History and Future
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Stuck in Traffic You grab your lunch and your backpack, and then head out the door.
堵车 你拿起你的午餐和你的背包, 然后头出门。
Before you see it rounding the corner and turning down your street, you hear the rumble of its engine.
在你看到它绕出拐角 转过你的街道之前 你听到它引擎的隆隆声
It’s the school bus.
这是校车。
The other kids on your block are already waiting at the bus stop.
你街区上的其他孩子已经在公交车站等了
You run and get in line just as the bus is pulling up.
你跑去排队 就像公交车停了一样
Teens get on a school bus in Miami, Florida.
青少年在佛罗里达州迈阿密乘坐校车.
As you wait for your schoolmates to board ahead of you, you feel the heat from the exhaust warming your legs, and taste the fumes as they enter your nose and mouth.
在等待同学们登机前行时,会感觉到排气热会暖你的腿,在进入你的鼻子和嘴时会尝到烟味.
You finally climb aboard, find your favorite seat, and glance out the window as the bus accelerates from the curb.
你终于爬上船 找到你最喜欢的座位 看着车从路边加速的窗外
It seems as though only a moment has passed before the bus stops.
似乎在公交车停靠前只过了一分钟。
Taking a look out the window you begin to understand why.
从窗外看一眼 你就会明白为什么
Cars and trucks and motorcycles are everywhere, but none of them are moving.
汽车和卡车以及摩托车到处出没,但都没有移动.
You’re in a traffic jam.
你在交通堵塞。
The noise is so loud that you cannot hear the kid across from you.
声音太大了,你听不到孩子的声音
You wonder when the racket will end.
你想知道什么时候会结束这场闹剧
Surprisingly, smelly, noisy traffic could have ended a long time ago, if the invention of the electric car had gained more popularity.
令人惊奇地,有味地,有吵闹的交通在很久以前就可能结束,如果电动车的发明获得了更多的受欢迎.
What Is an Electric Car?
什么是电动车?
Electric cars began their life in the 1830s with a man named Robert Anderson of Scotland.
电动汽车从1830年代起就由苏格兰人罗伯特·安德森(Robert Anderson)接任.
He invented the first electric carriage.
他发明了第一台电动马车.
A fellow Scotsman, Robert Davidson, and an American, Thomas Davenport, created electric vehicles in 1842 that used electric cells as a power source.
苏格兰人罗伯特·戴维森(Robert Davidson)和美国人托马斯·达文波特(Thomas Davenport)于1842年创建了以电动电池为动力源的电动车.
These cells could not be recharged, which meant the power source had to be replaced often.
这些电池无法充电,这意味着必须经常更换电源。
Two Frenchmen, Gaston Planté in 1865, and Camille Faure in 1881, created and improved upon a power source that had better storage capacity and was rechargeable—the lead-acid battery.
两位法国人:1865年的Gaston Planté和1881年的Camille Faure在拥有更好的储存能力和可充电的电源上创建和改进了-铅酸电池.
School buses make their way through traffic in Toronto, Ontario.
校车在安大略多伦多通过交通.
The lead-acid battery was a huge breakthrough and is still used in electric vehicles today.
铅酸电池是一个巨大的突破,今天仍然被用在电动车辆上.
Lead- acid batteries are made using sulfuric acid and lead.
铅-酸电池使用硫酸和铅来制造.
When the acid eats away at the lead, a chemical reaction occurs and an electric charge is created.
当酸在取出铅时,发生化学反应并产生电荷.
This charge powers the motor until the battery needs to be recharged.
这种电荷使电动机产生动力,直到电池需要充电.
With the invention of the lead-acid battery, the popularity of electric cars increased.
随着铅酸电池的发明,电动汽车的受欢迎程度也增加了.
Early Electric Cars For several years, France and Great Britain led the world in the development of electric vehicles.
早期电气 汽车 几年来,法国和大不列颠领导世界发展了电动车辆.
The United States did not join in until 1891 when A.
美国直到1891年A时才加入.
L.
维基文库中相关的原始文献: L.
Ryker built an electric tricycle and William Morrison built a six-passenger electric wagon.
赖克建造了电动三轮车,威廉·莫里森也建造了六客机电动车.
Suddenly, America was hooked.
突然间,美国上钩了
Many early electric prototypes were created.
