通勤學英語 15Mins Today

每日跟讀#616: Ramadan in Indonesia

 

Having observed the new moon of the ninth month of 1440 AH of the Islamic calendar on the evening of May 5, the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that Ramadan this year was to begin the following day, on May 6, and continue through to June 4.

 

印尼宗教部本月五日傍晚觀測到伊斯蘭曆一四四○年九月的新月後，宣布齋戒月自五月六日開始至六月四日。

 

Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic calendar — is the holiest month of Islam. Muslims believe that in the ninth month of 610 AD, the Koran was first revealed by Allah to Mohammed, the Islamic prophet. When Ramadan begins depends on when the new moon appears within the month.

 

伊斯蘭曆的九月是齋戒月，也是伊斯蘭教最聖潔的一個月，穆斯林相信真主阿拉在西元六一○年九月首度將可蘭經揭示給先知穆罕默德。齋戒月開始的時間取決於九月的新月何時出現。

 

During Ramadan, the month of fasting, Muslims abstain from food, drink and sex between sunrise and sunset. This abstinence, helps people understand the suffering of the poor, cherish what they have and exercise self-discipline.

 

穆斯林在齋戒月期間，每天日出到日落間不可進食、飲水或有親密行為，希望由體會飢餓與口渴，來理解窮人的痛苦，以珍惜所有、自我克制。

 

Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, these being declaration of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage (to Mecca). The Five Pillars are mandatory activities for Muslims to participate in during their lifetime.

 

齋戒是伊斯蘭教的「五功」之一，五功是唸、禮、課、齋、朝，分別是唸清真言、謹守禮拜、固定捐獻、齋戒、一生至少到麥加朝聖一次。五功是穆斯林在生活中必須參與的重大事件。

 

Muslims worship five times a day. During Ramadan, in addition to the evening prayer, they include the tarawih prayer between 7 to 9pm. By reading the Koran and increasing the number of prayers said during the day, Muslims can get closer to Allah.

 

平日穆斯林每天禮拜五次，齋戒月期間，穆斯林於晚間禱告後，在夜晚七時至九時之間需進行額外的「泰拉威」祈禱，藉由讀可蘭經與增加祈禱次數，更接近真主。

 

Muslims are restricted to two meals a day during Ramadan. In Indonesia, the mosque performs the call to prayer just before dawn, at about 4:20am. Muslims are expected to have finished their sahur (pre-dawn meal) before their fast continues. After that, they abstain from eating and drinking for about 13 hours until the call to prayer at about 5:45pm, when they can have their iftar (the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset).

 

穆斯林在齋戒月每天僅吃兩餐。在印尼，清真寺在破曉前、約四時二十分播放宣禮，在這之前穆斯林須用完封齋飯，之後約十三小時期間不得進食或喝水，直到傍晚約五時四十五分日落的宣禮後才能吃開齋飯（iftar）。

 

Dates are an essential part of the meal for breaking the fast. These are rich in nutrients and easy to digest, suppress hunger and avoid the temptation to overeat. In addition to dates, the meal also includes boiled water, fruit, rice and various side dishes. Although basic, it is a welcome meal for those breaking their fast.

 

開齋的必備食物是甜度很高的椰棗，椰棗營養豐富，易消化，也可減低飢餓感，避免因飢餓而一下子暴飲暴食。除了椰棗，還有開水、水果、白飯和配菜，雖然簡單，但對在齋戒月戒食的民眾來說，卻是很美味的。

 

Ramadan ends with the Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast), an occasion in which Muslims get together with relatives and friends. Large numbers of people return home for this occasion.

 

齋戒月結束後的開齋節是穆斯林與親友團聚的假期，屆時將出現大批返鄉潮。

 

There are about 1.6 billion Muslims around the world. Of Indonesia’s population of 267 million, around 90 percent are Muslim, making Indonesia the largest Muslim country.

 

全球估計有十六億穆斯林，印尼人口約兩億六千七百萬，約九成是穆斯林，是穆斯林人口最多的國家。

 

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每日跟讀#615: Chinese mega development teeters on brink of collapse

 

At the end of last month, police carried out a surprise raid at the head offices of Chinese property developer JC Group in Hangzhou, China, according to reports in international media. The company, whose offices have been sealed off by the authorities, is suspected of having carried out “illegal fundraising.” Thirty-two senior executives are believed to have been detained, while the whereabouts of the company’s founder and chairman Jay Wei is currently unknown. Furthermore, between August and October last year, JC Group slid into a payments crisis — the company still has 17 billion yuan (approx. US$2.5 billion) of outstanding liabilities on its books.

