北京分校

考试资讯

       考研英语阅读理解中的文章，很多来自一些外刊杂志方面的题材。接下来，北京文都考研网为扩宽2020考研学子的知识面，整理了考研英语经济学人:共享电动滑板车火遍欧美，供考生参考。

2020考研英语经济学人:共享电动滑板车火遍欧美

On may 29th electric scooters began legally to glide down cycle lanes in the Swedish city of Helsingborg. The next day a rider collided with a car and died. The Swedish Transport Authority immediately called for a ban on the devices. The incident highlights the riskiness of the vehicles—and of the fast-growing micromobility business around the world.

5月29日，瑞典赫尔辛堡市将电动滑板车合法化，允许人们在自行车道上骑行。第二天，一名电动滑板车骑手与一辆汽车相撞后身亡。瑞典交通管理局随后立即呼吁禁止电动滑板车上路。这一事件凸显了电动滑板车以及全球快速增长的微型交通工具业务所带来的风险。

Motorised versions of children’s kick scooters are notoriously unsafe. Their silent motors catch pedestrians and other road users unawares.

电动版的儿童滑板车是出了名的不安全。由于电动滑板车搭载着无声马达，行人和其他道路使用者往往在不知不觉中就被撞上了。

A study by the Portland Bureau of Transportation concluded that e-scooters get into accidents 22 times as often as cars do, and 44 times as often as motorbikes. Another, by the city of Austin, found that one in three users is hurt on their first go.

波特兰交通局的一项研究发现，电动滑板车发生事故的频率是汽车的22倍，是摩托车的44倍。奥斯汀市的另一项研究发现，有三分之一的人在第一次骑电动滑板车时会受伤。

They are also increasingly unwelcome. Abandoned dockless devices obstruct pavements and doorways. In 2018 San Francisco temporarily banned them. The mayor of Nashville recently tweeted that the city’s experiment with them “is not working out”.

电动滑板车越来越不受人待见了。废弃的电动滑板车被堆积在人行道和家门口。2018年，旧金山临时禁止了电动滑板车。纳什维尔市市长最近发推文称，该市对电动滑板车的试验以失败告终。

In keeping with the startup credo of asking forgiveness rather than permission, firms often launched large e-scooter fleets without consulting local authorities, sometimes literally overnight. The backlash is making them rethink their approach.

企业遵循着“请求宽恕而非许可”的创业信条，往往在没有征求当地政府的情况下就推行电动滑板车，有时甚至在一夜之间就能创造一个大型电滑板车队。如今这种强烈的抵制正促使他们反思自己的做法。

Bird, a two-year-old industry pioneer, has introduced a “GovTech platform” to let local authorities designate no-ride and no-park zones, set speed limits and display safety messages on scooter dashboards.

创立于两年前的行业先驱 Bird 推出了一个“政府-企业平台”，让地方政府指定“禁止骑车区”和“禁止停车区”， 设定车速限制，并在电动滑板车的仪表盘上显示安全信息。

VOI of Sweden, whose scooter was involved in last week’s accident, accompanies launches with educational pop-ups. It is planning a “virtual traffic school” for novices.

在上周发生事故后，瑞典 VOI 的电动滑板车也推行了具有教育意义的弹出窗口。该公司正在计划为新手开设一所“虚拟交通学校”。

A big remaining obstacle is insurance. In Sweden scooters limited to 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour) are classified as bicycles and do not need motor-liability coverage.

剩下的一大障碍是保险问题。在瑞典，限速20公里/小时(12英里每小时)的电动滑板车被归类为自行车，无需上机动车保险。

In some places, like Germany, authorities demand that micromobility startups take out such policies. Elsewhere, insurance is the responsibility of the renter. Like their customers, then, companies face a balancing act.

一些地方的当局(例如德国)要求电动滑板车初创企业给车子上保险。其他地方的当局则要求租车人承担保费。和他们的客户一样，企业也面临着一个平衡的问题。

Thom Rickert of Argo Group, an insurer, talks of a “complicated liability economy”. It could get more complicated soon. The latest craze is for even more dangerous-looking electric-powered skateboards.

保险公司 Argo Group 的汤姆·里克特认为这是一种“复杂的责任经济”。它在不久之后可能会变得更复杂，因为现在最新的潮流是危险性更大的电动滑板了。

 

【重难点词汇】

scooter ['skutɚ] n. 小轮摩托车;速可达;单脚滑行车;小孩滑板车

collide [kə'laɪd] vi. 碰撞;抵触，冲突 vt. 使碰撞;使相撞

notoriously [noˈtɔːriəsli] adv. 众所周知地;声名狼藉地;恶名昭彰地

pedestrian [pə'dɛstrɪən] adj. 徒步的;缺乏想像力的 n. 行人;步行者

obstruct [əb'strʌkt] vt. 妨碍;阻塞;遮断 vi. 阻塞;设障碍

credo ['krido] n. 信条，教义

designate ['dɛzɪɡnet] vt. 指定;指派;标出;把…定名为 adj. 指定的;选定的

novice ['nɑvɪs] n. 初学者，新手

obstacle ['ɑbstəkl] n. 障碍，干扰，妨碍;障碍物

       以上是北京文都考研网给出的“2020考研英语经济学人:共享电动滑板车火遍欧美”，希望对备考2020考研英语的考生有所帮助!祝2020考研顺利!

推荐阅读：

2020考研英语经济学人外刊选集总结(6月)

2020考研英语时事阅读总结(6月)

2020考研英语同源外刊6月文章汇总