每日英语听力

当前播放

2021 年 6 月(第二套) Car, Technology and Future 汽车、科技与未来

The car has reshaped our cities.

It seems to offer autonomy for everyone.

There is something almost delightful in the detachment from reality of advertisements showing mass-produced cars marketed as symbols of individuality and of freedom when most of their lives will be spent making short journeys on choked roads.

For all the fuss made about top speeds, cornering ability and acceleration, the most useful gadgets on a modern car are those which work when you're going very slowly: parking sensors, sound systems, and navigation apps which will show a way around upcoming traffic jams.

This seems to be one of the few areas where the benefit of sharing personal information comes straight back to the sharer: because these apps know where almost all the users are, and how fast they are moving almost all the time, they can spot traffic congestion very quickly and suggest ways round it.

The problem comes when everyone is using a navigation app which tells them to avoid everyone else using the same gadget.

Traffic jams often appear where no one has enough information to avoid them.

When a lucky few have access to the knowledge, they will benefit greatly.

But when everyone has perfect information, traffic jams simply spread onto the side roads that seem to offer a way round them.

This new congestion teaches us two things.

下载全新《每日英语听力》客户端,查看完整内容
点击播放