VOA慢速英语2020 冠状病毒改变了自动驾驶领域

Coronavirus Crisis Changes the World of Autonomous² Vehicles

The coronavirus crisis is changing the world of autonomous, or self-driving cars.More companies are now thinking about using the vehicles to deliver goods instead of people.

冠状病毒正在改变自动驾驶汽车，或者叫无人驾驶汽车领域。越来越多的公司正在考虑用这些工具取代人来运送商品。

John Krafcik is the head of Waymo, a self-driving technology company owned by Googles parent, Alphabet.

约翰·科拉菲克是威摩公司的负责人，威摩是谷歌母公司阿尔法特旗下的自动驾驶科技公司。 

Earlier this month, Krafcik told the Reuters news agency,"The reality right now is that goods delivery is a bigger market than moving people."

本月早些时候，科拉菲克告诉路透社记者，“现实情况是商品无人派送市场大于人工配送。” 

Waymo started out working on autonomous taxis, but has also been developing self-driving trucks and delivery vehicles.The company recently raised $750 million from investors³.It has signed deals with shipping⁴ company UPS and major retailer⁵ Walmart to test the delivery of goods.

威摩公司已经开始着手研究自动驾驶出租车，同时也发展无人驾驶卡车和送货交通工具。该公司最近从投资者那里募集了7.5亿美元资金。它已经和航运公司UPS（美国联合包裹运送服务公司）以及重要的零售商沃尔玛公司签订了协议来测试商品运送情况。

But Waymo is not the only company raising new financing.

但是沃尔玛不是唯一筹集新融资的公司。 

Over the past seven months,investors have put at least $6 billion into more than 20 companies working on autonomous delivery of goods and food.These include autonomous flying vehicles and heavy trucks, a recent Reuters study found.

在过去的七个月里，投资商至少投资60亿美元给20多个自动配送商品和食物的公司。路透社最近的一项研究发现，这些运输工具包括自动飞行器和重型卡车。

Most of that investment – at least $4 billion since January – went to big companies like Waymo and Didi Chuxing, Chinas biggest ride-sharing company.Both companies are attempting to create separate autonomous vehicle services to carry goods and people.

这项投资的大部分——自一月份以来至少有40亿美元-流向了大型公司，比如威摩公司和滴滴出行，滴滴出行是中国最大的汽车共享公司。这两个公司都在尝试研发独立的无人驾驶车辆来运载商品和人。

While delivery robots built to operate on sidewalks have received much media attention, they have drawn⁶ little recent investment.Still, an increasing number of cities and companies are trying them out.

尽管为了在人行道上工作而研发的运货机器人受到了极大的关注，他们最近吸引的投资却很少。就算是这样，还是有更多的城市和公司在尝试使用机器人。

Christopher Bruno is head of the Fairfax, Virginia, economic development office.He worked to get Starship sidewalk robots on the streets as soon as the coronavirus crisis shut down the area."I think without a crisis, there would have been some skepticism as to whether this would have been used or not," Bruno said.Skepticism refers to a kind of doubt.

克里斯托弗·布鲁诺是弗吉尼亚州费尔法克斯经济发展办公室的负责人。在因为冠状病毒封城时，他立即让星际飞船公司的人行道机器人在街上工作。“我认为没有这场危机，肯定会有人对于是否使用机器人持怀疑态度，”布鲁诺说道。Skepticism指的是一种怀疑态度。

Bruno said even though the approval process for new businesses usually takes 6 to 10 months,"we did it in a week and a half."Currently, 20 robots are delivering food and other products in Fairfax.

布鲁诺称尽管新业务的批准流程要6到10个月，“我们却在1周半内完成了。”现在，费尔法克斯有20个机器人正在运送食物和其他产品。

Some investors warn that recent media coverage⁷ has increased hopes too much about autonomous delivery services,which still face technical and legal difficulties.

一些投资商提醒说近期媒体报道大大提升了人们对自动运送服务的期待，但是这一服务还是面临着技术和法律难题。

Quin Garcia is the managing director of Autotech Ventures.He noted⁸ there is a certain amount of hype - talk that makes people excited - around autonomous delivery.

奎恩·加西亚是汽车技术投资有限公司的总经理。他指出关于自动运送有一定程度的炒作——就是让人们兴奋的言论。

"While theres increased hype around automated⁹ delivery right now due to coronavirus,"he said, "this health crisis will be mostly resolved in a few years from now before automated on-road delivery is ready for mass adoption¹⁰."

“虽然由于新冠肺炎，现在对自动运送服务的炒作日益增长，”他说，“这场健康危机大概率将会在几年后被解决，而在这之前自动上路运送服务还没做好准备大范围推广。”

Still, autonomous startups are seeking to take advantage of virus-driven publicity¹¹ for human-free delivery services.

自动驾驶创业公司仍然想要利用病毒相关的宣传为无人运送服务造势。 

These include Michigan-based autonomous delivery startup Refraction AI,sidewalk robot maker¹² Kiwibot in California and self-driving technology company Optimus Ride in Boston.Ireland-based Manna Drone is also seeking to enter the market.

这些企业包括密歇根自动配送创业公司Refraction AI，加利福尼亚的人行道机器人创造公司Kiwibot和波士顿无人驾驶科技公司Optimus Ride。爱尔兰的Manna Drone公司也在尝试进入这一市场。

All the companies are involved in money raising as demand for their delivery services has increased.

因为配送服务需求的增加，所有这些公司都进行了融资。 

Phantom¹³ Auto¹, which makes software to control delivery robots, has also seen rising demand and expects to raise more money this year.

作为一家为送货机器人制造控制软件的公司，Phantom Auto也遇到了需求增长的情况，它今年准备筹集更多的资金。

James Peng is the founder¹⁴ and CEO of Pony¹⁵.ai.The company recently carried out tests of its vehicles for food deliveries in California during the pandemic.

詹姆斯·彭（彭军）是小马智行的创始人和总裁。该公司最近在疫情期间测试了他们在加利福尼亚州运送食物的交通工具。

Peng noted that the virus crisis has created a "need to provide some much needed food and package delivery services."

彭军指出病毒危机导致了“派送一些急需食物和包裹的需求的产生。” 

Im John Russell.

约翰·罗塞尔为您报道。 

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

10 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

11 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

12 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

13 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

14 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

15 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。