What would the world be like if cars could drive themselves? Imagine(想象) seeing an empty car passing by on its way to pick up its owner, or a car full of passengers who are reading, listening to music or even sleeping. But none of them are worried about the road ahead.

Well, all of this could be the future of driving. There are several companies, including Google, working on driverless cars, which are currently(目前) in the testing stages. If the tests are successful, we could buy an electric, self﹣driven car very soon. But, how is it possible for a car to drive itself?

Cars already have many features allowing them to take over drivers during certain situations. Some features include cars being able to park themselves, or slow down when they detect objects close by. They can also control the speed if there are dangerous conditions, such as snow or slippery (滑的) roads.

Other features have also changed the way drivers react to some situations. Scientists and engineers believe, with the help of wireless signals, cameras and GPS, we are now at a stage where creating a safe self﹣driving car might be possible.

The self﹣driven car may be the answer to lowering the number of deathly accidents caused by careless drivers or dangerous conditions. However, there are still some people who do not like the idea. American lawyer Whit Drake, for example, doesn't believe these cars are safe. He thinks the possibility of the technology making a mistake will be too high.

Twenty-four trains, nine countries, 13, 500 miles. They are the numbers behind the heroic round trip one man took from Southampton in the UK to eastern China.

Roger Tyers, 37, used over $2, 500, which was almost twice more than the cost of a return flight, to travel to the Chinese port city Ningbo for academic research in May, 2019. The man spent a month on board 15 trains during the first leg of his round trip. It was the climate crisis, not a love of trains, that drove the sociologist to choose this complicated route over a return flight. He stopped flying when UN climate experts warned that the world had less than 11 years to avoid terrible levels of global warming. Tyers calculated that his train journey to China produced almost 90% less emissions than a return flight.

Tyers is not the only person to avoid air travel in response to climate change. Thousands of people worldwide have publicly promised to stop flying. Activist Maja Rosen launched the “Flight Free” campaign in Sweden with the goal of encouraging 100,000 people not to fly for one year. Although only around 14,000 people signed the online “#flightfree2019” pledge (保证), Rosen, who stopped flying 12 years ago, says that the campaign had made more people worry about the climate crisis and aware of harm of travel by air and motivated them to try new ways of travelling.

According to a survey released in May 2019 by Swedish Railways (SJ), 37% of respondents chose to travel by train instead of by plane where possible, compared to 20% at the start of 2018. An SJ spokesperson said: “Rail travel has been augmented due to the worries.” Domestic passenger numbers in July fell by 12% compared to the previous year, according to Swedavia, a company which operates Sweden’s 10 busiest Airports.

“The collective pledge helps fight the sense of hopelessness many people feel when it comes to tackling climate change”, Rosen said. “One of the problems is that people feel there’s no point in what you do as an individual. The campaign is about making people aware that if we do this together, we can actually bring changes.”

With more and more cars on the road, traffic jams are inevitable (不可避免的). Traffic jams can lead to increased accidents as there are more cars. It’s impossible to avoid traffic jams altogether.【小题1】

Check for traffic jams before you leave. You can listen to the radio for traffic news, or check on the Internet to get up-to-minute information on traffic. If the route you want to take is heavy with traffic, you can choose another.

Look for a different route all the time. Most traffic jams happen on busy roads.【小题2】Although the distance you may have to travel is further, it can work out quicker.

Set your car radio to receive traffic bulletins. Many new car stereo systems (汽车音响系统) are equipped with a radio system by which you can hear the traffic channel.【小题3】

【小题4】Most traffic jams usually occur during rush hour, so try to avoid this time period if possible. Some jobs offer flexible working hours so that you can travel to work outside of rush hour. Some jobs even allow you to work at home so as to avoid moving altogether. Ask your manager to see what you can do if traffic is a problem for you.

Use public transport alternatives where available.【小题5】Not only will you avoid traffic jams but you will most likely be saving money as the cost of motoring rises.