14 B2 | 7. Klasse | READING | Transport and tourism Read the article about driverless vehicles. Some parts are missing. Choose the correct part (A–K) for each gap (1–8). There are two extra parts that you should not use. Write your answers in the boxes provided. The first one (0) has been done for you. 6 Skim the text to get an idea of what it’s about. Then, read the phrases A–K. Read the statements and remember that they are likely to be paraphrased. Next, read the text around the gaps carefully – think of different ways you could phrase the same information that’s there. Try the options A–K (apart from the example) in the first gap to see which one fits. Repeat for each gap. Make sure the information in the option fits with what comes before and after the gap. Top tips To self-drive or not to self-drive? Many in Silicon Valley promised that selfdriving cars would be a common sight by 2022. Now the industry is resetting expectations and preparing itself for years of more work. The tech wizards of Silicon Valley, California, said people would be sitting back, commuting to work in liberating self-driving cars by now. However, instead, there have been court fights, injuries, and, sadly, even deaths, and billions of dollars spent on a frustratingly unpredictable technology (0) . Now, for safety reasons, the pursuit of self-driving cars is undergoing a complete overhaul. In a surprise turn, some companies, such as Uber, (1) , have opted out. Only the companies with the biggest bank balances, such as Waymo or Alphabet, and auto giants are managing to stay in the game. So what went wrong? Some researchers would say nothing and that’s just how science works. After all, (2) . The self-driving car project just happened to one of the most talked about technology experiments of this century. That publicity and propaganda wasted millions of dollars of investments, and, at the same time, (3) . In 2015, the electric carmaker Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk, claimed that fully functional self-driving cars were just two years away. More than five years later, however, Tesla cars offered simpler autonomy designed solely for highway driving. Even that was scarred by controversy after several fatal accidents, for which the company said misuse of technology was to blame. Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo’s co-chief executive, said the company considered its Arizona service a test case. Based on what it has learned in Arizona, he said, Waymo is building a new version of its self-driving technology that it will eventually use in other places and in other kinds of vehicles, including long-haul trucks. The suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, are particularly well-suited to driverless cars; streets are wide, pedestrians are few, and there is almost no rain or snow. Waymo supports its driverless vehicles with remote technicians and roadside assistance crews (4) either in person or via the internet. Self-driving tech is not yet nimble enough to reliably handle the variety of situations human drivers encounter each day. It can usually handle suburban Phoenix, (5) , for instance. “You have to peel back every layer before you see the next layer of challenges for the technology,” said Waymo software engineer Nathaniel Fairfield, (6) , describing some of the distractions faced by cars. “Your car has to be pretty good at driving before you can really get into the situations where it handles the next most challenging thing.” Like Waymo, Aurora is now developing selfdriving trucks as well as passenger vehicles. No company has used trucks without safety drivers behind the wheel, but many engineers argue that driverless trucks will make it to market soon. Long-haul trucking doesn’t involve passengers who have issues with sensitive brakes. The routes are also simpler. Once you become familiar with Working the reading task: Multiple matching Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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