Unit 06
How will driverless cars change our lives?
新知思想/趣味科普
New Knowledge/Fun Science
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
How many years will you think will the drive less cars will be used?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. autonomous vehicles (phr.) 自動駕駛汽車
Autonomous vehicles will be the future.
自動駕駛汽車將是未來。
2. regulatory hurdles (phr.) 監管上的阻礙
The car needs to pass the regulatory hurdles.
這輛車需要通過監管方面的限制。
3. assuage (v.) 緩和，減輕，平息
Solar cars will maybe put an assuage to population.
太陽能汽車可能會緩解人口壓力。
4. misgivings (n.) （對未來事件的）疑慮，擔憂
Many people have expressed misgivings about his ability to do the job
許多人對他的工作能力表示懷疑。
5. societal benefits (phr.) 社會效益
Do you think there will be societal benefits?
您認為會有社會效益嗎？
6. innumerable (adj.) 無數的
Cars are innumerable these days.
這些天有無數的汽車。
7. unforeseen (adj.) 未預見到的，意料之外的
The car crash was unforeseen.
車禍是無法預料的。
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
Did you read that AutoX has been testing autonomous vehicles in Shenzhen?
AutoX已經在深圳測試自動駕駛汽車了，你知道嗎？
Yeah, seems like all of the big boys like Alibaba, Google, and Tesla are backing one AV startup or another.
看到了，看樣子像阿里巴巴、谷歌和特斯拉這樣的巨頭都在支持各種自動駕駛汽車的創業公司。
So I wonder whose tech is going to win out in the end.
所以我挺好奇哪家公司的技術會最終勝出。
The tech is only one piece of the puzzle. The company that wins this race will also need to clear regulatory hurdles and assuage public misgivings.
技術只佔一小部分。要想在角逐中獲勝，這些公司還得清除監管上的障礙，消除公眾的疑慮。
Well I, for one, think the societal benefits of driverless cars will be innumerable: fewer accidents, less congestion, all while making us more productive.
我個人覺得，無人駕駛汽車能產生的社會效益是不可估量的：事故和交通擁堵會減少，整體會讓我們更高效
Do we know there will be fewer accidents? What if something unforeseen happens that causes the network to go down?
事故一定會減少嗎？萬一發生了什麼意外情況導致系統癱瘓了怎麼辦？
I’m sure there will be multiple safety layers and system-wide protection. Ultimately though, the system’s vresponse time will be faster than an individual’s.
肯定會有多重安全保障和系統保護的。畢竟系統的響應速度還是比人快。
I wish I could be more sanguine about all of this, but the knock-on effects in both the economy and society are going to be massive.
我也希望對此能持樂觀的態度，但無人駕駛還會對經濟和社會產生巨大的連鎖反應。
You mean all of the unemployed taxi drivers and delivery guys?
你是說這會讓很多出租車司機和快遞小哥失業？
Exactly, not to mention all of the downsizing of insurance salesmen and mechanics.
沒錯，更不用說被裁員的保險銷售員和修理工了。
It’s definitely going to be a sea change. I’m just relieved that I won’t have to take my driver’s test!
肯定會有翻天覆地的變化。但想到不用考駕照了，可真是鬆了一口氣！
Grammar
I, for one
In today’s dialogue, we see the sentence “I, for one, think the societal benefits of driverless cars will be
innumerable.” We can use the short phrase “for one” after a subject pronoun to add emphasis to our opinions.
As to what the words actually mean, there is some debate about that. Some believe that this “for one”
indicates that you alone hold this position, while others believe that “for one” indicates that you are not alone; that you are one among others.
Of course, you can also use these words with other subject pronouns, like he/she, or even we. You’ll often see these words wrapped in commas, but if you don’t use them, it’s not the end of the world!
1. I, for one, welcome this new change of policy. We’ve been too sloppy for too long.
2. She, for one, thinks that the new advertising campaign is distasteful.
3. I, for one, refuse to believe that he is acting in the best interest of the company.
4. _______________________________________________________________________.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.How do you think you can preserve fading festival traditions?
