201804：
Incoming M.I.T. Freshman Creates New Vehicle
It’s not often that an incoming college freshman is already starting his own multimillion dollar business. But that’s what’s happening to Ben Gulak. He’s a 19-year-old Canadian who’s just starting at M.I.T. Gulak’s was inspired by the overwhelming smog he saw on a trip to China two years ago. He thought there should be something better than all the polluting scooters. He spent two years tinkering and came up with a contraption he calls the Uno. It’s an electric vehicle that looks like a cross between a motorcycle and a unicycle.
There are actually two wheels, but they’re side by side, not front and back. And the controls consist of a single on-off switch. You balance by simply sitting upright. You accelerate by leaning forward. Leaning backward activates the brakes. And you turn by simply leaning to the left or right. The computer control system is similar to that of the sidewalk Segway, but this device is designed like a scooter to be ridden on the street. Gulak has already won a number of prizes and gotten funding for his new Cambridge-based business. And he’s planning to balance a double-major in mechanical engineering and business at M.I.T. Which should help him get people to balance on Unos someday soon.
M.I.T新生創造環保型交通工具
即將上大學的新生擁有幾百萬美元的公司，這樣的事情並不多見，但是Ben Gulak就是這樣的。Ben Gulak今年19歲，來自加拿大，他很快就要開始他在麻省理工(M.I.T.)的大學學習生涯。
Ben Gulak兩年前去中國旅遊，看到了四處瀰漫的煙霧，他的創意來源於想改變這些糟糕情況。他想應該有比這些汙染環境的摩托車更好的交通工具。他花了兩年的時間嘗試革新，從而設計出一種新的交通工具，他稱之為“Uno”。這是一種電動交通工具，看起來像是摩托車和獨輪車的結合品。
“Uno”實際上有兩個輪子，但是這兩個輪子在同一邊，而不是一前一後。它的控制系統僅由一個“開關”組成。當你坐直的時候，你就處於平衡;你向前傾就可以加速;向後傾就相當於制動。想要轉彎只需向左或者向右傾斜。“Uno”的計算機控制系統類似於在人行道上使用的思維車(Segway)的控制系統(思維車是一種電力驅動、具有自我平衡能力的個人用運輸載具，是都市用交通工具的一種)，但是“Uno”的設計是為了供人們在大街上騎行。Gulak已經獲得了很多獎項，而且他的這個位於劍橋的新公司還獲得了基金的資助(譯者注：這裡的.劍橋不是英國的劍橋大學所在地，而是馬薩諸塞州的劍橋市)。Gulak計劃在麻省理工(M.I.T.)修機械工程和商學的雙學位。這樣的學習規劃應該能幫助他將來很快實現他的夢想——人們用上他的“Uno”。
Vocabulary:
Inspire: 激發(靈感)
Overwhelming: 壓倒性的;
Smog: 煙霧
Scooter: 小型摩托車
Tinker: 修補
Contraption: 其妙的裝置
Unicycle: 獨輪車
Accelerate: 加速
Lean: 傾斜