许多早期的电动原型被创造出来.
In 1897, the city of New York bought a fleet of electric taxis from the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia.
1897年,纽约市从费城的电动货运和瓦贡公司(英语:Electric Cription and Wagon Company)购买了一批电动出租车.
The taxis looked almost like horse carriages, without the horse, and cost nearly $2,000 each, which would be at least $50,000 today.
出租车看起来几乎像马车,没有了马,每辆要花近2000美元,今天至少要花5万美元.
A 1903 advertisement Jenatzy, a famous race car driver, reached speeds above 100 mph (160 kph) in this electric car in 1899.
1903年的一则广告"Jenatzy"是著名的赛车司机,1899年在这部电动汽车上达到100 mph (160 kph)以上的速度.
By Steam, Electricity, or Gas By the beginning of the twentieth century, the popularity of cars in America had increased greatly.
由蒸汽,电力,或气体 至20世纪初,美国汽车的受欢迎程度已大幅提升.
More and more people were moving to cities and wanted greater mobility.
越来越多的人迁移到城市,希望有更大的流动性。
Ambitious and competitive inventors responded quickly to the demand by embracing different technology and devising many new and original ways of powering vehicles.
野心勃勃和有竞争力的发明家们迅速响应需求,接受了不同的技术并设计出许多新的和有创意的动力车辆.
This led to the invention of cars powered by steam and gasoline, in addition to electric cars.
这导致除了电动汽车外,还发明了由蒸汽和汽油提供动力的汽车.
Sales of electric cars soared in 1899 and 1900 mainly because their competitors lacked what electric cars offered.
1899年和1900年电动汽车的销售量猛增,主要是因为其竞争者缺乏电动汽车提供的东西.
Electric cars did not shake like gasoline cars, and their motors did not produce the pungent smell and loud noise that gasoline cars did.
电动汽车不像汽油汽车那样摇晃,而他们的发动机也没有产生出汽油汽车那样的强烈的气味和响亮的噪音.
Changing gears on gasoline cars also proved to be a nuisance, and drivers were often seen wrestling with the gear shifter.
汽油车上更换齿轮也证明是一种麻烦,司机经常被看到与齿轮转向架相撞.
Electric and steam vehicles did not require gears to be shifted.
电力和蒸汽机车不需要转向架。
Steam cars, however, took a long time to start, sometimes as much as 45 minutes, especially on colder mornings.
然而,蒸汽车开行时间很长,有时甚至长达45分钟,特别是在更冷的早晨.
Gasoline cars also took time to start and required drivers to turn a hand crank.
汽油车的起动也需要时间,并且需要司机转动手柄。
Range, or the distance traveled, was a problem with these early cars—steam cars could only travel a short distance before needing more water.
距离或远行是这些早期汽车的一个问题——团队汽车在需要更多水之前只能短途行驶。
Electric cars had the advantage because they could travel farther than steam cars on a single charge.
电动车之所以有优势,是因为单程可以比蒸汽车远行.
At that time, the best roads were in cities, which meant that most travel was local.
当时,最好的道路是在城市,这意味着大多数出行都是当地出行.
This situation made electric cars popular because they were able to ride smoothly and quietly for short distances.
这种情况使电动汽车流行起来,因为他们能够平稳而安静地行走短距离.
Standard electric cars cost slightly less than $1,000.
标准电动车的价格略低于1000美元.
Electric-vehicle manufacturers, however, wanted to reach more prosperous consumers and had designers create massive, ornate carriages with flamboyant interiors made from expensive materials, which bumped up the price to almost $3,000 by 1910.
然而,电动车辆制造商希望能够接触到更繁荣的消费者,并让设计师用由昂贵的材料所制造的花纹内饰制造出庞大的ornate车厢,到1910年时价格已经上涨到近3000美元.
This decision on affordability would haunt the electric car for years to come.
这一关于可负担性的决定将在未来数年困扰着电动汽车。
In 1911 Rauch and Lang, an Ohio vehicle manufacturer, offered one of the highest priced electric vehicles for sale.
1911年,俄亥俄州车辆制造商劳克和朗提出出售价格最高的电动车辆之一.
The Decline of the Electric Car After the initial surge in popularity of electric vehicles for short, in-town trips, the production and sales of electric cars dropped rapidly; but it was not just the high price tag that caused the decline.
