Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 506
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 506 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 506
READING PASSAGE – 2
Driverless Cars
A. Autonomous vehicles that require no driver at the wheel have become the hottest new thing in the car industry as technology companies and carmakers race to build vehicles that will revolutionise the way we travel, commute, work and own cars. The idea may sound futuristic but its proponents think the benefits are tangible and will come soon.
B. ‘There are no limits. We’re pushing cars beyond anything people thought possible before; says Professor Alberto Broggi, a self-driving pioneer from Parma in Italy. He’s been driving autonomous cars for more than fifteen years without mishap. But for most of that time the technology has been on the sidelines. ‘The first test we did was back in 1998 when no one was talking about autonomous cars … the media was treating it as one of those things crazy professors do,’ says Broggi.
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‘When we made it to the national news, our drive was broadcast after an item about the fattest cat in the world: Although much of the technology exists in many cars today in devices such as parking cameras and electronic steering, it was only Google’s demonstration of self-driving technology in 2010 that brought serious attention. That demonstration, says Andy Palmer, Nissan’s head of product planning, ‘put a rocket under the industry’.
C The most obvious effect of letting cars control themselves is reclaiming time for drivers. In the USA, people who commute by car spend about fifty minutes a day at the wheel, says Ragunathan Rajkumar, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Saving those dead hours ‘enhances the productivity of the individual’, he says. Carmakers dream of commuters spending the time replying to emails or school runs where parents help their kids with their homework.
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D. A second effect could come with quicker travel. No longer under the control of slow-reacting humans, cars can travel much closer together without the danger of collisions. ‘The majority of traffic jams are caused by the mismatch of speeds between different vehicles,’ says Prof Rajkumar. Autonomous vehicles don’t have to speed up or slow down: Also, by driving close together in narrow lanes at a constant speed, autonomous cars could pack themselves far more tightly into the same amount of road space.
This could also have a telling impact on urban planning and reduce the need for new roads as the world’s population rises, particularly in cities in developing countries in danger of being throttled by traffic. The average US citizen spends thirty-eight hours a year stuck in traffic, whilst cars spend ninety per cent of their lives parked up. Such inefficiency would be eliminated if cars ruled the road, and passengers could get on with their lives.
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E. Another significant benefit could be a big reduction in accidents, most of which are caused by human error. ‘Our vision is very simply that cars shouldn’t crash,’ says Toscan Bennett, a product planner at Volvo, which builds cars programmed to spot and avoid large animals such as moose. And one of the ways to prevent cars from crashing is to actually take the human out of the equation: Despite a capacity to save many lives, however, automated cars may still struggle for social acceptability.
Even a small number of mishaps would raise difficult questions about the technology. ‘People aren’t comfortable with robots killing them; says Bryant Walker Smith, of Stanford University in the USA. Meanwhile, insurers have nightmares about court cases involving crashes for which responsibility lies with a defective microchip rather than a person. Carmakers say these difficult questions will not stop them. ‘There are many things that have to be solved,’ says Alan Mulally of Ford. ‘But we’re absolutely committed to the technology:
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F. Meanwhile, marketing experts are looking at the economics. In the early days, high costs will mean few people can afford the vehicles. Ford’s self-driving prototypes cost about $500,000. Although these costs would fall once a vehicle goes into production, most buyers would be priced out of the market. To spread the cost, autonomous cars will simply have to work harder, says Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley commentator, touring the streets endlessly to justify their costs by ferrying more people around – operating n-1ore like taxis than private vehicles and making some forms of public transport such as buses redundant.
G. Indeed, the impact in social, economic and personal terms promises to be far-reaching. If the industry’s visionaries are to be believed, it will mean a complete rethink of the car – many people’s second most valuable possession after their home. The role of the car as a status symbol would be under serious threat. Ultimately, with the development of automated cars, there may be no reason to own a vehicle at all, no matter how low prices fall. If it can be summoned with nothing more than the tap of a smartphone app, then discarded after dropping a passenger off, why bother to own a car outright? ‘People won’t buy robotic cars, they’ll subscribe to them; says Mr Saffo.
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H. But it will be humans who determine whether driverless cars become the norm. Habits and cultural norms do not change quickly – particularly when they concern an object that has become a conspicuous part of daily life. A study by the UK’s Automobile Association found that sixty-five per cent of people liked driving too much to want an autonomous car. It may take a generational change to overcome such deeply ingrained beliefs.
Mr Saffo, who came of age in California in the second half of the 20th century the golden age of the car – says: ‘For my age group, personal freedom was a car.’ But of the students he teaches now at Stanford University, he says: ‘For them, a smartphone fulfils that function.’ The desire to be liberated rather than enslaved by technology will be the decisive factor.
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Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Which paragraph contains the following information about driverless cars?
Write the correct letter, A-H.
Some letters may be used more than once.
14. An example of a particular manufacturer already using some related technology.
15. Evidence that confirms that the idea of the cars wasn’t always taken seriously.
16. Mention of an event that changed attitudes towards the idea of the cars.
17. The idea that the cars would need to be used more intensively.
18. An example of how an individual might gain access to a driverless car.
19. Mention of the determination of those in the industry to overcome legal complications.
20. The suggestion that there is great competition between manufacturers to be the first to produce them.
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Questions 21-24
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
How automated cars will make road travel more efficient.
Ragunathan Rajkumar predicts that people travelling to work or 21……………… by car will be able to make more efficient use of the time if they use autonomous cars. The time spent travelling could also be reduced thanks to the technology. Drivers tend to be rather 22……………… which means that cars have to keep a safe distance from one another. Driverless cars can use the available road space more efficiently because they do not need such wide 23……………… and can travel at a 24……………… which doesn’t vary.
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Questions 25-26
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
The list below includes some predictions made about the impact of driverless cars.
Which TWO are mentioned by the writer?
A. They may not be suitable for all the world’s cities.
B. They would be too expensive for most individuals to buy.
C. The technology might not be totally reliable.
D. Most people would find using them enjoyable.
E. People will come to see them as a symbol of personal freedom.
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IELTS Academic Reading Test
ANSWERS
1. E
2. B
3. B
4. F
5. G
6. E
7. A
8. SCHOOL
9. SLOW-REACTING
10. LANES
11. SPEED
12. B/C
13. B/C
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