IELTS 읽기 5.5 (기초지식)  

UNIT 8  The Environment

          Tata Nono

词汇讲解：

nano：较小的东西；

A

The twentieth century, starting with Henry Ford's Model-T in 1908, saw the start of man's love affair with the automobile. Some, however, might view the relationship between the car and the human race as more of a love-hate relationship. We love and cherish cars because they are undeniably convenient, have increased our personal mobility, and have permitted industry and commerce to grow and prosper. However, they unfortunately also have their downsides such as the increase in pollution and congestion that they cause.

词汇讲解：

automobile：汽车，可简写成auto；

however：用作插入语，表示转折关系，通常用在句首，而but通常用在句子中间；

cherish：珍惜，珍视，以…为重； 

undeniably：毫无疑问，不可否认；

prosper：繁荣昌盛；

unfortunately：不幸的是；

downsides：负面。

B

The problems caused by cars, however, may only get bigger in the future, because of a car that is smaller and cheaper. The car in question is the Tata Nono, manufactured in the Indian state of West Bengal in a purpose-built factory by the entrepreneur Ratan Tata, and first launched in October 2008. Apart from the obvious profit motive, the admirable philosophy behind this venture is the desire to bring motoring and mobility within the reach of the poor people who up until now have been unable to afford the price of a car. At around what some have called an ultra-affordable $2,500, the so-called ‘People's Car' is now within easy reach of determined buyers. The Tata Nono will provide status and a higher degree of comfort and protection than previous vehicles did. Previously, people had to rely on their two-wheeled scooters or three-wheeled motorised rickshaws for transport, but now these eight million road users will have another option.

词汇讲解：

manufacture：手工制造，制造；

manu：手；

manufacturer：制造商，生产商。

entrepreneur：创业家，企业家；

launch：（项目的）启动，发起；（火箭）发射升空；（船）下水；

profit：利益；

admirable：值得尊敬的；

admire：尊敬。

ultra：超级；

scooter：摩托车；

previous：之前的；

C

So who exactly are the potential owners of these new vehicles? Who will buy them? In India, the average age is 25, and many of these young people have great dreams for a prosperous future. There is also a growing middle class with increasing spending power. Combine these facts with extensive advertising, and there will be a predictable explosion in the number of cars.

词汇讲解：

potential：潜在的；

predictable：可预测的；

predict  v. 预测。

explosion：爆炸。

D

Another way of looking at this development, though, is that all car owners can sit alongside each other in the inevitable traffic jams, for this is the downside of allowing everyone to have access to cars. Increasingly, voices are being raised in India and abroad, questioning the wisdom and warning of the consequences of sending such a massive number of new cars onto the roads. Tata alone hopes to sell one million per year, and that does not take into account the existing car companies who are already in the market. However, what gives anyone the right to tell poor Indians that they cannot or should not have access to the same modern conveniences that other countries enjoy? India has only 1% of the world's cars, and the USA has 40%. Would anyone dream of even suggesting that the developed world should cut back on the number of cars on its roads? Yet there are compelling arguments in favour of controlling the number of new cars on India's roads.

词汇讲解：

inevitable：不可避免的；

traffic jams：堵车；

have access to ...：拥有…；

yet：然而；

E

As was seen during China's hosting of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, there is a definite connection between the number of cars on the road and the amount of pollution in the air, and controlling one reduces the other. Enabling a million new drivers every year to take to the roads will worsen air quality in India's megacities, such as Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta, where the amount of air pollution due to vehicles stands at 64%, 52% and 30% respectively. Nearly 60% of Indian cities already have pollution levels that are at the critical level, and the release of the Tata Nono, in conjunction with all the other new cars, has the potential to dramatically affect those levels. Traffic congestion, already a major cause for concern, is yet another aspect of transport that will get further out of control, and instead of driving alongside each other, the poor and the rich may find themselves stuck alongside each other in massive traffic jams. And as if pollution and congestion were not enough, there is one more problem to face: fuel supply. India only has an estimated 0.5% of global oil reserves, and imports approximately 70% of its oil needs from the Middle East. Increasing the number of cars will also increase India's dependence on imported oil and create unfortunate effects on the domestic economy.

词汇讲解：

respectively：分别对应的是；

例句：The rates of chicken and beef represent 10% and 20% respectively

traffic congestion：交通堵塞；

fuel：燃料；

reserve：  v. 预定；

n. 储量。

domestic：内部的，家庭的；

domestic news：国内新闻；

domestic violence：家庭暴力；

F

The Tata Nono, then, is a uniquely Indian solution to an Indian problem. It will have benefits and drawbacks. Many people will applaud the freedom of movement that it will give to the poorer sections of Indian society, while others will fear the environmental consequences. At the beginning of the next century, assuming that the human race is still here and that the personal car is still a major mode of transport, will our descendants look back at this development and regard it in the same favourable way that people looked at Henry Ford's original invention?

词汇讲解：

drawback：缺点。