电力动车组在为短道速滑,出城出行的电力动车组的受欢迎程度初起猛增后,电动动车组的生产和销售迅速下降;但导致下降的不仅仅是高价标签.
By the 1920s, U.
至1920年代,乌.
S.
师曰.
cities had expanded their road systems so that motorists could travel between cities on good roads.
城市扩大了道路系统,以便机动车手能够在城市之间走上良好的道路。
This change brought about the need for vehicles that could travel greater distances like the gasoline car.
由于这一变化,需要像汽油车那样更远地行驶的车辆。
An important breakthrough was the invention by Charles Kettering of the electric starter.
一个重要的突破是Charles Kettling发明了电动起动器.
The starter used electric power and eliminated the need for the troublesome hand crank gasoline cars needed to start.
起动器使用了电能 并消除了对 麻烦的手 曲轴汽油车的需求 开始。
Around the same time, oil was discovered in Texas, which made gasoline easier and cheaper to produce and therefore, much more affordable to the average driver.
大约在同一时间,德克萨斯州发现了石油,这使得汽油生产更加容易和便宜,因此普通司机更能负担得起.
The Lohner Porsche ‘Mixte’ of 1900 Discovery of oil in Texas meant cows began sharing fields with oil rigs.
1900年Lohner保时捷 " Mixte " 德克萨斯州石油的发现意味着奶牛开始与石油钻机共用田地.
Do You Know?
你知道吗?
Hybrid cars were also invented a little more than a hundred years ago.
混合车也是一百多年前发明的.
A car is called a hybrid when it runs on two different sources of energy, such as electricity and gas.
当一辆车运行在电能和燃气等两种不同能源上时,称为"混合".
Ferdinand Porsche invented the first hybrid car in Germany in 1898.
费迪南德·保时捷于1898年发明了德国第一辆混合动力车.
His design used a gasoline engine to spin generators that produced electricity, which was sent to the electric motors that powered the car.
他的设计使用了一款汽油发动机来旋转产生电力的发电机,这款发动机被送到了为汽车提供动力的电动机上.
The Resurgence In the late 1960s, a company called Battronic created an electric truck that could carry 2,500 pounds at 25 mph.
复苏 1960年代后期,一家叫"蝙蝠"(Battronic)的公司创造了一款能以25 mph载重2500磅的电动卡车.
General Electric needed utility vehicles that could move short distances inside its plants and carry a considerable amount of weight.
通用电气需要能在其工厂内短距离行走并具有相当重量的通用车辆。
So in the mid-1970s, GE asked Battronic to manufacture 175 electric vans and 20 electric buses.
因此在1970年代中期,GE要求Battronic制造出175辆电动面包车和20辆电动巴士.
Seeing that there was interest again in electric vehicles, Sebring-Vanguard built approximately 2,000 Citi Cars.
看到对电动车辆再次产生兴趣后,塞布林-万卫公司建造了约2000辆花旗车.
These electric cars could travel 55 miles on one charge and go as fast as 44 mph.
这些电动车可以一程行驶55英里,并速度可达44 mph.
The Elcar Corporation followed by building the Elcar, which went slightly faster (45 mph) and a bit farther (60 miles) than the Citi Car.
埃尔卡尔公司随后又建造了埃尔卡尔号,它比花旗车稍快(45 mph)和稍远(60英里).
In 1975, the United States Postal Service saw the potential of electric vehicles and ordered a trial of 350 electric delivery jeeps from the American Motor Company.
1975年,美国邮政局看到了电动车辆的潜力,并命令美国汽车公司试制出350辆电动快递吉普.
These jeeps had a top speed of 50 mph, but could only go 40 miles before needing a charge.
这些吉普车最高速度为50 mph,但在需要充电前只能走40英里.
Eventually, Henry Ford’s assembly lines allowed the mass production of gasoline cars.
最终,亨利·福特的装配线允许大量生产汽油车.
Such high-volume production meant that Ford could sell his vehicles cheaply—to begin with, between $500 and $1,000.
如此高的产量意味着福特可以廉价地出售他的车辆——从一开始,在500到1 000美元之间。
Gasoline cars became cheaper and cheaper to manufacture and sell.
汽油汽车的制造和销售变得更便宜、更便宜。
At one point in 1912, an electric car with its ornate designs sold for about $1,750, while a gasoline car went for about $600.