 

綜合外電報導，中國金誠集團因涉非法集資，其杭州的總部在四月底遭警方突襲檢查並封鎖，約三十二位高層遭拘留，傳集團創辦人兼董事長韋傑目前失聯。此外，金誠集團也在去年八月出現兌付危機，至去年十月，該集團未能兌付的金額超過一百七十億人民幣。

 

The above described problems may mean that the “charming towns” development project — a partnership between JC Group and local governments, which has attracted an estimated 3,800 individual investors — could be about to go bust. The scheme aims to build 59 “themed villages” across China, and local governments have already signed individual contracts worth up to a total of 570 billion yuan. Yucheng Town government in Zhejiang Province joined forces with JC Group, signing a deal with the company worth 10 billion yuan to turn itself into a one-stop marketplace for the adult entertainment industry called “Happy Town.”

 

上述問題恐讓金誠集團所主導、和地方政府合作並有約三千八百位投資者投資的「金誠特色小鎮」計畫泡湯，該計畫預計在中國全國範圍內，開發五十九個「特色小鎮」，和地方政府簽約的項目量規模達五千七百億人民幣。以浙江省于城鎮為例，當地政府和金誠集團合作，預計將該城建設為成人情趣產業的一條龍市場，其建設要價約一百億元人民幣。

 

However, JC Group is reported to have used China’s shadow banking system to raise funds for the project, while promising investors annual returns of up to 12 percent. With a minimum investment amount of 100 million yuan, total losses sustained by investors may be to the tune of 38 billion yuan.

 

金誠集團則透過影子銀行籌集「特色小鎮」資金，並承諾投資人高達百分之十二的年回報率，而投資「特色小鎮」計畫的最低金額為一百萬元人民幣，若拿不回資金，投資者恐損失約三百八十億人民幣。

 

Chinese media has also revealed that a large number of JC Group’s development projects have either not been formally initiated or construction work has yet to begin. Further, in April last year, China’s regulatory authorities discovered that the company was engaging in misleading advertising and required the group to temporarily suspend its fundraising operations. Then in August, the company began to postpone payments relating to the projects.

 

然而，金誠集團被中媒踢爆，其多數開發項目未正式立項或動工，監管機構也在去年四月發現該集團誇大宣傳，要求金誠集團整改並暫停基金銷售業務。金誠集團則在去年八月，出現延期兌付狀況。

 

According to the South China Morning Post, the JC Group case shows the significant risks posed by China’s state-led, debt-driven model of economic development. Additionally, collaboration between local governments and private companies through public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements have increasingly become a tool for local governments to hide debt.

 

《南華早報》指出，金誠集團的案例，展現了中國以債務、國家主導做為經濟動力的巨大風險，地方政府和私人公司合作的PPP模式也變相成為地方政府隱藏隱性債務的手段。

 

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每日跟讀#614: Don’t like surprises? AI predicts who survives ’Game of Thrones’

 

If you are a "Game of Thrones" fan and appreciate the element of surprise, stop reading now.

 

如果你是「權力遊戲」的粉絲且喜歡驚喜元素，現在停止閱讀。

 

Students at the Technical University of Munich have developed an application to predict which character has the best chance to claim the coveted Iron Throne in the HBO hit medieval fantasy series about warring families.

 

慕尼黑工業大學的學生們開發了一個應用程式，用來預測這個關於眾交戰家族的熱門ＨＢＯ中世紀奇幻影集，當中哪個角色最有機會奪得令人垂涎的鐵之王座。

 

They have taught the application to scour the web for information about each of the characters, which is then processed by artificial intelligence algorithms to assess their survival chances.

 

他們教這個應用程式在網路上搜查每個角色的資料，然後交由人工智慧演算法運算評估他們的倖存機會。

 

There is a good chance the application will get it right.

 

這個應用程式很有可能會判斷正確。

 

Back in 2016, an algorithm created by students at the same university in the southern German city shortly before the start of Season 6 accurately predicted that Jon Snow would resurrect.

 

早在2016年，德國南部這個城市同一所大學的學生，就建立了一套演算法，在第6季即將開播之前，準確預測到瓊恩．雪諾會復活。

 

If you’re still reading, clearly you’re not a fan of plot twists and turns.

