口译练习 Day 18：Carmakers Count on Customers’ Desire

Carmakers Count on Customers’ Desire to Stay Connected

Coming on the heels of the larger shows in Los Angeles and Detroit, the Washington Auto Show has carved out a niche as the one that emphasizes new technologies,especially those that cause less damage to the environment.

But with falling oil prices, the promotion of thriftier hybrid or all-electric vehicles was somewhat muted, shifting the auto show's focus to connectivity and automatization.

Automotive engineering professor, Zoran Filipi, says the technology in this MercedesS-class model shows that we are at the dawn of cars that almost drive themselves.

“It has lane-keeping ability, it has advanced radar-based system to keep the vehicle’s speed also in sync with other vehicles and this can completely alleviate your effort, driving effort, instop-and-go situations too, and finally the collision avoidance," saidFilipi.

Very soon we will see these technologies trickling-down to more affordable models ascar makers work to develop fully autonomous-driving cars. 

In the meantime, says Filipi, fuel efficiency has improved 20 percent over thelast 10 years.

“This has mostly been achieved with advanced engine technologies – direct injection, turbo-charging, coupled to very modern transmissions, eight, nine, ten speeds that keep the engine running in the best possible region," he said.

Almost all new models have built-in display screens that connect the vehicle to the driver’s smartphone and the Internet, helping in navigation, taking voice commands, and sending and receiving messages.

“There fore you can use all the applications you are used to,everything that is tailored to your needs in your car and it’s very seamless," said Filipi.

Larger manufacturers, such as Toyota, say their all-electric fuel-cell cars are ready for the market and the only obstacle is the lack of charging stations.

Other spromote their hybrid gas-electric models, saying that the number of charging stations is constantly rising while the price of home chargers is dropping.

South Korean car maker Hyundai even offers a life time warranty for the battery in it stop-of-the-line model, hoping to make the hybrid car more attractive to customers.

打卡任务清单：

必做的标配打卡任务，可提高英语听力、提高翻译能力；

可选的高配打卡任务，可练习口译笔记、提高口译能力。

标配打卡任务清单：

1 集中注意力仔细听一遍英文音频/视频，有意识地抓句子主干、概括大意；

2 看视频/听音频进行跟读影子练习；

3 再听一遍音频/视频，边听边做口译笔记；

4 对照文本记下文中没听懂和没看懂的发音和术语含义（通过在线搜索，积累专业术语储备）。

5 选一段你认为代表整个文本核心内容的句子进行笔译练习，以双语对照的形式贴在评论区。

高配打卡任务清单：

1 集中注意力仔细听一遍英文音频/视频，基础好的可以直接边听边练习记笔记；

2 看视频/听音频进行跟读影子练习；

3 再听一遍做口译笔记或补充之前的笔记，可根据具体情况适当停顿，希望比第一遍多抓住信息点；

4 打开音频或视频，对照文本进行实时视译，之后记下文中没听懂和没看懂的发音和术语含义，通过在线搜索，积累专业术语储备。

5 选一段你认为代表整个文本核心内容的句子进行笔译练习，以双语对照的形式贴在评论区。想练习交传和同传的小伙伴可以自己录音，自己听后评估或找partner反馈。

如果完成打卡任务，请在评论区，朋友圈评论区或文字发布区写下完成清单数字并附上一段话的双语对照译文。

口译练习打卡昨日回顾，可以随时开启你的打卡练习之旅~