ページ1:

Cars are becoming filled with more and more distractions.
Once, the bored driver was restricted to talking to his
passengers then the radio came along, and the driver could
entertain himself either by listening to it or by desperately
attempting to find something worth listening to. In the past 15
years, the use of mobile phones has become increasingly
common in cars; vehicle navigation systems are just becoming
widely available at relatively low cost and computer companies
are racing to complete the transformation of the car from modè
of transport to mobile office. Very soon, sales representatives
are likely to be driving their cars while using hands-free, voice-
activated computer systems that will even enable them to send
and receive e-mail.
But how well can a driver cope with all of these distractions? It
is difficult to know with any certainty. After an accident, a driver
is unlikely to admit to having been distracted, because of the
legal implications of doing so. However, a number of studies of
accident reports have suggested that in-car distractions may be a
significant cause of accidents. In Britain, all fatal traffic accidents
are linvestigated in detail by the police, and, since 1985, the
resulting reports have been entered into a computer database.
<語彙>
(1) BB C
(+-)
C.
restrict
desperately 必死に、やけになって
distraction 気をそらすこと 注意散漫 come along ①現れる!登場する
囮~を制限する~を限定する entertain ~を楽しませるi~をもてなす
relatively M比較的、割合に
vehicle
available
乗物段
手に入れることができる
representative図 販売員:代表者
Cope with ~ ~に対応する~に対処する
✓競争する
signinfioon 重大な重要な
investigate Vel ~を調べるi~を調査する
race
Certainty
確実性:確信
implication k

ページ2:

Cars are becoming filled with more and more distractions.
Once, the bored driver was restricted to talking to his passengers;
then the radio came along, and the driver could entertain himself
either by listening to it or by desperately attempting to find
something worth listening to. In the past 15 years, the use of
mobile phones has become increasingly common in cars; vehicle
navigation systems are just becoming widely available at relatively
low cost; and computer companies are racing to complete the
transformation of the car from mode of transport to mobile office.
Very soon, sales representatives are likely to be driving their cars
while using hands-free, voice-activated computer systems that will
even enable them to send and receive e-mail.
車はますます多くの注意をそらすものたちで満たされつつある。 昔 退
屈したドライバーは同乗者に話しかけることしかできなかったが、その後ラ
ジオが登場し、ドライバーはラジオを聞くか、必死に何か聞く価値のあるも
のを探そうとして退屈をしのぐことができた。ここ15年間に携帯電話の利用
は車中でますます一般的になり、 カーナビゲーション装置は比較的低価格で
広く入手できるようになり、 そしてコンピュータ会社は車を移動手段から移
動オフィスへと完全に変容させようと競い合っている。今に営業担当者たち
はハンズフリーで音声操作式のコンピュータ装置を使いながら運転するよう
になり、この装置はEメールの送受信までできるようになることだろう。
☆セミコロンの意味・
①
「~」そして…」
②逆接
mot A:Bmot AbeB
But how well can a driver cope with all of these distractions? It
is difficult to know with any certainty. After an accident, a driver is
unlikely to admit to having been distracted, because of the legal
implications of doing so. However, a number of studies of accident
reports have suggested that in-car distractions may be a significant
cause of accidents. In Britain, all fatal traffic accidents are
investigated in detail by the police, and, since 1985, the resulting
reports have been entered into a computer database.
しかし、ドライバーは、いかにうまくこうしたすべての注意をそらすもの
に対応していけるのだろうか。 確かなことを知るのは難しい。 事故のあと
でドライバーが自分で注意散漫だったと認めることはほとんどない。なぜな
らそれには法的な意味があるからだ。しかし、 事故報告書を使って行った多
くの調査は、車中で注意をそらしたことが事故の大きな原因であることを示
唆している。イギリスではすべての交通死亡事故が警察により詳細に調べら
れ、1985年以降はその結果得られた報告書がコンピュータデータベースに
入力されている。
≪KEYWORDS》
① but
しかし
however 「しかしながら」
Abe/iB 「A200.Bla
R 229 her
①副詞「しかしながら」
接続詞「たとえ~であろうとも
直後につ
Leven it / even thought (al) though / dospice / inspice of] "initiated ter