 

如果你還在讀，顯然你就不是一個熱愛曲折劇情的人。

 

So here you go: AI says that Daenerys Targaryen has the best chance of survival in the final season, which starts on Sunday.

 

那麼，這就是你要的：人工智慧說，在週日開演的最後一季，丹妮莉絲．坦格利安存活機會最大。

 

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每日跟讀#613: More than 270 died from overwork-related illnesses in Indonesia elections

 

Ten days after Indonesia held the world’s biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illneses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said.

 

在印尼舉行全球最大的單日選舉後10天，有超過270名選務人員死亡，大多數是因長時間以手工計算數百萬張選票，引發勞累相關疾病所致，一名官員說。

 

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

 

4月17日的大選是這個有2.6億人口的國家，首次將總統與全國及區域性議會投票合併舉行的選舉，目的是為了降低成本。

 

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 percent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in over 800,000 polling stations.

 

投票過程大致平和，估計吸引1億9300萬選民中的8成投票；在超過80萬個投票所裡，每個人都必須在多達5張選票上戳孔。

 

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000 km from its western to eastern tips proven to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

 

然而，在一個從西角到東端綿延逾5000公里的國家，舉行8小時的投票活動，證明是一項艱鉅的運籌壯舉，且對公務員是致命的，因為他們必須手工計票。

 

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman of the General Elections Commission.

 

截至週六晚間，已有272名選務人員死亡，大部分是死於過勞相關疾病，另有1878人病倒，全國選舉委員會發言人蘇山托說。

 

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Welcome to 15.mins.today the home of English Shadowing. I'm your host Gavin and this is InTense Episode 11. Well guys, today we are going to be looking at an interesting tense, it is the future progressive or future continuous tense.

 

Again the “ing” is the key. And we use this tense to show something will be happening in the future and won’t just happen quickly. There will be some continuation. Like, you know, “I will be eating lunch tomorrow.” Why I'm using that would be to suggest that it will be a long lunch. If it will just be quick lunch, a hit and run lunch I will say, “I will eat lunch tomorrow.” So we'll use it for things that will happen and they will continue for a bit, think about writing a novel “I will be writing a novel next year.” It's not going to be a one day or 10-second effort. So if you want to recognize the tense, remember you will be looking for a “will a be and an ing” verb. Great let's get started with our examples.

 

 

 

Will Jane be sending the email? Yes, she will be sending the email.

Will Jane be sending the email? No, he will not be sending the email.

 

Will Peter be giving the presentation? Yes, he will be giving the presentation.

Will Peter be giving the presentation? No, he will not be giving the presentation.

 

Will you be attending the meeting? Yes, I will be attending the meeting.

Will you be attending the meeting? No, I will not be attending the meeting.

 

Will John be completing the report? Yes, he will be completing the report.

Will John be completing the report? No, he will not be completing the report.

Will you be staying at a hotel? Yes, I will be staying at a hotel.

Will you be staying at a hotel? No, I will not be staying at a hotel.

 

Will John and Jane be booking the tickets? Yes, they will be booking the tickets.

Will John and Jane be booking the tickets? No, they will not be booking the tickets.

Will you be visiting the museum? Yes, I will be visiting the museum.

Will you be visiting the museum? No, I will not be visiting the museum.

 

Will Jeff be rebooting his computer? Yes, he will be rebooting his computer.

Will Jeff be rebooting his computer? No, he will not be rebooting his computer.

 

Will Ana be backing up the files? Yes, she will be backing up the files.

Will Ana be backing up the files? No, she will not be backing up the files.

 

Will you be updating the drivers? Yes, I will be updating the drivers.

Will you be updating the drivers? No, I will not be updating the drivers.

 

Great, I hope you practice, remember repeat the questions, check the answers and keep repeating till you get it done. Have a great day and take care, bye!

 

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Summary:

This article discusses how the market for wool in New Zealand has declined do to synthetic fibers. Although meat and Dairy exports have risen. One of the reasons for this change has also been the lack of unity in the industry. So producers should stand together and extol the virtues of wool over synthetic fibers.

 

Full article: https://www.15mins.today/blog/581-sheep-farmers-in-new-zealand-adapt-to-changing-tastes

 

 

Vocabulary and sample questions:

 

Dairy: milk products or a small local shop( New Zealand English)

 Are dairy products expensive in Taiwan?

 What is your favorite dairy product?

 Can you go to the dairy and buy me some gum?

