超酷！勞斯萊斯首款無人車亮相

所屬教程:金融時報原文閱讀

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2020年08月21日

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掃描二維碼方便學習和分享

超酷！勞斯萊斯首款無人車亮相

這款車的官方代號為103EX，是勞斯萊斯品牌誕生以來推出的首款真正意義上的純概念車型。用現(xiàn)在的審美和常識來看，這款車的造型可以用怪異來形容，但勞斯萊斯告訴世人：這將是未來百年豪華轎車的發(fā)展趨勢。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

unveil 揭開；揭幕[?n've?l]

Glimps 一瞥，一看[gl?m(p)s]

Bespoke 定做的；預定的[b?'sp??k]

chauffeur 司機['???f?; ???'f??]

utilitarian 功利的[j?,t?l?'te?r??n]

sanctuary 避難所['s??(k)tj??r?]

閱讀馬上開始，建議您計算一下閱讀整篇文章所用的時間，對照下方的參考值就可以評估出您的英文閱讀水平。

如果您讀完全文用時為：那么，您的閱讀速度相當于每分鐘閱讀的英文單詞數(shù)

3分0秒母語為英語者的朗讀速度 140

2分22秒母語為英語的中學生的閱讀速度 250

1分24秒母語為英語的大學生的閱讀速度 350

0分50秒母語為英語的速讀高手 1000

Rolls-Royce unveils its first driverless car（505words）

By Peter Campbell, Motor Industry Correspondent

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Rolls-Royce Motor Cars on Thursday unveiled its first driverless car, with a “vision vehicle” it hopes will cast a glimpse into the future of luxury transport.

With no steering wheel, a door on one side only and a virtual assistant that can book hotels or advise on your wardrobe selection, the car marks a different direction for a super-luxury marque.

Several carmakers have revealed plans for self-driving vehicles. But Rolls-Royce said its customers, who pay as much as ￡1m for a bespoke, hand-built model, will still demand a luxurious riding experience in an era where everyone will be chauffeured by robots.

“In 25 years from now, when you see commoditised bubbles as cars, there will be our customers who are used to sitting in something that is luxury,” said Torsten Müller-?tv?s, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The design, over a year in the making, is a rejection of “utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility”, he added.

The driverless car, called the 103EX, was unveiled in London at a centenary celebration for BMW, the German carmaker that owns Rolls-Royce. The car shown by the company is a working model, capable of a top speed of 3mph and driven by an operator using a mobile phone.

Gone is the 12-cylinder engine that sits under the hood of Rolls-Royces of today.

The new car is meant to have zero emissions — although the company admitted it has no idea what will power the vehicle when it enters production in the late 2040s.

“We are currently assuming it will be electric”, Mr Müller-?tv?s said.

The door, which will be on one side only, includes a laser projector that will cast a virtual red carpet on to the floor spreading away from the vehicle to create a “grand arrival”.

But patrons of the car will also be saved the indignity of clambering out.

An opening roof, modelled on the clam shell in the Botticelli painting “The birth of Venus”, would allow passengers to stand up and step out of the car.

Chief designer Giles Taylor said: “You won’t have to duck and tuck any more.”

Inside, in an area called the “grand sanctuary”, a silk sofa sits opposite a 1.5 metre screen that can be used for watching films — or can become transparent to reveal the surroundings.

But not every aspect of Rolls-Royce’s current models has been thrown out of the virtual window.

The radiator on the front of the car, and the iconic Winged Lady on the front, will remain “for as long the company exists”.

And despite having no engine, it will also be the length of a current Rolls-Royce Phantom — just shy of six metres.

Where the 12-cylinder engine once lay will be a luggage compartment, which Rolls-Royce designed after consulting the concierge at London’s Dorchester hotel.

The bags will eject automatically when the car is stopped, leaving at hand height to allow the porter to whisk them away to the waiting suite.

“Most Rolls-Royce customers never touch their luggage”, Mr Müller-?tv?s said.

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1. Which one of the following is not true for the 103EX?

A. with 12-cylinder engine

B. a door on one side only

C. a virtual assistant

D. with no steering wheel

2. How long have BMW been in the business?

A. 50 years

B. 200 years

C. 100 years