2016职称英语备考：理工类阅读理解文章及译文(6)
摘要：下面是职称英语在线培训课程小编为您带来的2016职称英语备考：理工类阅读理解文章及译文(6)
Driven to Distraction
Joe Coyne slides into the driver's eat,starts up the car and heads to town.The empty stretch of interstate gives way to urban congestion,and Coyne hits the brakes as a pedestrian suddenly crosses the street in front of him.
But even if he hadn't stopped in time,the woman would have been safe.She isn't real.Neither is the town.And Coyne isn't really driving.Coyne is demonstrating a computerized driving simulator that is helping researchers at Old Dominion University (ODU) examine how in-vehicle guidance systems affect the person behind the wheel.
The researchers want to know if such systems,which give audible or written directions,are too distracting—or whether any distractions are offset by the benefits drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locations.
"We're looking at the performance and mental workload of drivers,"said Caryl Baldwin,the assistant psychology professor leading the research,which involves measuring drivers' reaction time and brain activity as they respond to auditory and visual cues.
The researchers just completed a study of the mental workload involved in driving through different kinds of environments and heavy vs.light traffic.Preliminary results show that as people "get into more challenging driving situations,they don't have any extra mental energy to respond to something else in the environment,"Baldwin said.
But the tradeoffs could be worth it,she said.This next step is to test different ways of giving drivers navigational information and how those methods change the drivers' mental workload.
"Is it best if they see a picture…that shows their position,a map kind of display?"Baldwin said."Is it best if they hear it?"navigational systems now on the market give point-by-point directions that follow a prescribed route."They're very unforgiving,"Baldwin said."If you miss a turn,they can almost seem to get angry.”
That style of directions also can be frustrating for people who prefer more general instructions.But such broad directions can confuse drivers who prefer route directions,Baldwin said.
Perhaps manufacturers should allow drivers to choose the style of directions they want,or modify systems to present some information in a way that makes sense for people who prefer the survey style,she said.
Interestingly,other research has shown that about 60 percent of men prefer the survey style,while 60 percent women prefer the route style,Baldwin said.This explains the classic little thing of why men don't like to stop and ask for directions and women do,Baldwin added.
译文：
分散注意力驾驶
JoeCoyne滑进驾驶室，发动汽车朝城里开去。空荡荡的那段州际公路结束了，进入到拥塞的城市。这时，一个行人突然从Coyne的车前穿过，他急忙紧急刹车。
但是，就算Coyne来不及刹车，那个妇女也不会有事儿。因为，她是一个假人。整座城市也是假的。Coyne并不是真的在开车。他只是在演示一个计算机操控的驾驶模拟器，帮助OldDominion大学的研究者们检测车内导向系统如何影响开车人。
研究者们希望了解驾驶员在陌生环境里从这一系统提供的那些语音或书面的说明中得到的导路指南等益处是否抵消了这些东西引起的注意力不集中的问题。
主持研究的心理学副教授CarylBaldwin说："我们一直关注着驾驶员的表现和精神负荷”这包括驾驶员在对听觉和视觉提示做出反应时的反应时间和大脑活动。
研究人员刚刚完成了一项关于在不同环境中，如交通畅通或交通拥挤时驾驶员精神负荷的调查。Baldwin说，初步的调查结果显示人们"在更富有挑战性的环境中驾驶时，并不会对周围环境的变化做出更大的反应。”
她说，两种提示的交替使用还是有效的。下一步，他们将测试为驾驶员提供导向信息的不同方法以及这些方法如何改变驾驶员的精神负荷。
Baldwin说："是给驾驶员看类似地图那样的显示图片好，还是让他们听到指示信息好呢?”
现在市场上的导向系统会给出点对点的方向信息，同时还会提供预定的路线。Baldwin说："这些系统通常不会原谅人的错误。如果驾驶员错过了一个转变，它们就会变得非常生气。”
这种提供方向信息的方式通常会使更喜欢笼统信息的驾驶员产生一种受挫感。Baldwin说，笼统的信息却会使更喜欢线路批示的驾驶员感到困惑。
她说，也许，是系统制造商们应该允许驾驶员能够选择自己喜欢的指示方式，或者使系统能够为更喜欢调查信息方式的驾驶员提供有用的信息。
有意思的是，其他研究者表示60%的男性更喜欢这种提供调查信息的导向系统，而60%的女性则更喜欢线路指示系统。Baldwin说，这也就可以解释那个为什么女人喜欢下车问路，而男人却不的经典例子。
