Driverless cars or self-driving cars have been seen in many sci-fi films and they were regarded as a man's dream. Now this dream can become a reality, but...
Listening exercise to do: Driverless cars (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)
Related articles to read about the issue:
Driverless cars will change everything (Financial Times)
The future of travel: How driverless cars could change everything (CNN)
Driverless cars prompt pile-up of questions (The Guardian)
The driverless car revolution isn’t just about technology – it’s about society too (by
LINGOHACK >>>
Episode 170104 / 04 January 2017 >>> Expressions presented: mock-up, social isolation & daredevils.USE OF ENGLISH (B2). Fill in the gaps with only one appropriate word. For more exercises search in my site.
The job sounded interesting: with a
fashion house (1) _________ the city centre. The telephone conversations I (2)
__________ had with them were relaxed and friendly, and the letter from the
boss had also been friendly (3) __________ . He had invited me to visit the
office and join some of them for lunch. The appointment was (4) _________
twelve o’clock.
I naturally thought long and hard
about (5) ____________ to wear. In the fashion business, of course, you were expected
to be smart. The question was (6) ___________ to be businesslike, or
fashionable. There was something (7) ___________ to think about, too. I had to
get there (8) _____________ train and bus. The journey was over two hours, and
that affects the clothes you choose.
In the end, I decided (9)
____________ wear my most expensive clothes. These were a pair of boots, a pair
of fashion jeans which had cost me a week’s salary, a hand-made sweater and a
coat. I was not (10) __________ satisfied with my appearance, but at (11)
____________ everything was new and expensive.
In fact, I realized (12)
____________ my arrival that I had chosen exactly the wrong clothes. The men in
the office (13) _____________ wearing dark suits and ties. The women were in
business suits.
The boss was just (14) ___________
friendly as his letter had been. We looked (15) _____________ the offices,
chatted about the business, and finally went out for lunch. They had chosen a
smart restaurant nearby, where the boss was (16) _________ well known. The
restaurant manager greeted him (17) ____________ name. Then he caught sight of
me. He shook his head apologetically, and smiled. Sorry, he said, the house
rules were quite (18) ______________. No one in jeans would be admitted.
I (19) _____________ the way out,
and we started looking for somewhere (20) ___________ to eat.
SOLUTIONS TO THIS EXERCISE IN THE NEXT POST
Solutions to the exercises in the previous post:
WORD FORMATION: 1. similarity , 2. communication , 3. apparently , 4. astonishment , 5. intelligence , 6. development , 7.corrections , 8. refusal 9. angrily
VOCABULARY: 1. A 2. C 3. D 4. B 5. A 6. B 7. C 8. B 9. C 10. A 11. C 12. D
ResponderEliminarA driverless car is an automobile that has an autopilot system allowing it to safely move from one place to another without help from a human driver. Ideally, the only role of a human in such a vehicle would be indicate the destination. The implementation of driverless cars could theoretically lead to many improvements in transportation, including a reduction in car accidents, more efficient transportation, and an increase in road capacity. There are, however, many obstacles to successfully implementing the concept as a common and effective method of transportation. This is especially true in situations in which a car on autopilot would need to safely navigate alongside normal cars directed by human drivers.
I've read that this type of cars have been involved in 14 accidents since they were invented, but 13 of the accidents have been caused by the other drivers and only one was caused this year by this type of cars. For that reason, I think that self-driving cars are safer than the others cars, if in the future many people use self-driving cars there won't be so many accidents.
On the contrary, autonomous cars can have disadvantages, for instance, they would eliminate many jobs in the transportation sector as taxi drivers or bus drivers, I also think that the GPS is not sure completely and the car can go to a non-existent street and produces an accident.
A vehicle without driver is an automobile capable of mimicking the human capabilities of handling and control, perceiving the environment around it and moving accordingly. That is to say, a car in which the 'driver' only has to enter the destination address and desjarse that the car takes it. The car is currently scheduled to reach a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour. The first early prototypes lacked steering wheel and brake and accelerator pedals, but they had to be included for safety reasons.
ResponderEliminarI think that on the one hand a car without a driver is advantageous because it can avoid many accidents of the present, it would be easier to park, there would be no traffic since the vehicles that are handled alone will not even have to use traffic signs because all They will be communicating between them, and therefore, the traffic will be much less.
