节目资讯
刊物:大家说英语
日期:2012-10-31
难易度:High
关键字:future, control, wheel [steering wheel], keep track, control, take, give
up
Lights.
Camera.
Let's Talk in English.
Hi, everyone, and welcome to our show.
My name is Andrea.
Gabe, you were driving very fast!
Well yes, I was driving a car of the future.
A car of the future, as you can see, it's an invisible car - a car that you
can't see.
Well friends, yes, my name is Gabe.
And we're very glad that you could join us for today's special lesson called:
Cars of the Future.
What is the future?
Well, we don't know because it hasn't happened yet.
Can you control the future?
Well, what can you control?
When you're driving your car, you have a steering wheel, and you can control the
car with your steering wheel.
Well, we used three key words just now: future, control and steering wheel.
We'll talk about these and more in today's lesson.
So pay attention.
Open your magazine.
Let's get started with Conversation A.
Hello, everyone, welcome to Let's Talk!
Do you ever wonder what cars will be like in the future?
Well, today we're going to find out.
Let's welcome our special guest, Mr. Andy Auto.
Welcome to our show, Andy Auto!
Thanks, Rob.
Tell us about cars of the future.
Did you know cars may soon drive themselves?
Really? Wow!
Google has been testing some for the past two years.
Computers control them, not people.
There's no driver at the wheel?
No, but people are always in the car during Google's tests.
One can take the wheel if something goes wrong.
Well yes, Rob is talking to a special guest, Andy Auto, about the cars of the
future.
Something in the future.
Friends, "future" is one of our key words.
If it is in the future, it has not happened yet.
The past already happened.
Right now is... well, it's the present.
It's right now.
Do we know about the future?
No, we don't know what will happen in the future.
Nobody knows the future.
And in our conversation, we are talking about cars in the future.
Now cars change all the time.
They always get better, or they get faster, or they use gas in better ways.
So here we are talking about cars of the future.
We don't see these cars right now, but maybe we will in a few years.
That's right, maybe we will in the future.
So of course we don't know the future, but we can guess what it will be like.
We can plan for the future.
If you have a test tomorrow, that is in the future.
Then you need to plan for the future, prepare for your test.
Well friends, we do have some other key words here.
Andy says Google has been testing some of these cars for the past two years.
Computers control them, not people.
Computers control them.
"Control" is a key word.
When you control something, that means you tell it what to do.
So computers will tell the cars what to do.
Now today, drivers control the cars.
Yes.
But maybe in the future, computers will control the cars.
This is very interesting.
I don't know how I would feel if I am sitting in a car, and I don't have my
hands on the steering wheel to control the car.
Yes, you like to have a steering wheel just like this.
This is also one of our key words - a wheel, or a steering wheel.
To steer means to tell it to go left or right.
So a steering wheel is what you use to drive your car.
I agree with you, Andrea.
I like to control the car when I'm driving.
It's good to have a steering wheel.
Yes. And you want to have both hands on the wheel, both hands on the steering
wheel to be safe when you are driving.
Well hey, Gabe, I can uh... take the wheel.
Well here, Andrea, you take the wheel.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know what that means.
I'm going to take the wheel.
Well yes, I know what it means.
That means I'm going to control the car now.
Well, where are we going, Andrea?
Well, we are going to drive on over to Conversation B.
How fast can self-driving cars go?
They can go 75 mph.
And they can keep track of people and bicycles.
Wow!
Yes. They understand traffic lights, too.
When do you think people will be able to buy the cars?
Maybe by the year 2020.
Do you think people will buy them?
I don't know.
People may not want to give up control of their cars.
Wow, so these self-driving cars can go up to 75 mph.
And they can keep track of people and bicycles.
Well, I want to keep track of the key words we need to learn.
And "keep track" is another one.
When you keep track of something, that means you know what is around you.
So the car keeps track of people and bicycles.
So the car knows how many people and bicycles are around it.
And so you can keep track of things that have numbers.
Uh, how else can you use these words?
Andrea, how many years have you been married?
I've been married for four years.
I can keep track of that.
That's good. That's great.
You can keep track of that.
Well, how many hours have you been married?
Uh, Gabe, I don't keep track of the hours that I've been married.
You don't?
No!
But don't you love your husband?
I love my husband.
But I do keep track of our key words.
And we have one more to talk about.
It is "control." Now here we see "control" as a noun.
It says, "People don't want to give up control of their cars." Now when you have
control of something, that means you are telling it what to do.
People don't want to give up control of their cars.
Well, we don't want to give up learning.
It's time for us to review with our Read It.
Cars that are controlled by computer are not just a dream of the future.
Google and other companies have been testing them for two years.
During the tests, people are always in the car.
One can take the wheel if something goes wrong.
The cars understand traffic lights and can keep track of people and bicycles.
But people may not like them.
They may not want to give up control of their cars.
Yes, I agree.
People may not like them.
They may not want to give up control of their cars.
I don't know if I would like to give up control of my car.
Well, when you give up control of something, that means you say: OK, I won't do
it anymore. Something else can control.
But you can give up other things, too.
What else can you give up in life, Andrea?
Well, some people might give up a habit...
OK.
Or something that they do every day.
People often try to give up bad habits, like eating too much sugar.
It might be a good idea to give up sugar for a while.
That can help you stay healthy.
That's right.
Actually, there was a time I really liked coffee a little too much.
And so I gave up coffee for a while.
And now it's not a habit anymore.
It's not a bad habit.
A friend of mine gave up playing video games so he could study more.
Now sometimes we do one thing that keeps us from doing another thing.
So you might need to choose to give up one thing to do another thing.
He gave up video games so he could study more.
Of course, you want to give up the bad things so you can have time to do the
things that are better for you.
Well friends, do you drive?
Do you want to buy one of these kinds of cars?
Or do you like to have control - you don't want to give up control?
Well, right now it's time for us to continue and learn something new with the
Monkey Man and Ginger.
I want one.
You want one what?
I want a car of the future.
No, Ginger. Monkeys can't drive cars.
A car of the future drives itself.
What? A car that drives itself?
Yeah, computers control it.
So there's no driver behind the wheel?
That's right.
And it goes fast.
Is that so?
And it keeps track of people and bicycles.
That's really amazing.
And traffic lights, too.
Wow!
And I want one.
So do I.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well hey, let's review our key words right now.
The first one is: future.
future.
Will you go to college in the future?
control.
control.
Jim can control the speed of the car.
wheel.
Or, steering wheel.
When you're driving a car, keep your hands on the wheel.
keep track.
keep track.
There are too many students.
I can't keep track of them.
control.
control.
Mr. Warner has control of the business.
He makes the rules.
Well, right now it's time for us to drive on over to... ah, yes, abreak.