英语听力精选进阶版 7343（在线收听）

看样子无人驾驶汽车的未来发展道路清晰可见。谷哥将开始制造自己最新研制的无人驾驶汽车，而不是改造其它生产商的车辆。谷哥制造的无人自动驾驶汽车只配有“启动”和“停止”两个按钮，除此之外，没有其它任何控制。

Google's driverless car project was officially launched in 2010. Since then it says its test vehicles have completed more than a million kilometres on public roads. They progressed from relatively simple driving on the Californian freeway to more complicated manoeuvring in urban areas.

So far, Google has used a fleet of ordinary cars which have been converted to carry self-driving technology. But now it wants to take the process a stage further by producing a purpose-built machine. It’s planning to create a fleet of about a hundred fully autonomous electric vehicles capable of carrying two people at up to 40 km per hour without any input from a human driver.

The ultimate aim is to get rid of the controls altogether, although early versions will still need to have a steering wheel and pedals.

Google believes it will be able to launch a pilot scheme using the new cars within the next two years. But the internet giant is far from being the only company working on self-driving technology. A number of major manufacturers have their own test programmes, among them Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW.

Quiz 听力测验

1. How far have test vehicles travelled?

A million kilometres on public roads.

2. What is the technology behind the driverless car called?

Self-driving technology.

3. True or false? The initial versions of the driverless car will dispense with all the normal controls of a vehicle, apart from a stop-start button.

False. The early versions will include the steering wheel and pedals.

4. Which word in the text means 'advanced towards a goal'?

Progressed.

Glossary 词汇表

manoeuvring （熟练的）操纵、移动

purpose-built 专门建造的

input （人为的）参与

ultimate aim 最终目的

steering wheel 方向盘

pedals （汽车的）脚踏板

pilot scheme 测试项目