Makers of self driving, or autonomous, vehicles have raised tens of billions of dollars based on promises to develop the fully robotic product. However, industry leaders and experts say the technology may forever require human supervision.

Supporters of autonomous vehicles, or AVs, say that computers and robotic technology will reduce the number of traffic accidents. But in reality, making self-driving cars safer than human-operated ones is complex. Self-driving programming lacks the human ability to predict and recognize risk quickly.

GM(通用汽车公司) recalled and updated software in 80 Cruise self-driving vehicles this month after a crash in June. Two people were injured in an accident. Safety officials said the recalled software could “incorrectly predict” an oncoming vehicle’s path. Cruise said its vehicles would not make the same mistake again after the update.

In 2018, GM sought the government approval for a fully autonomous car. It was to be marketed in 2019. But that vehicle, the Cruise Origin, now is not expected to begin production until spring 2023. In 2019, Tesla head Elon Musk promised 1 million robotaxis(自动驾驶出租车) would be in place by 2020. His company’s “Full Self Driving” feature has been criticized because its cars use human operators. In June, Musk said that building self-driving cars had been far more difficult than he had expected.

Many AV companies today use humans as remote piloting supervisors. They support self-driving cars in dealing with unexpected events on the road. Kyle Vogt is the head of Cruise. He says the company’s AVs on the roads currently depend on humans less than one percent of the time. But across thousands or even millions of AVs, that would add up to a large amount of time stopped on the road waiting for human guidance.

Autonomous systems are not as effective as people because their “perception and prediction algorithms(算法) are not as good as how a human brain processes and decides,” said expert Chris Borroni-Bird. That worries Borroni-Bird. “I am concerned that AV companies will rush to market without proving the safety is better than human-driven vehicles,” he said.

1.Why do experts say AVs need human supervision?

A Because self-driving cars are complex to operate.

B Because traffic accidents happen continuously.

C Because AVs can’t predict and recognize risk quickly.

D Because computers and robotic technology is expensive.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“Self-driving programming lacks the human ability to predict and recognize risk quickly.”可知，自动驾驶程序缺乏人类快速预测和识别风险的能力。故选C。

2.What does the underlined part “the same mistake” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A Using humans as remote piloting supervisors.

B Incorrectly predicting an oncoming pedestrian’s path.

C Building self-driving cars with the help of humans.

D Misjudging the path of an oncoming vehicle.

解析：选D。D 词意指代题。根据划线部分前面的“Safety officials said the recalled software could ‘incorrectly predict’ an oncoming vehicle’s path.”可知，通用汽车于9月初召回并更新了80辆Cruise自动驾驶汽车的软件。被召回的软件可能会误判迎面而来的车辆的路径。Cruise表示，更新之后的软件不会再出现这种情况，即误判迎面而来的车辆的路径。故选D。

3.What is Borroni-Bird’s attitude to self driving vehicles?

A Positive.

B Negative.

C Indifferent.

D Curious.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。 根据最后一段中的“their ‘perception and prediction algorithms(算法) are not as good as how a human brain processes and decides’”可知克里斯·博罗尼-伯德认为自动驾驶系统不如人类大脑处理和决定的方式好；在结合后文的“That worries Borroni-Bird.”以及“I am concerned”可推断，克里斯·博罗尼-伯德不太支持自动驾驶汽车。故选B。

4.What type of writing is this text?

A An exhibition guide.

B An advertisement.

C A technology report.

D An announcement.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。本文主要描述了自动驾驶汽车热背后，极端情况下仍需要人类的操作，真正自动驾驶遥遥无期，本文应该属于科技类报道。故选C。