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Cars Without Drivers

Driverless cars have done over a million kilometers of test drives in some US states. They may be safer than human-driven cars since 90% of accidents are due to human error. Google is a leader in developing self-driving cars since the cars rely heavily on computer software and mapping, areas of Google's expertise. Future generations may find it ridiculous that humans used to drive cars.

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Noemi Campillo Martinez
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396 views2 pages

Cars Without Drivers

Driverless cars have done over a million kilometers of test drives in some US states. They may be safer than human-driven cars since 90% of accidents are due to human error. Google is a leader in developing self-driving cars since the cars rely heavily on computer software and mapping, areas of Google's expertise. Future generations may find it ridiculous that humans used to drive cars.

Uploaded by

Noemi Campillo Martinez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Cars Without Drivers


I Imagine getting into a car, telling it where to go, and then sitting back for a nap or a game on your phone. All this
may happen in the not-so-distant future, thanks to driverless cars. The cars, which can travel with no human
operating them, have already done over a million kilometres of test drives in the US states of California, Nevada
and Florida.
II If getting into a car without a driver sounds scary, think again. The car’s sensors provide it with 360 degree
perception of everything that’s going on around it and it’s able to react faster than a human. It never gets
distracted, sleepy, drunk or aggressive. It won’t exceed the speed limit or go through a red light. Considering the
fact that 90% of collisions are the result of human error, it seems that self-driving cars may actually be safer.
III Strangely enough, Google, the giant Internet search-engine company, is the biggest self-driving car innovator. This
actually makes sense considering the car’s complete dependence on computer software – and mapping, one field
of Google’s expertise. For each city it navigates, the car is fed maps containing detailed information such as street
width and the locations of traffic lights, signs and zebra crossings.
IV The car also has to know things it can’t be told ahead of time, such as whether a traffic light is red or green. Radar
sensors and laser beams emitted by 3D cameras provide this information, as well as images of things like a
pedestrian stepping into the street or another car suddenly coming too close.
V Like any new technology, driverless cars still need a lot of improvement. They can’t deal with rain or snow, will
drive right through unexpected holes in the road and can’t detect temporary signs and new traffic lights. Despite
these setbacks, Google claims that its cars will be ready for use as soon as 2019. Project leader Sebastian Thrun,
confident that one day the Google car will become the norm, recently declared: “I’m really looking forward to a
time when generations after us look back and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars.” Such
optimism can be quite contagious, and in this case it’s hard not to share it.

1 Complete the sentences.


1. In some US states, test drives ................................................................
............................................................................................................... .
2. Self-driving cars may be safer because human error .............................
............................................................................................................... .
3. Street width is one type of information ....................................................
............................................................................................................... .

2 Answer the questions.


1. Why does it make sense that Google is designing the cars?
........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................
2. In what way is the type of information provided by cameras different from that provided by maps?
........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................
3. How might future generations feel about humans driving cars?
........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................
3 Rewrite the sentence without changing the original meaning.
Despite the setbacks, Google claims that its cars will be ready by 2019.
Google claims that its cars will be ready by 2019 even though.....................
..................................................................................................................... .

4 Choose the correct answer.


1. Driverless cars won’t ...... .
a. detect all objects surrounding them
b. go faster than legally allowed
c. respond as quickly as people
2. The examples in the last paragraph show that the Google car is ...... .
a. safe in all kinds of weather
b. not able to do everything a human driver can do
c. almost ready for use
3. The writer of the article ...... .
a. disagrees with Sebastian Thrun
b. feels the Google car isn’t realistic
c. feels optimistic about the Google car

5 Find words and expressions in the text that mean the same as:
1. short sleep (paragraph I) ....................................................................
2. happening (paragraph II) ....................................................................
3. area (paragraph III) ....................................................................
4. in advance (paragraph IV) ....................................................................
5. not anticipated (paragraph V) ....................................................................

6 Write a composition of about 130-150 words.


1. There has been a proposal to lower the age for a full driving license to 16. What do you think are the
advantages and disadvantages of this?

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