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00:06
Entrepreneur Elon Musk has unveiled a prototype underground tunnel in Los Angeles which is designed to transport cars at high speed around the city. The tunnel is only a mile, or 1.6km long at the moment but the goal is a network to ease chronic traffic congestion.
00:26
Modified electric cars would be lowered into the tunnel and travel at speeds up to 150mph, or 240km/h, Mr. Musk says. The tunnel has been built by Mr. Musk's Boring Company, which boasts state-of-the-art engineering techniques.
00:45
Mr. Musk, best known as the head of Tesla electric cars and the commercial SpaceX program, arrived at the launch on Tuesday in a Tesla car modified to work on the "loop" system. He was cheered by a small crowd as he emerged from the car at one end of the tunnel.
01:03
"The profound breakthrough is very simple: it's the ability to turn a normal car into a passively stable vehicle by adding the deployable tracking wheels, (or) stabilizing wheels, so that it can travel at high speed through a small tunnel," Mr. Musk said.
01:19
"The way the loop will work is you will have main arteries that are travelling at 150mph and when you want to go to an exit, you will have an off ramp," he added. So you can travel the vast majority of your journey without stopping at 150mph and only slow down when you get to your exit and then automatically transfer from one tunnel to another.
entrepreneur (n.)
a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk
prototype (n.)
the original or model on which something is based or formed
breakthrough (n.)
any significant or sudden advance, development, achievement, or increase, as in scientific knowledge or diplomacy, that removes a barrier to progress
deployable (adj.)
to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately
arteries (n.)
a main channel or highway, especially of a connected system with many branches
導讀人 Nick Edwards
來自美國,具企管與金融專業的Nick用心傾聽,擅長多益與商業書信的教學。
收錄於英語島 2019年1月號