Somepessimisticexpertsfeelthattheautomobileisboundtofallintodisuse.Theyseeadayinthenot-too-distantfuturewhenallautoswillbeabandonedandallowedtorust.Otherauthorities,however,thinktheautoisheretostay.Theyholdthatthecarwillremainaleadingmeansofurbantravelintheforeseeablefuture.
Themotorcarwillundoubtedlychangesignificantlyoverthenext30years.Itshouldbecomesmaller,safer,andmoreeconomical,andshouldnotbepoweredbythegasolineengine.Thecarofthefutureshouldbefarmorepollution-freethanpresenttypes.
Regardlessofitspowersource,theautointhefuturewillstillbethemainprobleminurbantrafficcongestion(拥挤).Oneproposedsolutiontothisproblemistheautomatedhighwaysystem.
Whentheautoentersthehighwaysystem,aretractable(可伸缩的)armwilldropfromtheautoandmakecontactwitharail,whichissimilartothosepoweringsubwaytrainselectrically.Onceattachedtotherail,thecarwillbecomeelectricallypoweredfromthesystem,andcontrolofthevehiclewillpasstoacentralcomputer.Thecomputerwillthenmonitorallofthecar’smovements.
Thedriverwilluseatelephonetodialinstructionsabouthisdestinationintothesystem.Thecomputerwillcalculatethebestroute,andreservespaceforthecarallthewaytothecorrectexitfromthehighway.Thedriverwillthenbefreetorelaxandwaitforthebuzzer(蜂鸣器)thatwillwarnhimofhiscomingexit.Itisestimatedthatanautomatedhighwaywillbeabletohandle10,000vehiclesperhour,comparedwiththe1,500to2,000vehiclesthatcanbecarriedbyapresent-dayhighway.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Onesignificantimprovementinthefuturecarwillprobablybe________.
A.itspowersource
B.itsdrivingsystem
C.itsmonitoringsystem
D.itsseatingcapacity
2.Whatistheauthor’smainconcern
A.Howtorenderautomobilespollution-free.
B.Howtomakesmallerandsaferautomobiles.
C.Howtosolvetheproblemoftrafficjams.
D.Howtodevelopanautomatedsubwaysystem.
3.Whatprovidesautoswithelectricpowerinanautomatedhighwaysystem
A.Arail.
B.Anengine.
C.Aretractablearm.
D.Acomputercontroller.
4.Inanautomatedhighwaysystem,allthedriverneedstodois________.