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Motion sickness The upchuck wagon How not to feel queasy in a self-driving motor car EXPECTATIONS are high, among those boosting the idea of self-driving cars, that people will be able to do other things, such as reading, working on a laptop or having a nap, when riding in such a vehicle. But for many that is an unlikely prospect. Apart from those who have no intention of even getting into an autonomous car, which currently amounts to some 23% of Americans, another 36% would be willing to ride but would not take their eyes off the road, according to a study published in 2014 by the University of Michigan. Some of those people will be looking out of the window because it helps to avoid nausea, dizziness and vomiting, particularly if they are among the 5-10% of the population who regularly experience the unpleasant symptoms of motion sickness. Help, though, is at hand. The selfsame authors of the Michigan study, Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle, who both work for the university’s Transportation Research institute, have just been awarded a 晕动病 “令人作呕”的车 乘坐自动驾驶汽车时怎样才能不犯恶心 那些致力于推动自动驾驶汽车这一理念的人热切期望，人们在乘坐这种车时还可以做别的事，比如看书、用笔记本电脑工作，或者打个盹。但对很多人来说这不大可能实现。根据密歇根大学于2014年发布的一项研究，除去那些根本就无意乘坐自动驾驶汽车的人——目前约占美国人的23%，还有36%的人虽然愿意乘坐，但不会把眼睛从道路移开。这之中有些人会望向窗外，因为这能帮助避免头晕、恶心或呕吐。尤其如果他们属于人们中常出现晕动病不适症状的那5-10%，就更会往窗外看了。 不过，帮助近在眼前。上述研究的作者、供职于密歇根大学交通研究所的迈克尔·西瓦克和布兰登·索特尔发明的一种设备刚刚获得了专利，可能成为晕车的解1. upchuck英[??pt??k]美[??p?t??k] vb 呕出；吐出 ■If you upchuck, food and drink comes back up from your stomach and out through your mouth. 2.queasy英[?kwi:zi]美[?kwizi] adj ■likely to vomit 要呕吐，恶心的 ? I started to feel queasy as soon as the boat left the harbour. ? Just the thought of blood makes me queasy. 3.prospect ■the idea of something that will or might happen in the future 前景；展望；设想 ? The prospect of spending three days with her fills me with horror. ? I’m very excited at the prospect of seeing her again. ? We face the prospect of having to start all over again. 4.nausea英[?n?:zi?]美[?n?zi?, -??, -si?, -??] ■when you feel as if you are going to vomit 恶心，呕吐感 ? Signs of the illness include fever, nausea and vomiting 5.vomit英[?v?m?t] 美[?vɑ:m?t] ■to empty the contents of the stomach through the mouth 呕吐 ? He came home drunk and vomited all over the kitchen floor. ? She was vomiting (up) blood. 6.self-same adj ■exactly the same 完全一样的，同一的 ? The self-same car has been parked outside three times this week. 7.patent nc 英[?p?tnt] 美[?p?tnt] ■the official legal right to make or sell an invention for a particular number of years 专利权 ? In 1880 Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent on an apparatus for signaling and communicating called a Photophone.亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔发明了一个可用来发送和传输讯号，称为“光线电话”的装patent for a device that could act as a countermeasure against the malady. Motion sickness is caused by a conflict between signals arriving in the brain from the inner ear(which forms the base of the vestibular system, the sensory apparatus that deals with movement and balance, and which detects motion mechanically), and from the eyes, which detect motion optically. If someone is looking at a stationary object within a vehicle, such as a magazine, his eyes will inform his brain that what he is viewing is not moving. His inner ears, however, will contradict this by sensing the motion of the vehicle. The resulting confusion, at least according to one theory, leads his brain to conclude that he is hallucinating because he has ingested poison. Hence the need to throw up, to rid the stomach of any toxins. The idea that Dr Sivak and Mr Schoettle have come up with is to arrange for an array of small lights to appear in the periphery of a potential sufferer’s field of view, meaning that these lights can be seen regardless of what the person in question is looking at. Such lights, most probably small panels of LEDs, could be fitted into a headset, a hat or onto the frame of a pair of glasses. They would be 药。 置，并于1880年获授了此装置的专利权。 ? The company took out/filed a patent on a genetically engineered 晕动症是大脑中来自内耳和tomato that remains firm longer than untreated tomatoes.该公司取眼睛的信号产生冲突所致。得了一项基因改造番茄的专利以，这种番茄比未经处理的番茄保鲜时间更内耳是前庭系统这一应对运长。 动和平衡的感觉器官的所8.countermeasure nc英[?ka?nt?me??(r)]美[?ka?nt?rme??(r)] 在，通过机械的方式感知运■an action taken against an unwanted action or situation 对策；反措动；眼睛则是通过视觉感知施，应对措施 运动。如果一个人在国内注? The Chancellor’s countermeasures against inflation have been 视一件静止的物品，比如一completely ineffective.总理抑制通货膨胀的对策丝毫不奏效。 本杂志，他的眼睛就会传达9.malady 英[?m?l?di] 美[?m?l?di] 给大脑：他正在看的这个物■a disease 病，疾病 件没有移动。然而他的内耳? All the rose bushes seem to be suffering from the same mysterious 却感觉到了汽车的运动，这malady.所有的玫瑰丛似乎都得了同一种怪病。 