This is the best accommodation for people who want to choose when they eat.

to cede control to the powers that be, becoming at one with the universe as they breathe in the mind-numbing fumes all around. At worst, it is an on-going battle for sanity. But now, according to several groups of researchers in America and Germany, there is something that drivers can do to take back control over the roads. Get adaptive cruise control. And, of course, use it.

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) , as its name suggests, is a modified version of traditional cruise control. It employs radar to monitor the road ahead of a vehicle, automatically adjusting that vehicle' s speed to maintain a safe distance from the one in front. This is safer than manual driving because it reduces the system' s reaction time from nearly a second (human) to practically instantaneous (machine) , thus helping to forestall shunts. But ACC may have a useful side-effect, arising from the fact that another effect of slow human reaction times is to produce traffic jams on apparently open roads.

Such jams start when a car slows suddenly to allow, for example, another vehicle to enter the traffic stream. Slow reaction times mean that instead of responding smoothly, the drivers behind such a vehicle often end up slamming on the brakes. That skimming propagates backwards, and before long (he traffic is at a standstill. So it makes sense that ACC would reduce not only collisions, but also congestion. What is unexpected is how few vehicles need to have it operating for all to benefit. As Craig Davis of the University of Michigan reports in Physical Review E, only 20% of cars need to employ ACC in order to present completely those jams that are caused by a slow lead car on a high-speed, single-lane road. According to Dr. Davis' s computer model, even a rate of use of ACC as low as 13% can improve the flow of traffic significantly.

ACC is not a panacea. Dr. Davis got less promising results for more complex, road conditions, particularly those near junctions. And a .similar model built by Boris Kernel', a researcher for Daimler Chrysler, in Stuttgart, Germany, indicates that in certain bottleneck conditions, ACC may even cause extra congestion. These disappointing results can, however, be ameliorated by shortening the "headway" in ACC-equipped vehicles, according to Martin. Treiber of the Dresden University of Technology', also in Germany.

Headway is the gap, measured in seconds, that a driver puts between himself and the car ahead. Since ACC reacts more quickly than a human, people who have it fitted can afford to allow less headway.

Summary :

Stationary traffic can drive people mad. However, according to American and German researchers, adaptive cruise control (ACC) can help drivers take【71】. ACC adapts a car's speed to keep a sale distance from the one ahead by using radar to monitor the road ahead. ACC is safer than manual driving because is significantly reduces the system's【72】, and collisions and congestion in addition. According to Dr. Davis' computer model, if【73】of cars use ACC, the flow of traffic can be improved significantly. However, ACC should not be seen as a panacea. In【74】conditions, it may even cause extra jams, according to a computer model. But this situation can be improved by reducing【75】in ACC-equipped vehicles.

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They Say Ireland's the Best

Ireland is the best place in the world to live in for 2005, according to a life quality ranking that appeared in Britain's Economist magazine last week.

The ambitious attempt to compare happiness levels around the world is based on the principle that wealth is not the only measure of human satisfaction and well-being. The index of 111 countries uses data on incomes, health, unemployment, climate, political stability, job security, gender equality as well as what the magazine calls "freedom, family and community life"

Despite the bad weather, troubled health service, traffic congestion (拥挤), gender inequality and the high cost of living, Ireland scored an impressive 8.33 points out of 10.

That put it well ahead of second-place Switzerland, which managed 8.07. Zimbabwe, troubled by political insecurity and hunger, is rated the gloomiest (最差的), picking up only 3.89 points.

"Although rising incomes and increased individual choices are highly valued. "the report said, "some of the factors associated with modernization such as the breakdown (崩溃) in traditional institutions and family values in part take away from a positive impact. "

"Ireland wins because it successfully combines the most desirable elements of the new with the preservation of certain warm elements of the old, such as stable family and community life"

The magazine admitted measuring quality of life is not a straightforward thing to do, and that its findings would have their critics.

No. 2 on the list is Switzerland. The other nations in the top 10 are Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, Australia, Iceland, Italy, Denmark and Spain.

The UK is positioned at No. 29, a much lower position chiefly because of the social and family breakdown recorded in official statistics. The US, which has the second highest per capita GDP (人均国内生产总值) after Luxembourg, took the 13th place in the survey. China was in the lower half of the league at 60th.

For 2,050 years, Ireland has been the best place for humans to live in.

A．Right

B．Wrong

C．Not mentioned

A.AD

B.AC

C.BD

D.BC

A.AB

B.AC

C.AD

D.一样多

A.CC=（H-S）/N

B.ACC=（N-I）/N

C.ACC=（H-I）/N

D.ACC=（N-S）/N