2025年12月六级第3套长篇阅读匹配原文翻译及答案

A) Timed traffic lights are set according to schedules that are supposed to coordinate with peak traffic hours. Cities need to monitor and update signal light time schedules at least every two years to keep these systems effective. In Los Angeles, California, an ambitious project to go a step further and synchronize every red light in Los Angeles cost over 400 million dollars. Ask a resident of the city and they are likely to agree that saving time on the road is well worth it. If implemented nationwide, synchronization could shave 10% off traffic congestion and 20% off air pollution. Congestion costs time, money, and lives. Big data can help improve how millions of people safely share the road. However, none of this would be possible without the traffic light!

定时交通信号灯根据计划设置，旨在与高峰交通时段协调。城市需要至少每两年监控和更新信号灯时间表，以保持这些系统有效。在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶，一个雄心勃勃的项目进一步同步洛杉矶的每一个红绿灯，耗资超过4亿美元。问问该市的居民，他们可能会同意在路上节省时间是值得的。如果在全国实施，同步可以减少10%的交通拥堵和20%的空气污染。拥堵消耗时间、金钱和生命。大数据可以帮助改善数百万人安全共享道路的方式。然而，没有交通信号灯，这一切都不可能实现！

B) The first traffic light was invented in London in the 1860's, but it was hardly recognizable — or effective. It had been adapted from the railroad signal system by a railway manager, John Peak Knight, in 1868. The railroads used red gas lights at night to signal stops and green gas lights during the daytime. Knight installed a similar gas light, semaphore system near London's Westminster Bridge in December of 1868.

第一个交通信号灯于19世纪60年代在伦敦发明，但几乎无法辨认或有效。它是由铁路经理约翰·皮克·奈特在1868年从铁路信号系统改编而来。铁路在夜间使用红色燃气灯示意停止，白天使用绿色燃气灯。奈特在1868年12月于伦敦威斯敏斯特桥附近安装了一个类似的燃气灯信号系统。

C) The life of the first traffic light signal was short-lived. A gas leak caused one of the signal lights to explode on its police officer operator within a month of being installed.

第一个交通信号灯的使用寿命很短。安装后一个月内，燃气泄漏导致一个信号灯在其警察操作员身上爆炸。

D) Automating traffic signals stalled after the London incident. Forty years passed before cars crowding city streets urged the development of traffic lights in the United States. London would not see another traffic light until 1929.

在伦敦事件后，交通信号灯的自动化停滞了。四十年后，汽车涌入城市街道才促使美国发展交通信号灯。伦敦直到1929年才再次出现交通信号灯。

E) The United States is a car culture like no other country. Unlike most European cities that started urban planning when horses were high-tech, many cities in the United States were designed around urban sprawl, suburban tracts, and motor cars.

美国是一个独特的汽车文化国家。与大多数欧洲城市在马匹是高科技时开始城市规划不同，美国许多城市是围绕城市扩张、郊区开发和汽车设计的。

F) As traffic and cities grew, so did the race to solve growing traffic problems. The first traffic signals were semaphores. Semaphores are towers with moving arms signaling for traffic to stop or go. They could be manual or automatic. There was no consistent design. Various models were invented and put into place in cities as the need arose.

随着交通和城市的发展，解决日益增长的交通问题的竞赛也在加剧。最初的交通信号是信号灯。信号灯是带有移动臂的塔，示意交通停止或通行。它们可以是手动或自动的。没有统一的设计。随着需求的出现，各种型号被发明并安装在城市中。

G) In 1912, Lester Wire was a police officer exhausted by traffic at Main Street and 200 South. He developed a manually switched stop light. The four-sided box, raised on a ten-foot pole, looked like a birdhouse and was operated manually by an officer. The officer would flip a switch to change between the dipped red and green lights.

1912年，莱斯特·怀尔是一名警察，因Main Street和200 South的交通而疲惫不堪。他开发了一个手动切换的停车灯。这个四面盒子，安装在一根十英尺高的杆子上，看起来像一个鸟舍，由一名警官手动操作。警官会翻动开关，在倾斜的红灯和绿灯之间切换。

H) Like the 1910 semaphore, the first electric signal used words. However, the words were no longer written on arms that raised and fell. The words "stop" or "move" were on lights. The posts lit up on each of four corner-posts around an intersection. It was not automated, though. A booth with an operator was required to flip the switches.

与1910年的信号灯一样，第一个电信号使用文字。然而，文字不再写在升降的臂上。文字“停止”或“移动”在灯上。柱子照亮了交叉路口周围的四个角柱。不过，它不是自动的。需要一个带操作员的亭子来翻动开关。

I) The system allowed police officers to move from the middle of the street to a corner. From that vantage, an officer could oversee the crowd. If an emergency vehicle came, the officer could flip a switch and clear the intersection by triggering all red lights. The emergency vehicle could now pass effortlessly. Finally, in San Francisco, the first red and green electric light system that could be operated automatically (or manually) was introduced in 1917.

该系统允许警察从街道中间移动到角落。从那个制高点，警官可以监督人群。如果有紧急车辆来，警官可以翻动开关，通过触发所有红灯来清空交叉路口。紧急车辆现在可以轻松通过。最终，在旧金山，第一个可以自动（或手动）操作的红绿灯系统于1917年推出。

J) In 1920, the first three-color light system was introduced in Detroit — also known as Motor City, USA. The evolution of traffic light signals could not have a more appropriate context than Motor City. Ford Motor Company was founded in Detroit in 1903 (and other motor companies followed). Ford made cars affordable for more common people, rather than the wealthy, by creating larger scale factory production.

