A computer program that learns how to save fuel

江蘇泰興市第三高級(jí)中學(xué) 劉 娟

Jutroduction

研究表明，人工智能將會(huì)成為未來汽車的重要組成部分。同時(shí)，節(jié)能也是電腦程序開發(fā)的研究方向之一。

From avoiding jaywalkers（亂穿馬路的人）to emergency braking to eventually,perhaps,driving the vehicle itself,it is clear thatartificial intelligence（AI） will be an important part of the cars of the future.But it is not only the driving of them that will benefit.AI will also permit such cars to use energy more cautiously.

Cars have long had computerized enginemanagement that respondson the flyto changes in driving conditions.The introduction of electric power has,however,complicated matters.Hybrids（混合動(dòng)力車）,which have both a petrol engine and an electric motor run by a battery that is recharged by capturing kinetic energy（動(dòng)能）as the vehicle slows or brakes,need more management than does a petrol engine alone.Things get even harder with plugin hybrids,which can be recharged from the mains（電源）and have a longer electric-only range.

This is where AI could help,estimate Xuewei Qi,Matthew Barth and their colleagues at the University of California,Riverside.They are developing a system of energy management which uses a piece of AI that can learn from past experience.

Their algorithm （計(jì)算程序）works by breaking the trip down into small segments（部分）,each of which might be less than a minute long,as the journey progresses.In each segment the system checks to see if the vehicle hasencounteredthe same driving situations before,using data ranging from traffic information to the vehicle's speed,location,time ofday,the gradient（坡度） of the road,the battery's present state of charge and the engine's rate of fuelconsumption.

If the situation is similar,it employs the same energy-managementstrategythat it used previously for the next segment of the journey.For situations that it has not encountered before,the system estimates what the best power control might be and adds the results to its database for future reference.

Reading Check

1.The author mentions the benefits of AI at the beginning of the text to .

A.summarize the differences between vehicles

B.illustrate the important role AI is going to play

C.present the progress made in AI in car industry

D.introduce the topic of the text about the program

2.What can be learned from paragraph 2?

A.Hybrids have a petrol engine only.

B.Vehicles with hybrids have more power.

C.Vehicles with a petrol engine only can't be recharged.

D.Hybrids have a petrol engine as well as an electric motor.

Language Study

Difficult sentences

1.But it is not only the driving of them that will benefit.

翻譯：_______________________________________

【點(diǎn)石成金】It is...that...為強(qiáng)調(diào)句型,強(qiáng)調(diào)主語，該結(jié)構(gòu)移去后，But not only the driving of them will benefit，句子仍然完整。

2.Hybrids,which have both a petrol engine and an electric motor run by a battery that is recharged by capturing kinetic energy as the vehicle slows or brakes,need more management than does a petrol engine alone.

翻譯：

【點(diǎn)石成金】which引導(dǎo)非限制性定語從句,run...作定語，that引導(dǎo)定語從句，as譯為“當(dāng)……的時(shí)候”,引導(dǎo)時(shí)間狀語從句。

Using Language

I.Important vocabulary in the text

1.capture v.捕獲；奪得

2.encounter v.遭遇

3.consumption n.消耗

4.strategy n.策略

5.artificial intelligence 人工智能

6.on the fly 正在飛行；趕緊地；匆忙中

Ⅱ.Complete the following sentences in correctforms with the vocabulary given above.

1.The company has_________90%of the market.

2.Do you run through each day_________?

3.She was the most remarkable woman he has ever_________.