VOA慢速英语2019 尤塞恩·博尔特把他的电动滑板车带到了日本

Usain Bolt Brings His E-Scooters to Japan

Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt co-founded the company Bolt Mobility¹ last year in the U.S.

奥运会金牌得主塞恩·博尔特去年在美国联合创办了博尔特移动公司。 

Now, he is bringing his electric scooters to Japan.

他正带着他的电动滑板车进军日本。 

He hopes officials will see the environmental value in the vehicles and amend² some laws on their use.

他希望官员们能看到这些车的环保价值，并修改一些关于它们使用的法律。 

Under current Japanese laws, electric scooters, also known as e-scooters, must be used on roads and have license³ plates.

根据日本现行法律，电动滑板车必须在道路上行驶，并持有车辆牌照。 

And riders must have a motorcycle license.But Bolt Mobility wants to limit scooter use in Japan to private land, which is not required to follow traffic laws.

骑车的人必须有机动车驾驶执照。但博尔特移动公司希望将日本的滑板车使用限制在私有土地上，在私有土地不需要遵守交通法规。

And company representatives are talking with regulators about easing other restrictions⁴.

公司代表正在与监管机构讨论放松其他限制。 

They say Bolt scooters can reduce traffic, which can lead to lower emissions⁵.

他们说，博尔特滑板车可以减少交通流量，从而降低排放。 

Usain Bolt hopes his celebrity⁶ can help persuade lawmakers to his companys message.

尤塞恩·博尔特希望他的名望能帮助说服立法者接受他公司的意见。 

“We’re still talking and trying to figure out how to push forward and do better things for the environment, because that’s where it started,” he said in an interview with Reuters News Agency. “This is the future.”

他在接受路透社采访时表示：“我们仍在讨论，并试图找出如何推动环保，以及为环保做出更大的贡献，因为这是我们的出发点，这就是未来。”

Bolt Mobility aims to be in 20 cities worldwide by the end of 2019, and 50 cities across eight countries in 2020.

博尔特移动公司的目标是到2019年底在全球20个城市开展业务，到2020年在8个国家开展50个城市业务。

Earlier this year, the company launched its scooters in New York, Paris and Washington.

今年早些时候，该公司在纽约、巴黎和华盛顿推出了滑板车。 

E-scooter sharing has become popular for “last-mile” transit⁷, but they have also created problems.

电动滑板车共享已经成为“最后一英里”交通运输系统的流行方式，但它们也带来了一些问题。 

In San Francisco, riders often leave the vehicles on public walkways.

在旧金山，骑手们经常将它停在公共人行道上。 

Many people, including a city official, have called them a “public nuisance.”

许多人，包括市政官员在内的很多人称其为“公害”。 

Paris has amended⁸ rules on where scooters can be ridden following two deaths and several injuries.

在发生了两起死亡和几起受伤事故后，巴黎修改了滑板车的使用规则。 

And in Singapore, a bicyclist died after being hit by an e-scooter in September.

在新加坡，一名骑自行车的人在9月份被一辆电动滑板车撞死。 

In Tokyo, e-scooters are still rare.

在东京，电动滑板车仍然很少见。 

There is a growing demand for making them more common.

然而，对它们的需求越来越多使电动滑板车变得更加普遍。 

At the Tokyo Motor Show this month, visitors tried electric scooters built by Japanese and foreign companies.

在本月的东京车展上，观展者试驾了日本和外国公司制造的电动滑板车。 

The world’s largest e-scooter company, Lime, recently joined the Japanese interest group Micro Mobility Promotion⁹ Council.

全球最大的电动滑板车公司Lime最近加入了日本利益团体“微移动促进委员会”。 

Under current Japanese laws, e-scooters are treated as low-powered motorcycles.

根据日本现行法律，电动滑板车被视为低功率机动车。 

A change in regulation may take some time, even with the support of some Japanese government officials.

即使得到一些日本政府官员的支持，改变监管也需要一些时间。 

An official at Japan’s transportation ministry¹⁰ said, “Even though everyone says it’s very convenient,” safety has to be the top concern.

日本交通部的一名官员说，“尽管每个人都说这很方便，但安全必须是首要考虑的问题”。 

The official did not permit use of his name because he was not authorized¹¹ to speak with the media.

这位官员要求匿名，因为他没有被授权与媒体对话。 

1 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

2 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

8 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

9 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。