VOA常速英语2019--揭晓交通未来在法兰克福不受公众欢迎

Unveiling the Future of Transportation Meets Unwelcoming Committee in Frankfurt

Congestion¹ grinds traffic to a halt in Frankfurt, Germany.“We must move away from individual transport to public transport. We must move away from this bigger, faster, further and more to the public good.” As many as fifteen thousand activists² came here to protest.“Electric cars only make sense if the power comes from renewable energy. We need a fast coal phase-out in addition to electric cars and a change in transportation habits.”Drawing crowds of protesters to Frankfurt is the 2019 International Motor Show where car makers³ boast of new driver and traffic friendly vehicles,some looking to change the way we send and receive packages.“We’re also talking to them, the big e-commerce companies, because they also look for the new solutions,they look for a more efficient one, for cheaper one, and also for more sustainable one.” This pedal-driven delivery truck boasts zero emissions⁴ outside of the driver exhaling⁵.“In Berlin, the average speed of cars is 16 kilometers power because you’re stuck in traffic, you need to look for a parking spot, so we are actually faster than a car in a city because you can skip the traffic jam and we are much easier to find a parking spot.”

在德国法兰克福，交通因堵塞而停滞。“我们必须从个人交通转向公共交通。我们必须脱离这种更大、更快、更远、更多的交通工具，转换到公共交通。”多达一万五千名活动人士来到这里抗议。“只有当电力来自可再生能源时，电动汽车才有意义。除了电动汽车和交通习惯的改变，我们还需要快速淘汰煤炭。”2019年的法兰克福国际车展引来了抗议者人群，汽车制造商们在车展上吹嘘自己拥有新的司机和交通友好型汽车，有些有望改变我们收发包裹的方式。“我们也在和大型电子商务公司交谈，因为他们也在寻找新的解决方案，他们在寻找更高效、更便宜、更可持续的解决方案。”这辆踏板驱动的运货卡车号称除了司机呼气外，它的排放量为零。“在柏林，汽车的平均速度是16公里的动力，因为你会堵车，你需要找一个停车位，所以我们实际上比城市里的汽车快，因为你可以避开交通堵塞，我们更容易找到停车位。”

Makers of this driverless van say it may help ease traffic congestion and boost productivity.“I don’t have to bother about the traffic, and I don’t have to bother about like what is, what is happening around me, I can take my time,for example, if I am going to a meeting, prepare for my meeting over here, I would have just a tele-conference over here or I can just go ahead and lean back and enjoy and relax.”Using augmented⁶ reality like the famous Pokemon go game from a few years ago, a company called VSight helps drivers get back on the road after car troubles slow them down.“Companies are losing too much time and effort when they have a problem on the field, and every minute counts for them. Actually, some of them are losing 20,000 euros per minute, so we help them to recover very fast from those malfunctions⁷ and problems on their field.”The thousands protesting outside say none of this sounds like it will do much to curb⁸ climate change.“I think this is just a shift of the problem but not a real approach to tackling the future of transport, and to have less cars on the road, organize traffic more sustainably with trains, on foot, with bicycles and public transport.”The International Motor Show runs until September 22nd.

这种无人驾驶货车的制造商说，它可能有助于缓解交通拥堵，提高生产效率。“我不必为交通问题操心，也不必为周围发生的事情操心，我可以慢慢来，例如，如果我要开会，在这里准备开会，我只想在这里开个电话会议，或者我可以先走，享受一下，放松一下。”使用增强现实技术，如几年前著名的Pokemon go游戏，一家名为Vsight的公司帮助司机在汽车故障变慢后重新上路。“当公司在现场遇到问题时，它们浪费了太多的时间和精力，每一分钟都对它们来说都很重要。事实上，其中一些公司每分钟损失2万欧元，因此，我们帮助它们从故障和现场问题中迅速恢复。”数千名在外面抗议的人说，这些听起来对遏制气候变化没有多大作用。“我认为这只是在转变问题，但不是解决未来交通问题的真正方法，而是应该减少汽车上路，用火车、步行、自行车和公共交通规划交通使其更加可持续。”国际车展将持续到9月22日。

1 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 exhaling   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的现在分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• Take a deep breath inhaling slowly and exhaling slowly. 深呼吸，慢慢吸进，慢慢呼出。 来自互联网
• Unclasp your hands and return to the original position while exhaling. 呼气并松开双手恢复到原位。 来自互联网

6 Augmented   

adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称：“科学家不会被取代；相反，他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好，这篇报导的影响更大了。

7 malfunctions   

n.故障，功能障碍（malfunction的复数形式）vi.失灵（malfunction的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• The mood of defeat was as pervasive as the odor of malfunctions and decay. 失败的情绪就象损坏腐烂的臭味一样弥漫全艇。 来自辞典例句
• Possibility of engine malfunctions due to moisture, are lessened. 发动机故障的可能性，由于水分，也将减少。 来自互联网

8 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。