 

Mutton : meat from a fully grown sheep (also goat in India)

Is lamb more tender than mutton?

 Which is more expensive lamb or mutton?

 

Pasture: land covered with grass that is suitable for feeding animals on

 Does New Zealand have green pastures?

 Are good pastures important for good quality milk?

 

Question: Do you prefer to be "asset-rich" or "cash-poor"

 

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每日跟讀#612: Donations, pigs part of Las Vegas’ efforts to cut food waste

 

At a farm outside Las Vegas, a herd of pigs feasts on lobster, sausage links and beef. In town, people at a community center sit for a dinner that may include sliders and truffle mac and cheese.

 

在拉斯維加斯外的一座農場，一群豬盡情享受龍蝦、香腸串與牛肉。而在城內，人們在社區中心就座，享用一頓可能包括小漢堡及松露起司通心麵在內的晚餐。

 

The two meals have something in common：Both came from the kitchens of Sin City’s opulent casinos, where the axiom of excess is increasingly being reconsidered and waste reduction has taken hold.

 

這兩餐有一個共同點：都是來自萬惡城市豪華賭場的廚房。這些賭場的過量守則愈來愈被重加考慮，而減少浪費已然確立。

 

The environmental and financial impacts of leftover food are more important than ever to Las Vegas’ world-famous casinos, which in recent years have developed and expanded innovative practices to cut back on what they send to the landfill by thousands of tons a year.

 

對拉斯維加斯全球知名的賭場而言，剩食的環境與金融衝擊比以往任何時候都重要，而近幾年這些賭場發展並擴大創意作法，以大量降低每年數千公噸送進垃圾掩埋場的剩食量。

 

Food scraps are turned into compost or taken to a farm to feed thousands of pigs. Expired minibar snacks are donated to community organizations. Banquet meals that were never served go to a food bank. Oyster shells are even shipped thousands of miles to Chesapeake Bay.

 

殘羹剩餚轉變成堆肥或運至農場去餵食數千隻豬。過期的迷你吧點心捐贈給社區組織。沒有端上桌的餐宴美食，則送到食物銀行。甚至牡蠣殼也運送至數千哩外的乞沙比克灣。

 

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每日跟讀#611: Scientists warn a million species at risk of extinction

 

One million animal and plant species are at imminent risk of extinction due to humankind’s relentless pursuit of economic growth, scientists said last Monday in a landmark report on the devastating impact of modern civilization on the natural world, the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

The bombshell executive summary of a 1,800-page tome crafted by more than 400 experts — the first UN global assessment of the natural world in 15 years.

 

上週一公布的「全球生物多樣性與生態系服務評估報告」，是研究現代文明對自然界之破壞的里程碑式報告。科學家表示，由於人類對經濟成長的無饜追求，一百萬種動植物面臨迫切的滅絕危機。

這份由四百多位專家合作、厚達一千八百頁、內容具爆炸性的決策摘要，是聯合國十五年來首次對自然界進行的全球評估。

 

Scientists made an impassioned appeal to governments and businesses worldwide to confront “vested interests” they said were blocking reforms in farming, energy and mining needed to save the Earth’s ecosystems.

 

科學家懇切呼籲全世界的政府和企業要勇於面對其「既得利益」，因為這些利益阻礙了拯救地球生態系統所需的農業、能源及礦業改革。

 

The report found that up to one million of Earth’s estimated eight million plant, insect and animal species are at risk of extinction, many within decades.

 

該報告發現，地球上總共約八百萬種植物、昆蟲和動物中，有多達一百萬個物種面臨滅絕的危險，有許多更是在數十年內就會瀕臨滅絕。

 

It identified industrial farming and fishing as major drivers of the crisis, with the current rate of species extinction tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the last 10 million years.

 

工業化的農業和漁業是造成物種滅絕的主因，目前物種滅絕的速度比過去一千萬年的平均數高出數十至數百倍。

 

Climate change caused by burning the coal, oil and gas produced by the fossil fuel industry is exacerbating the losses, the report found.

 

報告還發現，化石燃料業所生產的煤、石油和天然氣等燃燒所導致的氣候變化，更加劇了危機。

 

The report is the largest, most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the conjoined fates of human wellbeing and the natural world. It was compiled over three years and based on 15,000 scientific papers, and identified a range of risks, from the disappearance of insects vital for pollinating food crops, to the destruction of coral reefs that support fish populations and the loss of medicinal plants.