在1912年的一站,一款带有其晶体设计的电动车以约1,750美元的价格发售,一款汽油车则以约600美元的价格发售.
By 1935, electric vehicles were almost extinct and would not be built again until the 1960s when people learned how high a toll gasoline cars took on the environment.
到1935年,电动车辆几乎已绝迹,直到1960年代人们才得知汽油车在环境上的收费多高.
The constant release of harmful gases by vehicles prompted Americans to demand more environmentally friendly vehicles.
车辆不断释放出有害气体,促使美国人要求更环保的车辆.
Consumers also wanted alternative fuels to gasoline, and to rely, or depend, less on foreign oil.
消费者还希望替代汽油的燃料,并依赖或较少依赖外国石油。
In 1973 a gas shortage kept many cars idle and others waiting in long lines to purchase what gas was available.
1973年,由于天然气短缺,许多汽车被闲置,其他汽车则在长线上等待购买可用的天然气.
In 2002, the London Metropolitan Police used two electric cars with a range of 53 miles and a top speed of 56 mph.
2002年,伦敦都市区警方使用两辆电动车,行驶范围为53英里,最高速度为56 mph.
Despite all this progress, history seemed doomed to repeat itself.
尽管取得了所有这些进展,但历史似乎注定要重演。
Much like the situation almost 100 years earlier, this new generation of electric cars was too expensive for the average consumer—thirty to forty thousand dollars.
与近100年前的情况一样,这种新一代的电动汽车对一般消费者来说太昂贵了——三至四万美元。
By improving production methods and increasing the volume of cars produced, car manufacturers hoped to reduce these high prices.
通过改进生产方法和增加出产汽车的数量,汽车制造商希望降低这些高价.
In 1990 and 1992, the U.
1990年和1992年,U.
S.
师曰.
government passed the Clean Air Act Amendment and U.
政府通过了清洁空气法案修正案和U.
S.
师曰.
Energy Policy Act.
《能源政策法》。
In addition, a few states created policies to reduce toxic emissions.
此外,一些国家制定了减少有毒排放的政策。
These laws restricted the emissions that cars could put into the atmosphere and put limits on the amount of gasoline that could be used.
这些法律限制汽车可以放入大气的排放,并限制可以使用的汽油数量.
As a result, car companies worked together with the U.
因此,汽车公司与U公司合作.
S.
师曰.
Department of Energy to convert some gasoline cars, like the Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck and Geo Metro, to electric cars.
能源部将一些汽油车,如Chevrolet S-10皮卡车和Geo Metro等转换为电动车.
Shortly thereafter, other automobile manufacturers created their own electric cars.
此后不久,其他汽车制造商也自创了电动汽车.
General Motors produced the EV1, a two- passenger sports car.
通用汽车生产了EV1型客运跑车.
It could accelerate from 0 to 50 mph in less than 7 seconds, had a top speed of 80 mph, and could travel 80 miles on one charge.
它可以在不到7秒内从0到50 mph加速,最高速度可达80 mph,并可在一发速上行走80英里.
Other electric cars included Toyota’s RAV4 sport utility vehicle, Honda’s EV Plus sedan, and Chrysler’s EPIC minivan.
其他电动汽车包括丰田的RAV4运动用车,本田的EV Plus轿车和克莱斯勒的EPIC小货车.
This driver and passenger show their support for electric vehicles like the Toyota electric RAV4.
这名司机和乘客表现出他们对丰田电动RAV4等电动车辆的支持.
A Nissan Altra EV Electric Station Wagon plugs in to recharge in 1999.
1999年由一所Nissan Altra EV电站Wagon接通充电.
The Future of Electric Cars The long-term future of electric cars is very bright.
电动车的未来 电动汽车的长期未来非常明亮.
Fossil fuels such as gasoline won’t last forever, but electric cars will continue to work as long as we can generate electricity to run them.
汽油等化石燃料不会永远持续下去,但只要我们能发电运转,电动汽车将继续运转。
Although most of our electricity today comes from power plants that use coal, in the future we will need to rely more on sustainable and renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power.
虽然我们今天的电力大多来自使用煤炭的发电厂,但今后我们需要更多地依赖太阳能、风能和水力发电等可持续和可再生能源。
Rising gasoline prices and concerns about air pollution and climate change may also increase the demand for electric cars.
