2006年VOA标准英语-New Electric Suspension System Smoothes Ou

By Zulima Palacio
Austin, Texas
20 January 2006
 
watch Suspension report

Electric suspensions offers more stabilility  
  
One day, exhausting car rides over bumpy¹ terrain², with all the dangers and damaging effects, may be part of the past.  The Research Center of the University of Texas has developed a new electric suspension system that makes off-road rides almost as smooth as those over a paved highway.  Amy Katz narrates³.

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Some things go together, such as dirt roads and bumpy rides, especially if they are in a military vehicle like this one, with a traditional suspension system.

Now take a look at a new electric suspension system.  Same road, same speed. Even better, look at both vehicles riding together. 

For over a decade, the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas in Austin, has researched and developed a new electric suspension system like the one active in a military Humvee being tested.

Joe Beno   
  
"This is the very first vehicle we did, so we still have it, says Joe Beno, associate director of the Center.  “The technology and the individual components⁴ have mature quite a bit to the point that is about ready for production.  This is just the first prototype." 

He says a vehicle with the new electric suspension system has five times less vibration⁵, gains stability, and is safer. It has a lower tendency to roll over, and it maneuvers⁶ and brakes better because it is more stable. 

Other benefits -- still to come -- may include more efficient gas use and less maintenance, thereby⁷ prolonging the life of the vehicle.  

 
Traditonal spring system
  
Mr. Beno showed us a traditional suspension system.

"The difference is by looking right down here.  Now right there is the spring system and through the middle is the shock absorber."

The new one looks more like…

New elecric and spring system  
  
"It has a spring also that supports the vehicle weight, but instead of the shock absorbers it has this actuator and that actuator will put out any force that we command it to put out."

The key components are an electric motor driving a rack and pinion⁸ at each wheel, accelerometers and a computerized control system.

The U.S. Department of Defense⁹ has funded most of the research for more than a decade.  While the electric suspension is almost ready for production for military vehicles, it is still being tested on others, like a cargo¹⁰ truck.  The same technology has also been installed in the transit¹¹ bus service in Houston and could be installed in many ambulances, and other vehicles.

"It would have applications in any place where you have very poor road conditions, third world countries where you have very limited road infrastructure," says Beno.

Joe Beno and his team of over 60 research engineers are hopeful that one day they could see their system installed in most vehicles that travel poor roads, or places where there are no roads at all. 

1 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

6 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

7 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

8 pinion   

v.束缚；n.小齿轮

参考例句：

• At nine the next morning Bentley was pinioned,hooded and hanged.次日上午9点，本特里被捆住双臂，戴上头罩，然后绞死了。
• Why don't you try tightening the pinion nut first?你为什么不先扭紧小齿轮的螺帽？

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

11 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。