VOA标准英语2014--Slew of New Products Unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show 新产品亮相消费电子展

 

Slew¹ of New Products Unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show 新产品亮相消费电子展

For a glimpse into the future, look no further than the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Self-driving shuttles and solar cars are on display this year.  And while 3D printers are a relatively² well-known new technology, this year’s show offers a fresh spin - 3D-printed food.

You can find just about anything at CES.

Automobile³ enthusiasts⁴ are in luck this year.  Renault revealed an electric race car.

Audi unveiled a self-driving A7 - the cars park themselves.  Last year, the technology needed for their driver-less sedan took up the entire rear end of the car.  This year, the computer fits on a card about the size of an iPad.

Induct showed off its self-piloted shuttle, called the Navia. The company's Max LeFevre says it's also 100 percent electric.

"It's a shuttle, so it's for public transport for eight to 10 passengers. It works with lasers which work kind of like a bat," he said. "It sends out beams that bounce off the walls and other things in the environment. That way the vehicle can create the map of the environment."

Ford⁵ made headlines with its solar car - the C-MAX Solar Energi. Solar cells are mounted on the car’s roof, but the trick, says Ford Motor Company’s Dave McCreadie, is the solar canopy⁶.

"It boosts the power of the solar panels by essentially⁷ magnifying the sun.  So it takes a larger square footprint area of the sun and concentrates down onto the solar panels," he said. "The purpose of this is to enable the customer to recharge their vehicle off the grid⁸."

The Ford C-MAX Solar Energi is still just a concept.  If you’re looking for something more tangible⁹, 3D printers are capable of producing more complex, high-quality designs, and the cost of a 3D printer is falling.  Some cost less than $500.

But 3D Systems has created something new: 3D-printed food.

“Today we're debuting¹⁰ two food-safe 3D printers and they're the first food-safe 3D printers," said Liz Von Hasseln of 3D Systems.

Von Hasseln says the ChefJet and ChefJetPro use melted sugar to create sweet creations like candy and cake decorations.

“So you might say, 'I want to work on a cake topper or I want to work on a drink sweetener' and the software will start you out with an object that's kind of the appropriate size and shape, and you can add complexity¹¹ from there," she said.

The sugary 3D printers are expected to cost between $5,000 and $10,000 when they go on sale.

1 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

4 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

9 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

10 debuting   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• New debuting analog thermostat welding machine, easy to operate. 新登场模拟式调温电焊台，操作简单。
• With the new tablet device that is debuting next week, Apple Inc. 苹果公司的新型平板电脑将于下周发布。

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。