《剑15》如约而至、作为国内雅思培训的领军机构，新航道也时间为考生们带来了这太《剑桥雅思真题全解15:学术类》(以下简称《剑15全解》)。

本次我们盛情邀请了新航道全国冬分校最的学科带头人来组织编写这本《剑15全解》。其中，对于以客观选择题为主的听力与阅读部分，仍然请各校团队进行解题思路方面的指导;对于以主观题为主的写作与口语部分，我们则邀请了官方认证考官撰写地道的高分范文，作为官方范文之外的补充。下文中详细整理了剑桥雅思15Test1阅读Passage2原文及翻译：无人驾驶汽车内容，一起来看一下吧！

剑桥15电子版本，请扫描二维码，暗号“优化+剑桥15全解”，会有老师联系并发送资料。

1剑桥雅思15Test1阅读Passage2原文

Driverless cars

AThe automotive sector is well used to adapting to automation in manufacturing. The implementation of robotic car manufacture from the 1970s onwards led to significant cost savings and improvements in the reliability and flexibility of vehicle mass production. A new challenge to vehicle production is now on the horizon and, again, it comes from automation. However, this time it is not to do with the manufacturing process, but with the vehicles themselves. Research projects on vehicle automation are not new. Vehicles with limited self--driving capabilities have been around for more than 50 years, resulting in significant contributions towards driver assistance systems. But since Google announced in 2010 that it had been trialling self-driving cars on the streets of California, progress in this field has quickly gathered pace.

BThere are many reasons why technology is advancing so fast. One frequently cited motive is safety; indeed, research at the UK's Transport Research Laboratory has demonstrated that more than 90 percent of road collisions involve human error as a contributory factor, and it is the primary cause in the vast majority. Automation may help to reduce the incidence of this. Another aim is to free the time people spend driving for other purposes. If the vehicle can do some or all of the driving, it may be possible to be productive, to socialise or simply to relax while automation systems have responsibility for safe control of the vehicle. If the vehicle can do the driving, those who are challenged by existing mobility models - such as older or disabled travellers - may be able to enjoy significantly greater travel autonomy.

DThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated automated mobility in Singapore, finding that fewer than 30 percent of the vehicles currently used would be required if fully automated car sharing could be implemented. If this is the case, it might mean that we need to manufacture far fewer vehicles to meet demand. However, the number of trips being taken would probably increase, partly because empty vehicles would have to be moved from one customer to the next. Modelling work by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute suggests automated vehicles might reduce vehicle ownership by 43 percent, but that vehicles' average annual mileage would double as a result. As a consequence, each vehicle would be used more intensively, and might need replacing sooner. This faster rate of turnover may mean that vehicle production will not necessarily decrease.

EAutomation may prompt other changes in vehicle manufacture. If we move to a model where consumers are tending not to own a single vehicle but to purchase access to a range of vehicles through a mobility provider, drivers will have the freedom to select one that best suits their needs for a particular journey, rather than making a compromise across all their requirements. Since, for most of the time, most of the seats in most cars are unoccupied, this may boost production of a smaller, more efficient range of vehicles that suit the needs of individuals. Specialised vehicles may then be available for exceptional journeys, such as going on a family camping trip or helping a son or daughter move to university.

2剑桥雅思15Test1阅读Passage2原文翻译

无人驾驶汽车

A 汽车行业已经习惯了去适应制造过程的自动化。从20世纪70年代起，汽车生产自动A 化的施行极大地节约了成本，提高了汽车量产的可靠性和灵活性。如今，汽车生产即将迎来新一轮的挑战，这次同样是来自自动化。不过，这一次(的自动化)与制造造程无关，而是与汽车本身有关。

关于汽车自动化的研究项目并不新鲜。具有部分自动驾驶功能的汽车已经问世50多年了，曾为驾驶辅助系统带来了重大贡献。但自从谷歌公司2010年宣布它已经在加州的道路上测试自动驾驶汽车以来，这一领域的进展迅速加快了步伐。

B 相关技术进步如此之快有很多原因。一个经常被提及的(发展该技术的)目的是出于B 安全考虑;的确，英国交通研究实验室的研究表明，90%以上的道路碰撞事故中，人为失误是影响的因素之一，且在绝大多数事故中是罪魁祸首。驾驶自动化或许有助于减少这种情况的发生。

另一个目的是节省人们的开车时间留作他用。如果汽车可以部分或全自动驾驶，那么在自动驾驶系统操控汽车的安全时，人们就可能去忙工作上的事、进行社交或简单地放松一下。如果汽车能自动驾驶，那些受到现有出行方式限制的人一-比如老年乘客或残疾乘客-或许就能享受到更大的出行自主性。

C 除了这些看得见的好处，我们还可以考虑对交通和社会的更广泛的影响，以及制造过程因此可能需要做哪些调整。如今，平均每辆车有90%以上的时间都是停放在停车场的。驾驶自动化意味着共享汽车新方案变得更加可行，尤其是在出行需求旺盛的市区。如果有相当一部分人选择使用共享自动驾驶汽车，那么极少量的汽车就能满足人们的出行需求。

D 麻省理工学院研究了新加坡的自动驾驶出行，发现如果能够实现全自动驾驶汽车的共享，那么我们对汽车的需求就不到现在保有量的30%。如果是这样的话，或许意味着生产更少的汽车就能满足当下的需求。不过，营运的次数可能会相应增加，部分是因为空车必须从一个乘客处转移到下一个乘客处。

密歇根大学交通研究所的模型研究表明，自动驾驶汽车可能会减少40%的汽车保有量，但汽车的平均年行驶里程也会因此翻倍。所以,每辆车的使用率会更高,被更替的速度会更快。这种更快的周转率可能意味着汽车产量不会必然减少。

E 驾驶自动化可能会导致汽车制造业发生一些其他变化。如果我们转换到一种新的模式即消费者不打算买某一辆车，而是想从汽车供应商处获取一系列车的使用权， 那他们就可以为了特定出行自主选择一辆最能满足需求的汽车，而不是通盘考虑所有需求之后再做出折中的决定。

由于多数时候，多数汽车的大部分座位都是空着的，这可能会促使一种体型更小、利用率更高的车型出现，以满足个人的需求。一些特定的出行活动，比如全家外出露营或送儿女上大学等，可能会有专用汽车来满足需求。

F 在自动驾驶汽车大量上路之前，我们仍有许多障碍需要克服。其中包括一些技术难点需要考量，以确保汽车在可能遇到的无数交通、天气和路况问题下都能正常运行;而当汽车不再需要司机驾驶时，如何理解归责和执法的规章也是一项挑战;此外，要让群众信任和接受自动驾驶汽车，认可它们是出行方式的助益，我们还面临一些社会性的变革。

G 显而易见，我们面临着诸多挑战，但通过稳健的、有针对性的研究，这些挑战很可能在未来10年内得以克服。人们的出行方式可能会发生极大的变化，也将伴随着其他技术(如远程呈现和虚拟现实)的发展，因此我们很难对未来做出具体的预测。但有一点是可以肯定的：变革将至，而能否灵活应对这些变化，对那些塑造未来出行方式的汽车制造从业者而言至关重要。