On the other hand I think it is a disadvantage because only people with more money could afford that car. They also produce more pollution than a normal car and a loss of privacy because you need to use real-time satellites to operate, so this has the potential for any third party to know exactly where you are at any time.
In my opinion a vehicle without a driver can have many good things but also a lot of bad things. One of the bad things that such a vehicle can have is that many people are going to lose their job. But one of the many good things this has is that it will not pollute as the current cars do, as well as accidents are going to decrease considerably.
ResponderEliminarThese cars would revolutionize everything we know today, taxi drivers would disappear, we would not have to carry cash because many of them would work with the payment through apps like PayPal, or we would not have to pay more than due because the driver gave three laps in the same street to raise the price and we would go direct to our destination.
Although if an accident occurred in these types of cars, we would have a problem because we would not have anyone to blame for the fault, so there would be a very important legal vacuum, because what if someone died in the accident? . Another disadvantage would be What happens to older people who do not understand how to do this or prefer to follow what they understand? Should we think only in the future? The issues that this raises are a lot then we should think about how this would affect the society but at the end of this I think that the advantages are greater because the problems that are presented surely have a solution
Ariadna Prados López 1º Bach
I reckon that if you want drive a car you must have a driving license, because it isn't safe drive without a driving license.A driverless car is a vehicle that has a system that drive automatically to safely move from one place to another without help from a human driver.
ResponderEliminarThis system have many good things and also a lot of bad things. This system can have a error and be unsafe to the passenger of the vehicle. In my opinion drive a car it's cool I love cars and I hope to have my driving license to drive to anywhere. With a driving license and a car, you can go to anywhere when you want. If cars have this system the cars will be more expensive and the taxists lost their job.
The payment of these services would be realized with the application of PayPal or with Samsung pay, there will be a problem because a older people who hasn't smartphone can'ts pay and they don't understand this service, it is a real problem.
Jose Manuel Diaz España 1ºBach
Technology advances at a gigantic pace, and we are ever closer to the future. That is why it is normal that by now you have heard of the autonomous car. Yes, we mean that car that does not need a driver and that in a few years will be circulating on the roads around the world. As you read it, a car that does not need driver thanks to the algorithms of Google. Does not it remind you of Kit, the fantastic car? The autonomous car is designed to be driven alone, without driver. This means that passengers are not necessarily on the road, that they can relax during the journey and spend that time doing other things. And although at the beginning these types of cars may need the help of a driver, the day will come when they are so perfect that the figure of this will be dispensable. So we came up with this question: Would it be necessary for a person traveling in this type of car to have a driver's license? Logically, if you do not have to drive you would not have to have it. So if it was no longer necessary to take the driving license to drive, people would stop going to the driving schools, right? Since it would not make sense to pay for something you do not need, nor would you need to know how to park, learn traffic rules or know how to do overtaking ... All this would mean that the work of driving schools would be nil and would be forced to close ...
ResponderEliminarImagine a town where a mean of transport is a car without any driver. Who hasn't ever imagined having a car which drives itself? Is it a dream or is it real? Today, there are self-driving cars, although... will they be the main cars in the future? First of all, I'm going to introduce the auto-drive cars, then, I will explain one of the most striking aspects of this, and finally, I'm going to give you my opinion.
ResponderEliminarWe have seen or heard at least once about driverless cars, such an example is the film “The fantastic car” or in the Simpsons when the truck drivers had a button to drive the lorry itself while they were sleeping. This kind of transport is being developed in the last years, in view of the latest advertisement of cars like Audi. They are capable of carrying us to our destination or even to park in difficult places.
Nonetheless, one of the most striking features of this issue is the loss of jobs. Drivers won't be needed, with this in mind, taxi drivers, delivery men, truck drivers, bus drivers... among other, will be sacked. Not only that but also I'd like to point out that if a car commits an infringement, who is going to be the responsible? The owner of the car? Must he pay the fine? Or if it causes an accident, how would it be sanctioned?
As far as I am concerned, I agree that these cars are safer, although it isn't the best solution. We should try to understand that these cars would get us into trouble. Moreover, they aren't the best way to stop accidents. So we have to prevent accidents otherwise.
María Béjar Rodríguez 1º Bach
People think in how will be the future. Many impossible things that nobody never think that it will be real, today is real. In many science films, we can see a self-driving cars that it needn´t to be conducted. Science films as “The fantastic car”, although in this film, the car has life.
