VOA标准英语2008年-Automakers Show Off Green, Fuel Efficient Vehic

By Greg Flakus
Detroit
14 January 2008

More than 6,700 reporters from 42 nations are in Detroit for the news media preview of that city's North American International Auto¹ Show, which opens to the general public this weekend. This year's show emphasizes fuel efficiency and green technology, but, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Detroit, there are also plenty of big glitzy cars and trucks on display.

On display in Detroit's downtown Cobo Convention Center are 700 vehicles from all the major automakers, including local companies like General Motors, Ford³ and Chrysler and companies from China, Japan, and Europe. Around 50 new vehicles are being introduced by various manufacturers.

U.S. automakers are making a big effort this year to go green, showing off many varieties of low-emission, fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrids⁵, fuel-cell cars and vehicles that run on ethanol and bio-diesel fuels. General Motors announced that it has invested heavily in Cosaka Incorporated, an Illinois firm that claims to have developed a cost-cutting technology for producing ethanol, an alcohol fuel produced from plant material.

Most ethanol today is produced from corn, but Cosaka plans on using waste material like corn stalks and wood chips.

General Motors North America President Troy Clarke tells VOA that his company sees a need to move away from reliance on gasoline as the only fuel for its cars.

"The next 25 years, maybe even longer, looks a lot like the early part of the (20th) century in the auto industry," Clarke said. "There will be a lot of different propulsion systems. Ninety-six percent of the vehicles in the United States today are moved by gasoline. We need to diversify⁶ that."

Clarke says his industry has been wrongly criticized for being slow to innovate⁷. He says General Motors began developing an electric car many years ago and has also developed other kinds of fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Now we have eight hybrids in the market today," he said. "We have 16 on the way between now and, I think, the end of next year, and we can compete very effectively in the hybrid⁴ area. But we really have never given up on our vision of an electric vehicle."

General Motors is still testing a new battery to power the Chevrolet Volt⁸, an advanced electric hybrid that was first shown here last year, but which may not be ready for market for a few more years.

Veteran automotive journalist Paul Eisenstein, who writes for TheCarConnection.com, says car makers² use the North American International Auto Show to introduce such innovations and get the word out to people around the world.

"This is a place that the manufacturers come, not just to talk to consumers directly, but to talk to global media," Eisenstein said. "This is a place where they can get to everyone from the small bloggers in the Czech Republic to the big networks here in North America. It is no wonder that virtually every manufacturer in the world is here, including five of the Chinese manufacturers that are trying to get into the North American market over the next couple of years."

While automakers are emphasizing fuel efficiency and reduced emissions⁹ this year, they are also showing off a lot of big cargo¹⁰ pick up trucks, sport utility vehicles and gas-guzzling luxury cars. Paul Eisenstein says that is simply a response to continuing demand for those vehicles.

"The reality is Americans like big, they like power, they like performance, they like towing and cargo-hauling and people-hauling capabilities," he said. "So for anybody to say we should stop producing these big trucks and go to produce these small, high-mileage (fuel efficient) cars is ridiculous. The market is there for the big vehicles."

Eisenstein says U.S. car makers are trying to satisfy the demand for larger vehicles, while at the same time trying to meet new regulations from Washington that require them to improve fuel efficiency. That could be a real challenge for an industry that is already struggling to keep up with foreign competition.

The North American International Auto Show began in Detroit as a local event in 1907. The event went international 20 years ago, but it is still organized locally by the Detroit Auto Dealers¹¹ Association.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 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》

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

6 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

7 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

8 volt   

n.伏特，伏

参考例句：

• You may use 100 and 110 volt appliances in your room.您可以在房间使用100及110伏特的电器。
• The common service voltage of electric power in our country is 220/380 volt.我国普通供电电压为220/380伏。

9 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。

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 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。