汽油价格上涨和对空气污染和气候变化的关切也可能增加电动汽车的需求。
Rising gas prices (top) helped hybrid cars like Toyota’s Prius sedan (above) sell more than one million vehicles by 2007.
气价上涨(上行)帮助丰田Prius轿车等混合动力汽车(上行)到2007年售出超过一百万辆.
This center in France recycles old car batteries.
法国的这个中心回收了旧汽车电池.
Fuel cells are another possible source of power for electric cars.
燃料电池是电力机车的另一个可能的动力来源.
Most fuel cells create electricity by splitting hydrogen atoms and combining them with oxygen atoms from the air.
大多数燃料电池通过分解氢原子并将其与空气中的氧原子结合来产生电力.
After the electricity has been produced by this chemical reaction and used to charge a battery, the oxygen and hydrogen join together to make water—H ²O—which is all that comes out of the car’s exhaust.
在这种化学反应产生电力并用来充电电池后,氧气和氢气会合在一起取出水-H 2O-这是汽车排出的所有出水.
Fuel cells are still not practical for everyday cars.
燃料电池对日常汽车来说仍然不切实际.
They are expensive and need lots of hydrogen, which is hard to get, dangerous, and difficult to store safely in a car.
它们很昂贵,需要大量的氢气,这很难得到,危险,而且很难安全地储存在一辆车里.
The short-term future of electric cars is still in question.
电动汽车的短期未来仍然存有疑问.
Today, electric cars are not produced in the same quantity as gasoline cars so they are more expensive to make and purchase.
今天,电动汽车的生产量与汽油汽车不同,因此制造和购买成本更高.
Also, most electric cars can still travel less than one hundred miles on a charge.
另外,大多数电动汽车仍然可以收费行驶不到一百英里.
While this is farther than most people drive in a day, the thought of running out of electricity while driving still worries many people.
虽然这比大多数人在一天里开车要远,但开车时停电的想法仍然令许多人担心。
And people who want to take their car on long trips might have to look to other forms of transportation.
而想坐长途汽车的人可能不得不寻找其他形式的交通工具.
Car makers have tried to address some of these issues by making hybrid cars, which use two sources for power.
汽车制造商试图通过制造混合动力汽车来解决其中一些问题,混合动力汽车使用两种动力来源.
Hybrid cars use electricity as a primary power source, but also use a small gasoline motor to charge their batteries.
混合动力车以电力为主电源,但也使用小型汽油发动机来充电.
Hybrid owners don’t have to worry about running out of electricity on a trip because they can always fill up the gas tank if they need to drive farther.
混合车主不必担心旅行用电不足,
Some hybrid cars can even be powered by alternative fuels that come from plants, such as ethanol, vegetable oil, and biodiesel.
一些混合动力车甚至可以由来自植物的替代燃料提供动力,如乙醇,植物油和生物柴油.
What is the future of the electric car?
电动车的未来是什么?
Will electricity for motors come from the Sun, the wind, vegetable oil, biodiesel from plants and algae, ethanol from corn or sugar cane, hydrogen from natural gas—another fossil fuel, or from a totally new source that has not yet been discovered?
电动机的用电是否来自太阳、风能、植物油、植物和藻类的生物柴油、玉米或甘蔗的乙醇、天然气的氢气——另一种化石燃料,或尚未发现的全新的来源?
The possibilities seem endless, and the energy situation is constantly changing.
可能性似乎无穷无尽,能源状况也在不断变化。
Next time you’re stuck in traffic on your way to school, perhaps you could start thinking about new and efficient ways to travel that are affordable and environmentally friendly.
下回上学路上交通堵塞,
Cayenne Hybrid Concept, a huge leap in technology from Porsche’s original hybrid (Bottom) This team of high school students built a hybrid vehicle that gets 1,610 miles per gallon of gas.
卡延混合 概念,从保时捷最初的混合(Bottom)技术上的巨大飞跃 这支高中生队建造了一辆混合动力车,每加仑天然气得到1,610英里.
A letter carrier rides a Segway Human Transporter as part of a test in 2002 by the U.
信使机搭乘了塞格威人载客机,作为U在2002年进行的测试的一部分.
S.
师曰.
Postal Service to replace some gas vehicles.
邮政局负责更换一些燃气车辆。