VOA慢速英语2016 谷歌无人车撞上大巴

AS IT IS 2016-03-05 Google Self-Driving Car Crashes Into Bus 谷歌无人车撞上大巴

Google’s self-driving car hit a small bump in the road.

谷歌的无人驾驶汽车偶然发现了路上的一个小凸起。

The driverless car had an accident February 14 in California. The accident was reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles in California February 23. 

该无人驾驶汽车2月14日在加州发生了一场交通事故。这起事故于2月23日上报到了加州的汽车部门。

According to WIRED, a technology publication, the car changed traffic lanes and moved into the path of a bus.

根据WIRED这份技术刊物表示，该车变更了车道并进入了大巴车道。

The driverless car was a Lexus SUV. When it hit the bus, the Google car was moving at around 3 kilometers per hour. 

这辆无人驾驶汽车是一辆雷克萨斯SUV。当谷歌无人车撞上大巴时，它的时速大概在每小时3公里左右。

The speed of the bus was 24 kilometers per hour at the time of the collision. No injuries were reported.

撞车时大巴的时速为24公里每小时，事故中无人受伤。

The left front wheel and fender of the Google car were damaged.

谷歌无人车的左前轮和挡泥板受损。

In a May 2015 monthly report Google said: "We'll inevitably¹ be involved in accidents; sometimes it's impossible to overcome the realities of speed and distance... In the six years of our project, we've been involved in 12 minor² accidents during more than 1.8 million miles of autonomous³ and manual driving combined."  

谷歌在2015年5月的一份报告中曾表示，“我们将不可避免地被卷入事故。有时候速度和距离的现实是无法解决的。在我们项目的6年时间里，在超过180万英里自动和手动驾驶结合的行程中，我们已经卷入了12起小事故。”

Google has predicted the cars will be ready for the road by 2020.

谷歌曾预测无人车将在2020年做好上路准备。

Words in This Story

traffic lane – n. a lane of a main road that is defined by painted lines

collision – n. a crash in which two or more things or people hit each other

fender – n. a part of a vehicle that covers a wheel

autonomous – adj. existing or acting separately from other things or people

1 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。