Back in 1912, a man named Carl Fisher had an ambitious dream of creating a roadway that would cross the United States. He wanted the road to be in good condition and to handle the traffic. Eventually, his efforts led to the Lincoln Highway. It runs through 13 states. Originally, the surface of the highway was small stones, but over time, the project began to add new materials. Since then, people have made progress in creating more durable (耐用的) mixtures of road surfacing.
However, basically, highway technology hasn’t changed a lot since the early 20th century. But that doesn’t mean we’ll be driving on the same type of highways by 2050. Numerous companies are working on creating smart highways using sensors that will help observe and redesign traffic. More importantly, it’s not hard to imagine some parts of cars working along with the sensors in the highways. For example, safety measures in the highways will help prevent crashes by observing the position and speed of the cars. When conditions change suddenly on the road, the system will override a car’s control system, which leads to fewer accidents and traffic jams.
Perhaps we’ll even reach a point where our cars will connect with the highways so that we can renounce driving completely if we choose. Just imagine the day when we just tell our car where we want to go and then let it do all the work for us.
What’s more, research into self-repairing materials may lead to lower repair costs. And scientists are working on photoelectric panels (光电面板) that can support highway traffic. Our future highways will become large generators (发电机), collecting energy from the sun to be changed into electricity. We may be able to create a transportation system that provides its own power.
Solar panels in the road can have other parts as well. Imagine fixing LEDs into the panels, allowing transportation officials to display warning signs or other information on the road. Or they could include a heating element in the panels that allows the highway to increase its temperature, melting ice and snow. In this way, many accidents on icy roads can be prevented. And drivers can keep their car in a stable running condition.
【小题1】What may be the key design for future smart highway systems?| A．The use of sensors to collect traffic information. |
| B．The functional combination of roads and cars. |
| C．The timely settlement of car crashes. |
| D．The strict control of cars’ speed. |
| A．Pick up. | B．Speed up. | C．Give up. | D．Keep up. |
| A．Durable and practical. | B．Flexible and moneymaking. |
| C．Convenient and time-saving. | D．Economical and environmentally friendly. |
| A．Improving cars’ efficiency. | B．Making traffic conditions safer. |
| C．Showing traffic signs more clearly. | D．Keeping drivers in good physical condition. |
