VOA常速英语2015--电子产品让驾车变得更容易

Electronics Make Driving Easier, Safer 电子产品让驾车变得更容易

LOS ANGELES—

New cars increasingly use connected technology, and incremental¹ improvements in automotive electronics are making cars safer and smarter.

Some new models are flashy and others are fuel efficient, and embedded² technology is at the heart of all of them.  

许多新款车型华丽炫酷，许多节能环保，而嵌入式系统技术则是它们的核心。

The new Ford³ Escape has a radar-enabled adaptive cruise control to avoid collisions, with sensors⁵ on the front and side of the car.  Ford's Mark Schirmer says the electronic system can be accessed through the dashboard or a smartphone.

全新福特翼虎拥有雷达巡航控制系统，避免汽车发生撞击，汽车前方和两侧配有传感器。仪表盘和智能手机能够与电子系统相连接。

“Where I am from, in Michigan, if it is a cold morning, I can have it start up right before I am scheduled to leave to go to the airport or go to work.  You can find your car or if one of your family members, a kid, borrowed the car, it will show you exactly where it is," said Schirmer.

比如说密歇根州的寒冷早上，我可以在计划前往机场或是上班之前启动汽车。比如家人要借车，你可以找到汽车的准确位置。

Third-party products now in development, like this emergency warning system, help drivers who fail to hear an approaching siren.  A near-miss with an ambulance inspired the product from the Chicago start-up HAAS, co-founded by Cory Hohs.  

第三方产品正在研发，就像这个紧急报警系统，提醒司机驶进的警笛。设计该产品的初衷是由于一起救护车险些撞车事故。

“It scared me enough that I started looking for a product that would alert me when they are coming," said Hohs.

这实在是太吓人了，我开始寻找一款能够提醒我警笛声的产品。

A sobriety detector⁶ from a Canadian company called Sober Steering⁷ is sold to companies with fleets of vehicles, such as buses.  Chief Operating Officer Catherine Carroll says a sensor⁴ on the steering wheel can detect alcohol vapors⁸ emitted from the skin.

像巴士等汽车都装载了清醒度检测器。它能够检测到皮肤上的酒精。

“If I am drinking and I have levels above a preset limit, it immobilizes the vehicle, so you can not move the vehicle that you are driving," said Carroll.

如果我饮酒，或是超过限定量，汽车将自动熄火，这样就会避免酒驾。

The system alerts the fleet manager that the vehicle and the driver have a problem.

司机能够通过互联网对系统进行控制。

One company founder⁹ says connected technology is changing our lives at home and on the highway.  Ashot Avetisyan is the chief executive of MiaLinkup, which makes a third-party application that monitors and controls a vehicle..

一家公司创始人称，连接技术改变了我们的日常生活，改变了道路状况。

“You can buy a washing machine, you can buy a microwave that has wifi and connects to a router.  There are [connected] thermostats¹⁰. There are lights," said Avetisyan.

买一个能够与路由器相连接的洗衣机，或是微波炉。它们是恒温器，是灯光。

And increasingly cars, for which connected technology has become as important as performance and styling.

汽车的连接技术与性能款式同等重要。

1 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

2 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

3 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。

4 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

5 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

6 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

7 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

8 vapors   

n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His emotions became vague and shifted about like vapors. 他的心情则如同一团雾气，变幻无常，捉摸不定。 来自辞典例句
• They have hysterics, they weep, they have the vapors. 他们歇斯底里，他们哭泣，他们精神忧郁。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 thermostats   

n.恒温（调节）器( thermostat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the basic operating principle of many thermostats. 这是许多恒温箱的基本工作原理。 来自辞典例句
• Thermostats can be used to regulate the temperature of a room. 恒温器可用来调节室内温度。 来自辞典例句