ResponderEliminarSelf-driving cars are a good for to have less accidents because it is designed with a system that it has the priority in the safe of the passengers. But there are many moral´s problems with it because in a moment that the car needs to decide among to save the passenger, run over to a child or fall for a ravine.
Also, the self-driving cars affect to a negative way in the economy and work because many taxi drivers and bus drivers wouldn´t have work in a future because this people will be replaced by it.
I think that self-driving cars are good but it will be better if this system works in a emergency situation.
Patricia Rodríguez Martín 1Bach
The machines do the work of people, but we must not rely to the point of leaving our lives in an automatic car because sometimes machines can also fail and can cost us our lives.
ResponderEliminarToday the world is changing due to the theme of cars and roads.
ResponderEliminarToday there are many models of cars, some pollute, others park alone, and thousands of other things.
This will continue to progress so that one day the cars will go alone.
Sometimes due to smoke pollution it is said that it is better to take public transport like buses and thus make less traffic jams and less smoke in the atmosphere
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarA vehicle without a driver is a car capable of imitating human capacities for handling and control, perceiving the environment around it and moving accordingly. That is, a car in which the 'driver' just has to enter the destination address and let the car take it.
ResponderEliminarThese cars would revolutionize everything we know today, taxi drivers would disappear, we would not have to carry cash because many of them would work with payment through applications such as PayPal, or we would not have to pay more than due because the driver took three laps in the same street to raise the price and we would go directly to our destination.
In my opinion I think it will be a great step forward to avoid some accidents since many drivers are distracted through cell phones, with other things and the worst of all they are drunk or have used some type of drug.
Cars are one of the cleverest inventions that humans have made. Without cars we won't be able to go to a lot of places that we go to just in a few minutes. I think that we can't live without a car, but we don't have to use them a lot.
ResponderEliminarA lot of time ago, people went from one place to another by carriages taken by horses. They where a slow and unsafe vehicle, but it was better than go walking. Only rich people was able to go in one of these, but actually everyone has a car, even poor people!
Cars are quite good, but there's a big problem with them. They pollute the air! Nowadays humans are creating non pollutant cars. They are creating electric ones that are charged with a battery. By this way, cars won't be pollutant any more. They're a great idea, but they are so expensive and people don't buy them yet. If electric cars prices will be lower, a lot of people will have one instead of having a fuel one.
In my opinion cars are a great invention, but we don't have to abuse of them and we should try to use public transport instead to reduce pollution.
Realizado por Álvaro Martín Moliz 4º ESO A
Every time technology advances more and technology is modernized more and more. The car is a good invention, without cars we could not move in such a short time as we do now. It is a very useful and comfortable invention.
ResponderEliminarA driverless car is a vehicle that has a self-driving system to move safely from one place to another without the help of a human driver. All the human has to do is indicate the destination.
The autonomous car is designed to be driven alone, without a driver. This means that passengers are not necessarily on the road, that they can relax during the journey and spend that time doing other things.
This type of transport has been developing in recent years, there are cars that already park only in difficult places.
This has its advantages and disadvantages like all the advantages of a car without a driver are: these cars will not be threatening.
There will be fewer traffic problems and fewer accidents.
And the downsides: they are very expensive and very few people will buy them.
The work of taxi drivers, delivery men, truck drivers ... the jobs of these workers will disappear
In my opinion, this type of car is a good idea to avoid accidents, but first you should test them if they are 100% safe and see that the system works well and once they are safe on the road, publish them for sale.
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarActually, the car brand made by Elon Musk, Tesla, are Self-driving cars, but you still need a driving licence, because you can also use them like normal a normal car. In the future, I think that taxis or buses could be self-driving transport method, I mean, you just have to pay for the travel and they go by an autonomous way to your destination
EliminarDaniel del Pozo Quesada 2º Bach
Until a few years ago, driverless cars were something that we didn't think would happen for a long time, but technology is incredible and it is advancing very fast and right now there are prototypes of cars that drive themselves.
ResponderEliminarAlthough this seems like a dream and it is very beautiful, it also has its bad part, if a car driven by a person were to swerve and crash into a car without a driver, what would the car without a driver do?
The car companies are studying this and all possible situations in order to try to find a solution so that this dream of many people can come true.
If this were to become a reality and all the possible errors that could occur could be fixed, the number of road accidents would drop a lot. Although if you suffered a cyber attack it would be horrible.