外國人最想和你聊的時事話題：愛車一族

　What is car lovers　什么是愛車一族
     An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods.
     The term motorcar has also been used in the context of electrified rail systems to denote a car which functions as a small locomotive but also provides space for passengers and baggage. These locomotive cars were often used on suburban routes by both interurban and intercity railroad systems.
     There are approximately 600 million passenger cars worldwide(roughly one car per eleven people). Around the world, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road in 2007； they burn over a billion cubic meters (260 billion US gallons) of petrol/gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China and India.
     Automobile propulsion technology under development include gasoline/electric and plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, biofuels, and various alternative fuels.
     Research into future alternative forms of power include the development of fuel cells, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition(HCCI), stirling engines, and even using the stored energy of compressed air or liquid nitrogen.
     New materials which may replace steel car bodies include duraluminum, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and carbon nanotubes.
     Telematics technology is allowing more and more people to share cars, on a pay-as-you-go basis, through such schemes as City Car Club in the UK, Mobility in mainland Europe, and Zipcar in the US.
     Communication is also evolving due to connected car systems.
     The automotive market is formed by the demand and the industry. This article is about the general, major trends in the automotive market, mainly from the demand side.
     The European automotive market has always boasted a higher number of smaller cars than the United States. With the high fuel prices and the world petroleum crisis, the United States may see its automotive market become more like the European market with fewer large vehicles on the road and more small cars.
     For luxurious cars, with the current volatility in oil prices, buying smaller cars is not only smart, but also trendy. And because fashion is of high importance with the upper classes, the little green cars with luxury trimmings become quite plausible.
     愛車一族必須了解的汽車名詞：
     MPV：是Multi-Purpose Vehicle，即多用途汽車。
     SUV：是Sport Utility Vehicle，中文意思是運動型多用途汽車?，F(xiàn)在主要是指那些設計前衛(wèi)、造型新穎的四輪驅動（four wheel drive）越野車（off-road vehicle）。
     RV：全稱是Recreation Vehicle，即休閑車，是一種適用于娛樂、休閑、旅行的汽車。
     皮卡：(PICK-UP)又名轎卡。顧名思義，亦轎亦卡，是一種采用轎車車頭和駕駛室（steering room），同時帶有敞開式貨車（freight wagon）車廂的車型。
     CKD汽車：Completely Knocked Down的縮寫，意思是"完全拆散"。就是進口或引進汽車時，汽車以完全拆散的狀態(tài)進入，之后再把汽車的全部零、部件組裝成整車。
     SKD汽車：Semi-Knocked Down的縮寫，意思是"半散裝"。指從國外進口汽車總成(如發(fā)動機engine、駕駛室、底盤underpan等)，然后在國內(nèi)汽車廠裝配而成的汽車。
     概念車：Conception Car意譯而來。僅僅是向人們展示設計人員新穎、獨特、超前的構思而已。