Question

阅读理解

I passed my driving test at the fourth attempt. You might think that means I'm not as safe as someone who passed on their first attempt. But would you feel safer with no driver at all? Maybe not, and that's why automotive firms have included driver­assist functions in their driverless cars. This allows the human driver to take over if there is a problem.

Google is one producer that has prototype driverless cars. These cars have been newly equipped with auto­steering wheels and conventional controls to allow normal driving. But this is just a stage — the vision is to have fully automated cars very soon. The director of Google's self­drive project, Chris Urmson, hopes his 11­year­old son will never have to take a driving test. To achieve that, the cars need to be on the roads in five years. He says driverless cars will greatly reduce accidents and traffic jams.

According to Chris, about 1.2 million people are killed on the roads around the world each year. That number is equivalent to a jet falling out of the sky every day. He thinks gradual changes to existing car designs are not enough to deal with the problems. “If we are really going to make changes to our cities, get rid of parking lots, we need self­drive cars，” he says.

Google's prototypes have covered over a million kilometers on the road. They have also had to deal with unexpected situations, such as a child driving a toy car in the road, and a woman in an electric wheelchair chasing a duck. In each case, the car reacted safely.

Some are not convinced. Sven Beiker of Stanford University thinks driverless cars will still need human input in extreme circumstances.

1.According to Paragraph 1, what is the author's chief concern about driverless cars?

A．Functions.          B．Safety.

C．Price.              D．Appearance.

2.Chris Urmson mentioned his 11­year­old son in order to show that ________.

A．traditional cars are harmful for kids

B．his son is not good at driving

C．his son is a slow learner in driving

D．driverless cars will come soon

3.What is Chris Urmson's comment on self­drive cars?

A．They can solve many existing problems.

B．They are safer than a jet plane.

C．They can completely change our cities.

D．They should change gradually.

4.What can we learn from the text?

A．Google's prototypes will be tested on the roads soon.

B．Self­drive cars are not designed for children or women.

C．Concerns remain about the reliability of self­drive cars.

D．Driving tests will be easier to pass in the near future.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：

1. would you feel ... in their driverless cars.”可知，作者主要关心的是无人驾驶汽车的安全问题。故选B。

2. Urmson希望他11岁的儿子将来不用参加驾照考试。为了实现这个愿望，无人驾驶汽车须在5年之内上市，即在他的儿子16岁之前。由此可知，Chris Urmson提到他儿子是为了说明无人驾驶汽车很快就能被生产出来。故选D。

3. says driverless cars will greatly ... jams.”和第三段最后一句“‘If we are really ...’ he says.”可知，无人驾驶汽车可以减少交通事故、交通堵塞和停车场拥挤等现存的问题。故选A。

4. are not convinced ... in extreme circumstances.”可知，Sven Beiker认为在极端环境下，无人驾驶汽车还是需要人工来操作。由此可推知，有些人还是担心无人驾驶汽车的安全问题。故选C。