就与眼睛传达的信息产生了10.optical adj 冲突，从而造成混乱。起码■relating to light or the ability to see 光学的；视觉的；视力的 有一种理论认为，这种混乱? An optical effect 会让大脑这个人是因为服用? An optical microscope 了毒药而产生了幻觉，因此11.hallucinate vi.英[h??lu:s?ne?t] 美[h?\'lu:s?ne?t] 他需要呕吐，好把胃中的毒■to seem to see, hear, feel or smell something which does not exist, 素排出来。 usually because you are ill or have take a drug （因生病或吸毒而）产西瓦克和索特尔的点子是在生幻觉 有可能晕车的乘客的视野边? Mental disorders, drug use and hypnosis can all cause people to 缘布置一组小灯，这样无论hallucinate.精神失常、吸毒和催眠术都可以使人产生幻觉 该乘客在看什么，视域内都12.ingest vt英[?n?d?est]美[?n\'d?est] 会出现这些小灯。这种小灯■to eat or drink something 摄取，咽下 （很可能会是LED光源阵列）? The chemicals can be poisonous if ingested. 可以安装在头戴设备、帽子13.rid 或眼镜框上，由多种运动传■to cause someone or something to be free of an unpleasant or harmful 感器控制，通过闪烁来模拟thing or person 使?摆脱；从?清除；使?去除 controlled by various motion sensors and blink on and off in a way that is designed to mimic the velocity, rolling, pitching and other movements of a vehicle. For the wearer of such kit, the effect would be to provide a visual response that corresponds to the movements the inner ear is detecting. So, for instance, a panel of LEDs positioned at the side of each eye might flash from the front to the back when a vehicle is moving forward but stop when it is braking. Similarly, the lights could blink in sequence towards the left if the car was turning left. The speed of the flashing and the brightness of the lights could be tuned to match the intensity of the movement, such as the vehicle’s rate of acceleration. Dr sivak and Mr Schoettle think the light arrays could also be fitted to various parts of vehicles’ interiors, such as their door pillars, sidewalls and seats. That way a passenger would be aware of them without having to don special aquipment. The Michigan team are making a prototype and the university, which hopes to commercialize the idea, is in discussions with carmakers and automotive supplies. The system could, of course, also be used by passengers who ? Our aim is to rid this government of corruption.我们的目的是要消除这届政府中的腐败现象。 13.Periphery nc.英[p??r?f?ri]美[p??r?f?ri] ■the outer edge of an area 周边，边缘，外围 ? Houses have been built on the periphery of the factory site. 乘客在佩戴该设备后，? The ring road runs around the periphery of the city centre.环状道将会接收到与其内耳感知到路把市中心的周边地带连接起来 的运动相一致的视觉响应。■the less important part of a group or activity（某一团体或活动的）举例来说，当车辆行进时，次要部分，边缘 两只眼睛旁边的LED光源阵? Many women feel they are being kept on the periphery of the armed 列或许会自前向后发光，在forces.许多女性感到她们在武装部队中被边缘化了。 车辆制动时停止闪光。同样，14.velocity n.英[v??l?s?ti]美[v??lɑ:s?ti] 如果车辆左转，小灯可能会■the speed at which an object is travalling 速度；速率 依次向左闪烁。或许还可以? Light travels at the highest achievable velocity in the university. 通过调整闪光的速度及光的? He always used high velocity lead bullets in his rifle.他的步枪一亮度，使它们与车辆运动的起使用高速铅弹 强度相一致，例如加速度。15.pillar 西瓦克和索特尔认为这种光■a strong column made of stone, metal or wood which supports part of 源阵列还可以安装在车内的a building (建筑物的)柱子，支柱；墩 多个位置上，比如车门立柱、? A row of reinforced concrete pillars supports the bridge一排钢筋侧壁和座椅，这样乘客不用水泥柱支撑着桥梁 穿戴特殊装备就能察觉到光? A pillar of smoke/flame烟/火柱 亮。 16.prototype nc英[?pr??t?ta?p]美[?pro?t?ta?p] ■the first example of something, such as a machine or other industrial product, from which all later forms are developed 原型 这个密歇根大学的团队? A prototype for/of a new car 新型轿车的原型 正在制造该制备的原型。该17.obscure adj英[?b?skj??(r)]美[?b?skj?r] 校希望能将这一创意成果商■not clear and difficult to understand or see费解的，晦涩的；模糊的，品化，正与汽车制造商和汽朦胧的；不清楚的 车零部件供应商洽谈。当然，? Official policy has changed, for reasons that remain obscure.官方汽车的速度、摇摆、颠簸以及其他动态。 feel sick in cars with a driver at the wheel-a fate to which children seem particularly susceptible, for reasons that remain obscure. It might also help with other forms motion sickness, such as airsickness or seasickness, although the ways aircraft and boats move are different from the movement of cars. For many, helping people feel well in cars would be enough. And for taxi companies like Uber and Lyft, which are planning to offer autonomous vehicles that can be summoned by an app, the flashing lights could save a fortune in cleaning bills. 这一系统也可供那些在有人驾驶的汽车上感到不舒服的乘客使用——小孩子似乎尤其容易出现这种情况，原因尚不清楚。这个设备也许还有可以帮助克服其他类型的晕动病，比如晕机或晕船，尽管飞机和船的运动方式与汽车的运动方式不同。对很多人来说，能让人们在车上感觉舒服些就足够了。优步和Lyft正筹划推出可以通过应用来召车的无人驾驶汽车服务，对这些出租车公司来说，这些闪烁的小灯说不定能节省一大笔清洗费用呢。 的政策已改变，原因尚不清楚。 ? His answers were obscure and confusing 18.susceptible adj英[s??sept?bl]美[s??s?pt?b?l] ■easily influenced or harmed by something易受影响的，易受伤害的 ? She isn’t very susceptible to flattety. ? These plants are susceptible to frost. ? Among particularly susceptible children, the disease can develop very fast. ■describes someone who is easily emotionally influenced 易受感动的，感情丰富的，多情的 ? They persuade susceptible teenagers to part with their money.他们劝说这些易被感动的年轻人捐出他们的钱。