 

這份報告是對人類福祉和自然界共同命運所進行的最大、最全面的研究，耗時三年多、根據一萬五千份科學論文所編纂，鑑定出一連串風險，包括對糧食作物授粉至關重要之昆蟲的消失、維繫魚群生存之珊瑚礁的破壞、藥用植物的消失等。

 

The threatened list includes more than 40 percent of amphibian species, almost 33 percent of reef-forming corals, sharks and shark relatives, and more than a third of all marine mammals. The picture was less clear for insect species, but a tentative estimate suggests 10 percent could become extinct.

 

受威脅的物種包括超過百分之四十的兩棲類、近百分之三十三的造礁珊瑚、鯊魚及其相關物種，以及超過三分之一的海洋哺乳類動物。昆蟲物種的情況較不明確，但初步估計有百分之十可能會滅絕。

 

The report’s blunt language echoed the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which said in October that profound economic and social changes would be needed to curb greenhouse gases quickly enough to avert the most devastating consequences of a warming world.

 

這份報告的直言不諱，呼應了聯合國聯政府間氣候變遷小組去年十月公布的報告──該報告闡明，必須進行深遠的經濟和社會變革，才能夠來得及抑制溫室氣體排放，以避免全球暖化所造成的毀滅性的後果。

 

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每日跟讀#610: The web is broken, so its founder is taking another stab at it

 

The founder of the World Wide Web thinks it’s broken and has a plan to fix it.

 

「全球資訊網（WWW）」的創立者認為網路出了毛病，於是他提出一項修復計畫。

 

Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist credited with inventing the web in 1989, announced a new project that he hopes will radically change his creation, by giving people full control over their data.

 

1989年發明全球資訊網的英國電腦科學家伯納斯李，宣布一項新計畫，他希望透過賦予人們對其數據的完全控制權，徹底改變他創立的網路。

 

The open-source software is called Solid. It allows developers to create decentralized apps that run on data that its users fully own. If Solid becomes widely adopted, then all your apps could talk to each other using the same set of data, which you and only you control.

 

這個開源軟體被稱為「Solid」。它授權開發者創建去中心化的應用程式，讓使用者全權運行個人資料。Solid若獲得廣泛採用，你的所有應用程式將可使用同一套數據互相溝通，而這套數據只由你自己控制。

 

The new project is a clear rebuke of the tech giants whose opaque use of personal data is core to their businesses. Facebook’s notorious grip follows people around the web, even if they’ve signed out or have actually deleted their accounts, and Google’s Android phones track people’s movements, far beyond just their coordinates.

 

這項新專案顯然是在譴責那些將不透明的個資利用做為其核心事業的科技巨頭。「臉書」惡名昭彰於擷取該網站所有用戶的資訊，即便使用者已經登出或刪除帳號，而「谷歌」的安卓系統手機追蹤人們的動向，獲取遠超出使用者經緯度座標的數據。

 

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每日跟讀#609: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for US Postal Service

 

The US Postal Service on Tuesday started a two-week test transporting mail across three southwestern states using self-driving trucks, a step forward in the effort to commercialize autonomous vehicle technology for hauling freight.

 

美國郵政管理局自週二起展開一項為期兩週的測試，使用自動駕駛貨車運送郵件，路程跨越美國西南部的三個州，可說是努力讓自動車科技商業化，用於拖運貨物的重要一步。

 

San Diego-based startup TuSimple said its self-driving trucks will begin hauling mail between USPS facilities in Phoenix and Dallas to see how the nascent technology might improve delivery times and costs. A safety driver will sit behind the wheel to intervene if necessary and an engineer will ride in the passenger seat.

 

總部設於加州聖地牙哥的新創公司TuSimple表示，該公司的自駕貨車將開始行駛於鳳凰城和達拉斯之間，為郵政管理局的據點載運郵件，以測試這項新興科技將可能如何改善運送時間及成本。卡車上將配有一名安全駕駛，坐在方向盤後方，會在必要情況下介入，另一名工程師則會坐在乘客座上。

 

If successful, it would mark an achievement for the autonomous driving industry and a possible solution to the driver shortage and regulatory constraints faced by freight haulers across the country.

 

如果順利的話，這次測試將會是自動駕駛產業的一項里程碑，並且有望解決駕駛員短缺，以及全國貨運業者面對的法規限制。

 

The pilot program involves five round trips, each totaling more than 3,380km or around 45 hours of driving. It is unclear whether self-driving mail delivery will continue after the two-week pilot. “The work with TuSimple is our first initiative in autonomous long-haul transportation,” USPS spokeswoman Kim Frum said. “We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology.”

