I passed my driving test at the fourth attempt. You might think that means I’m not as safe as someone who passed for the first time. But would you feel safer with no driver at all? Maybe not, and it’s for this reason that automotive firms have included driver-assist functions in their prototype (原型) driverless cars. This allows the human driver to take over if there is a problem.

Google is one manufacturer that has prototype driverless cars. These have been equipped with steering wheels and conventional controls to allow normal driving. But this is just a stage — the vision is to have fully automated cars very soon. The director of Google’s self-drive project, Chris Urmson, hopes his 11-year-old son will never have to take a driving test. To achieve that, the cars need to be on the roads in five years. He says driverless cars will greatly reduce accidents and traffic jams.

According to Chris, “about 1.2 million people are killed on the roads around the world each year. That number is equivalent to a jet falling out of the sky every day.” He thinks gradual changes to existing car designs are not enough to deal with the problem. “If we are really going to make changes to our cities and get rid of parking lots, we need self-drive cars,” he says.

Google’s prototypes have covered over a million kilometers on the road. They have also had to deal with unexpected situations, such as a child driving a toy car in the road, and a woman in an electric wheelchair chasing a duck. In each case, they reacted safely.

Some are not convinced. Seven Beiker of Stanford University thinks driverless cars will still need human input in extreme circumstances. He also worries that people may forget how to operate their vehicles if they do not do it regularly. “I guess I shouldn’t throw away my driver’s license just yet,” he says.

【小题1】What can be known about driverless cars?

A．They are fitted with newly-developed steering wheels.

B．They include functions managed by human drivers.

C．They need traditional controls to avoid traffic jams.

D．They will be purchased on the market in five years.

【小题2】What can we learn from what Chris said?

A．Chris believes that there is a possibility of a jet crashing per day.

B．About 1.2 million people are killed around the world each year.

C．Changing current car designs alone cannot prevent all traffic deaths.

D．Driverless cars cannot deal with extreme circumstances without human help.

【小题3】What’s the attitude of Seven Beiker towards driverless cars?

A．Approving.	B．Cautious.
C．Neutral.	D．Hopeful.

【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Why we need driverless cars in the near future.

B．How to control a driverless car without a driver’s license.

C．Differences between driverless cars and conventional ones.

D．A brief introduction of driverless cars and some opinions on them.