2021年06月六级第2套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

The car has reshaped our cities. It seems to offer autonomy for everyone. There is something almost delightful in the detachment from reality of advertisements showing mass-produced cars marketed as symbols of individuality and of freedom when most of their lives will be spent making short journeys on choked roads.

汽车已经重塑了我们的城市。它似乎为每个人提供了自主权。广告将批量生产的汽车标榜为个性和自由的象征，但实际上它们大多将在拥堵的道路上进行短途行驶，这种与现实脱节的情况几乎令人感到一种愉悦。

For all the fuss made about top speeds, cornering ability and acceleration, the most useful gadgets on a modern car are those which work when you're going very slowly: parking sensors, sound systems, and navigation apps which will show a way around upcoming traffic jams. This seems to be one of the few areas where the benefit of sharing personal information comes straight back to the sharer: because these apps know where almost all the users are, and how fast they are moving almost all the time, they can spot traffic congestion (堵塞) very quickly and suggest ways round it.

尽管人们对最高车速、转弯能力和加速性能津津乐道，但现代汽车上最有用的设备是那些在低速行驶时发挥作用的：停车传感器、音响系统以及导航应用，这些应用能指引你绕过前方的交通堵塞。这似乎是少数几个共享个人信息能直接让分享者受益的领域之一：因为这些应用几乎随时知道所有用户的位置和速度，它们能快速发现交通拥堵并建议绕行方案。

The problem comes when everyone is using a navigation app which tells them to avoid everyone else using the same gadget. Traffic jams often appear where no one has enough information to avoid them. When a lucky few have access to the knowledge, they will benefit greatly. But when everyone has perfect information, traffic jams simply spread onto the side roads that seem to offer a way round them.

问题出在当每个人都使用导航应用，而应用却指示他们避开其他使用同一设备的用户时。交通堵塞往往出现在没有人掌握足够信息以避开它们的地方。当少数幸运者能获取这些信息时，他们将受益匪浅。但当每个人都能获得完美信息时，交通堵塞只会蔓延到那些看似能绕行的旁路上。

This new congestion teaches us two things. The first is that the promises of technology will never be realised as fully as we hope; they will be limited by their unforeseen and unintended consequences. Sitting in a more comfortable car in a different traffic jam is pleasant but hardly the liberation that once seemed to be promised. The second is that self-organisation will not get us where we want to go. The efforts of millions of drivers to get ahead do not miraculously produce a situation in which everyone does better than before, but one in which almost everyone does rather worse. Central control and collective organisation can produce smoother and fairer outcomes, though even that much is never guaranteed.

这种新型拥堵教会我们两件事。首先，技术的承诺永远不会像我们期望的那样完全实现；它们会受到不可预见和非预期后果的制约。坐在更舒适的车里，遭遇不同的交通堵塞固然惬意，但这远非曾被许诺的解放。其次，自我组织无法带领我们达成目标。数百万司机争相超前的努力不会奇迹般地带来人人境况改善的局面，反而几乎使每个人都更糟。中央控制和集体组织能带来更顺畅、更公平的结果，尽管即使这样也无法保证。

Similar limits can be foreseen for the much greater advances promised by self-driving cars. Last week, one operated by the taxi company Uber struck and killed a woman pushing her bicycle across a wide road in Arizona. This was the first recorded death involving a car which was supposed to be fully autonomous. Experts have said that it suggests a "catastrophic failure" of technology.

对于自动驾驶汽车所承诺的更大进步，可以预见类似的局限。上周，一辆由出租车公司Uber运营的汽车在亚利桑那州撞死了一名推着自行车过宽马路的女性。这是首例记录在案的涉及本应全自动驾驶汽车的致死事故。专家指出，这暗示了技术的“灾难性失败”。

Increasingly, even Silicon Valley has to acknowledge the costs of the intoxicating (邻人陶醉的) hurry that characterises its culture. What traffic teaches us is that reckless and uncontrolled change is as likely to harm us as it is to benefit us, and that thoughtful regulation is necessary for a better future.

如今，即便是硅谷，也越来越不得不承认其文化中那种令人陶醉的仓促所带来的代价。交通教会我们的是，鲁莽且不受控制的变化既可能带来伤害，也可能带来益处，而深思熟虑的监管对于更美好的未来至关重要。