 

這項前導計畫包含五次來回，每一次總距離都超過三千三百八十公里，也就是約四十五小時的駕駛時間。目前仍無法確定自駕車郵件投遞在前導計畫結束後是否還會持續。郵政管理局發言人金佛朗姆表示：「和TuSimple的合作是我們第一次主動嘗試採用自動化的長途運輸工具。」她也說：「我們目前正在持續研究和測試，這是我們致力發展未來物流車輛，將新科技納入其中的努力之一。」

 

TuSimple and the USPS declined to disclose the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used and the agency relies on revenue from sales of postage and other products. TuSimple has raised US$178 million in private financing, including from chipmaker Nvidia Corp and Chinese online media company Sina Corp.

 

TuSimple和郵政管理局拒絕公開計畫成本的金額，但佛朗姆表示這項計畫並沒有用到納稅人的錢，主要仰賴的是郵資以及銷售其它商品帶來的收入。TuSimple則藉由私人募資籌措到一億七千八百萬美元，融資者包括晶片製造商NVIDIA以及中國的網路媒體公司新浪。

 

The trucks will travel on major interstates and pass through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. “This run is really in the sweet spot of how we believe autonomous trucks will be used,” said TuSimple Chief Product Officer Chuck Price. “These long runs are beyond the range of a single human driver, which means today if they do this run they have to figure out how to cover it with multiple drivers in the vehicle.”

 

自動駕駛貨車將會行駛於主要的州際公路上，穿越亞利桑那州、新墨西哥州，以及德州。TuSimple的產品總監查克‧普萊斯表示：「這段路線真的是我們認為自動卡車可供驅策的甜蜜點。」他指出：「這些長途路程遠遠超過單一一位人類駕駛能掌握的距離，也就是說，如果今天他們要跑這條路線，就得想辦法在車輛內安排多名駕駛來開完全程。」

 

The goal is to eliminate the need for a driver, freeing shippers and freight-haulers from the constraints of a worsening driver shortage. American Trucking Associations estimates a shortage of as many as 174,500 drivers by 2024, due to an aging workforce and the difficulty of attracting younger drivers. A new safety law requiring truck drivers to electronically log their miles has further constrained how quickly and efficiently fleets can move goods.

 

計畫目標就是解決駕駛員短缺的問題，從而讓託運公司和貨運業者擺脫這項愈趨惡化的問題造成的種種限制。根據美國貨運協會估計，由於行業勞動力老化，又難以吸引年輕駕駛員加入，短缺人數可能在二○二四年達到十七萬四千五百名。新上路的安全法規要求貨車駕駛員必須電子登錄行駛的里程數，又更加限制車隊運送貨物的速度與效率。

 

TuSimple’s tie-up with the USPS marks an achievement for the fledgling self-driving truck industry, and follows Swedish company Einride’s entry into freight delivery using driverless electric trucks on a public road, announced last week.

 

TuSimple跟郵政管理局的結盟，對剛在起步階段的自動駕駛貨車產業而言，可說是一項重大成就，也跟上瑞典公司Einride的步伐，後者上週宣布踏入貨物運輸產業，讓無人駕駛的電動貨車行駛於公路上。

 

The developments contrast with retrenching efforts by robotaxi companies such as General Motors Co unit Cruise, Uber Technologies Inc and startup Drive.ai, which have stumbled in building self-driving cars that can anticipate and respond to humans and navigate urban areas, an expensive and technologically challenging feat.

 

這項發展和自動駕駛計程車公司投入資源的日漸緊縮形成對比。包括美國通用汽車旗下的子公司Cruise、優步科技公司，以及新創公司 Drive.ai都在打造自動駕駛車輛的過程中跌跌撞撞，因為他們的自駕車要能夠預期人類行為，並做出反應，還要能在都會區中導航，這項技術不僅昂貴，也相當具有科技上的挑戰性。

 

Price said self-driving trucks have advantages over passenger cars, including the relative ease of operating on interstates compared with city centers, which reduces mapping requirements and safety challenges involving pedestrians and bicyclists.

 

普萊斯指出，自駕貨車會比小客車具備更多優勢，包括──跟市中心相比──行駛於州際公路上相對輕鬆，畢竟繪製路線圖的需求降低，面對行人和腳踏車騎士的安全性挑戰也會減少。

 

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