1920年，第一个三色灯系统在底特律推出——底特律也被称为美国汽车城。交通信号灯的发展没有比汽车城更合适的背景了。福特汽车公司于1903年在底特律成立（其他汽车公司随后跟进）。福特通过创建大规模工厂生产，使汽车对普通人而非富人来说更可负担。

K) Stop and go were insufficient for the new volumes of cars zooming through intersections. Streets were full of new numbers of cars in addition to delivery wagons, bustling crowds, bicycles, horse-drawn carriages, and street cars. The introduction of the cautionary yellow light helped increase driver safety, decreasing accidents that come from running red lights.

对于飞驰过交叉路口的新数量汽车来说，停止和通行信号不够。街道上充满了新的汽车数量，还有送货马车、拥挤的人群、自行车、马拉车和电车。引入警示性黄灯有助于提高驾驶员安全性，减少闯红灯造成的事故。

L) Stop lights were incredibly important in chaotic city streets. Crosswalks weren't even introduced until 1951. The first pedestrian fatality in the United States was in 1899.

在混乱的城市街道上，停车灯极其重要。人行横道直到1951年才引入。美国第一次行人死亡事故发生在1899年。

M) The development of the modern traffic light may have started in London, but it grew up in the United States. In Cleveland, an African-American inventor named Garrett Morgan came up with an affordable, patented traffic signal. The yellow light made intersections safer than the old stop and go system. The new design was inexpensive enough that it allowed the installation of a lot more lights.

现代交通信号灯的发展可能始于伦敦，但它在美国成长。在克利夫兰，一位名叫加勒特·摩根的非裔美国发明家提出了一个负担得起的、有专利的交通信号。黄灯使交叉路口比旧的停止和通行系统更安全。新设计足够便宜，允许安装更多的灯。

N) Morgan sold the patent to General Electric — and the spread of the traffic light was green lighted. Green means go. It is that simple, but it's still best to check both ways for oncoming traffic that may not be paying attention or is running the light. Yellow means slow down and prepare to stop. It does not mean full-throttle ahead. While you may get away with gunning it into the intersection, running a yellow can lead to tickets and dangerous accidents. Red lights are a clear and consistent warning to stop. Even where right turns are allowed on red lights, you must come to a complete stop before turning right. You must also yield to any through traffic, which has the right of way. In most states and cities, you can take a right on red unless otherwise indicated. New York City does not allow a right on red.

摩根将专利卖给了通用电气——交通信号灯的传播因此被放行。绿色意味着通行。就这么简单，但最好还是检查两边是否有不注意或闯红灯的来车。黄色意味着减速并准备停止。它不代表全速前进。虽然你可能侥幸冲过交叉路口，但闯黄灯可能导致罚单和危险事故。红灯是明确且一致的停止警告。即使在允许红灯右转的地方，你也必须在右转前完全停止。你还必须让行任何有优先通行权的直行交通。在大多数州和城市，除非另有指示，否则你可以红灯右转。纽约市不允许红灯右转。

O) Red arrows mean you cannot turn right on a red in most states. The green arrow, in these cases, is the only time you can make the turn. However, you can take a right on a red arrow after a full stop in the states of Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Washington State and Wyoming.

红箭头意味着在大多数州你不能红灯右转。在这些情况下，绿箭头是你唯一可以转弯的时候。然而，在伊利诺伊州、堪萨斯州、路易斯安那州、马里兰州、密歇根州、新罕布什尔州、北达科他州、俄勒冈州、南卡罗来纳州、犹他州、华盛顿州和怀俄明州，你可以在完全停止后红灯右转。

P) Flashing Red is the same as a stop sign, generally used at four-way intersections where there is minimal traffic. When arriving at a flashing red light, make a full and complete stop. Flashing Red Arrows similarly mean to stop and then proceed to take the turn. Flashing Yellow lights mean yield or signal caution, like outside of a fire station. There are no all-direction flashing yellow lights, since it is prohibited in the United States. If you have a flashing yellow light, you are to yield to oncoming traffic.

闪烁红灯与停车标志相同，通常用于交通最小的四向交叉路口。当到达闪烁红灯时，进行完全停止。闪烁红箭头类似地意味着停止然后继续转弯。闪烁黄灯意味着让行或警示，如在消防站外。没有全方向闪烁黄灯，因为在美国被禁止。如果你有闪烁黄灯，你必须让行来车。

Q) Flashing Yellow Arrows are part of a four-signal traffic light. These are used in some states after a protected green turn signal, or arrow, but before a steady yellow arrow. When a flashing yellow arrow is shown, you can take the turn after yielding to pedestrians and traffic. Steady Yellow Arrows maintain the normal yellow light caution in three-light signals, meaning to stop or prepare to stop. In a four-signal system that has a flashing yellow arrow, the steady yellow arrow is a signal that the yield period is ending. The red arrow is about to start. Vehicles should stop if safely possible. Traffic tickets are possible for running a steady yellow arrow.

闪烁黄箭头是四信号交通灯的一部分。在一些州，这些用于受保护绿色转弯信号或箭头之后，但在稳定黄箭头之前。当显示闪烁黄箭头时，你可以在让行行人和交通后转弯。稳定黄箭头在三灯信号中保持正常的黄灯警示，意味着停止或准备停止。在具有闪烁黄箭头的四信号系统中，稳定黄箭头是让行期即将结束的信号。红箭头即将开始。如果安全可能，车辆应停止。闯稳定黄箭头可能导致交通罚单。

R) Traffic light meaning is fairly consistent across the board with various deviations. Green means it's safe to proceed (though you should still exercise caution). Yellow means caution and yield. Red means danger and stop. Always drive defensively and obey traffic signal.

交通信号灯的含义总体上相当一致，但有各种偏差。绿色意味着可以安全通行（尽管仍应谨慎）。黄色意味着小心和让行。红色意味着危险和停止。始终防御性驾驶并遵守交通信号。