The Solar Car Race

太阳能汽车赛

We live in a mobile society. But the cars we drive require too much gas, plus they pollute the air. Eventually, the natural resources used to make gas will run out. So what happens then? Many people think solar-powered automobiles are the answer. To learn more about this type of transportation, teams from universities and corporate organizations gather in Australia every two years for a solar car race.

我们生活在一个流动的社会。但是我们开的汽车需要太多的汽油，而且还会污染空气。最终，用于制造天然气的自然资源将会耗尽。然后呢?许多人认为太阳能汽车是答案。为了更多地了解这种交通方式，来自大学和企业组织的团队每两年聚集在澳大利亚参加一次太阳能汽车比赛。

The race is called the World Solar Challenge. Candidates for this tournament must design their own cars. The teams keep all their plans confidential. They don't interact with other teams because the race is very competitive. And these cars aren't just enhanced and modified versions of normal cars. They are completely different.

这项比赛被称为“世界太阳能挑战赛”。参加这次比赛的选手必须自己设计汽车。这些团队对他们所有的计划都保密。他们不与其他团队互动，因为竞争非常激烈。这些汽车不仅仅是普通汽车的升级和改装版本。它们是完全不同的。

The cars only have room for one person and are very simple inside—they don't even have a cushion for the driver to sit on. These cars are shorter and much more flat than normal cars. Most importantly, the cars incorporate solar panels onto the outside that lie parallel to each other. These panels are made from materials that take in light from the sun and turn it into electric energy. That's how they move.

这些车只能坐一个人，而且车内装饰很简单——甚至没有供司机坐的坐垫。这些汽车比普通汽车更短平。最重要的是，这些汽车将太阳能电池板安装在彼此平行的外部。这些太阳能板是由吸收太阳光并将其转化为电能的材料制成的。这就是车的动力来源。

These cars race over 3,000 kilometers across the Australian territories. The drivers have to heed strict guidelines. They must stop at certain intervals to charge their batteries. And unlike normal race cars, they can't go very fast. They have to drive at the normal speed limits. Although the drivers want to finish the race quickly, that is not the main goal. The objective is to see how well the cars work under normal driving conditions.

这些汽车的赛程是三千多公里。司机必须遵守严格的驾驶规则。他们必须在一定的时间间隔停下来充电。而且不像普通的赛车，它们跑不快，而是必须以正常速度行驶。虽然车手们想尽快完成比赛，但这并不是他们的主要目标。我们的目标是观察这些汽车在正常驾驶条件下的性能。

Because of the World Solar Challenge, a new era in car making and in driving is beginning. People may ridicule the solar cars because they look strange, but this is a phenomenon that isn't going away. Using the technology from the vehicles, car makers will eventually create solar cars for the rest of us.

由于这项挑战，一个汽车制造和驾驶的新时代开始了。人们可能会嘲笑太阳能汽车奇怪的外观，但这是以后的趋势。利用这些汽车的技术，汽车制造商最终将生产出面对大众的太阳能汽车。

核心单词表

automobile n.汽车

candidate n.候选人

confidential adj.机密的

corporate adj.共同的

enhance v.加强

era n.时代

guideline n.指导方针

incorporate v.合并

interact v.互相影响

interval n.间隔

mobile adj.可移动的

modify v.修改

parallel adj.平行的

phenomenon n.现象

pollute v.污染

ridicule v.嘲笑

solar adj.太阳的

territory n.领土

tournament n.锦标赛

transportation v.运输

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