段落A

When primitive automobiles first began to appear in the 1800s, their engines were based on steam power. Steam had already enjoyed a long and successful career in the railways, so it was only natural that the technology evolved into a miniaturized version which was separate from the trains. But these early cars inherited steam’s weaknesses along with its strengths. The boilers had to be lit by hand, and they required about twenty minutes to build up pressure before they could be driven. Furthermore, their water reservoirs only lasted for about thirty miles before needing replenishment. Despite such shortcomings, these newly designed self-propelled carriages offered quick transportation, and by the early 1900s it was not uncommon to see such machines shuttling wealthy citizens around town.

段落B

But the glory days of steam cars were few. A new technology called the Internal Combustion Engine soon appeared, which offered the ability to drive down the road just moments after starting up. At first, these noisy gasoline cars were unpopular because they were more complicated to operate and they had difficult hand-crank starters, which were known to break arms when the engines backfired. But in 1912 General Motors introduced the electric starter, and over the following few years steam power was gradually phased out.

段落C

Even as the market was declining, four brothers made one last effort to rekindle the technology. Between 1906 and 1909, while still attending high school, Abner Doble and his three brothers built their first steam car in their parents’ basement. It comprised parts taken from a wrecked early steam car but reconfigured to drive an engine of their own design. Though it did not run well, the Doble brothers went on to build a second and third prototype in the following years. Though the Doble boys’ third prototype, nicknamed the Model B, still lacked the convenience of an internal combustion engine, it drew the attention of automobile trade magazines due to its numerous improvements over previous steam cars. The Model B proved to be superior to gasoline automobiles in many ways. Its high-pressure steam drove the engine pistons in virtual silence, in contrast to clattering gas engines which emitted the aroma of burned hydrocarbons. Perhaps most impressively, the Model B was amazingly swift. It could accelerate from zero to sixty miles per hour in just fifteen seconds, a feat described as ‘remarkable acceleration’ by Automobile magazine in 1914.

段落D

The following year Abner Doble drove the Model B from Massachusetts to Detroit in order to seek investment in his automobile design, which he used to open the General Engineering Company. He and his brothers immediately began working on the Model C, which was intended to expand upon the innovations of the Model B. The brothers added features such as a key-based ignition in the cabin, eliminating the need for the operator to manually ignite the boiler. With these enhancements, the Dobles’new car company promised a steam vehicle which would provide all of the convenience of a gasoline car, but with much greater speed, much simpler driving controls, and a virually silent powerplant. By the following April, the General Engineering Company had received 5,390 deposits for Doble Detroits, which were scheduled for delivery in early 1918.

段落E

Later that year Abner Doble delivered unhappy news to those eagerly awaiting the delivery of their modern new cars. Those buyers who received the handful of completed cars complained that the vehicles were sluggish and erratic, sometimes going in reverse when they should go forward. The new engine design, though innovative, was still plagued with serious glitches.

段落F

The brothers made one final attempt to produce a viable steam automobile. In early 1924, the Doble brothers shipped a Model E to New York City to be road-tested by the Automobile Club of America. After sitting overnight in freezing temperatures, the car was pushed out into the road and left to sit for over an hour in the frosty morning air. At the turn of the key, the boiler lit and reached its operating pressure inside of forty seconds. As they drove the test vehicle further, they found that its evenly distributed weight lent it surprisingly good handling, even though it was so heavy. As the new Doble steamer was further developed and tested, its maximum speed was pushed to over a hundred miles per hour, and it achieved about fifteen miles per gallon of kerosene with negligible emissions.

段落G

Sadly, the Dobles’ brilliant steam car never was a financial success. Priced at around $18,000 in 1924, it was popular only among the very wealthy. Plus, it is said that no two model Es were quite the same, because Abner Doble tinkered endlessly with the design. By the time the company folded in 1931, fewer than fifty of the amazing Model E steam cars had been produced. For his whole career, until his death in 1961, Abner Doble remained adamant that steam-powered automobiles were at least equal to gasoline cars, if not superior. Given the evidence, he may have been right. Many of the Model E Dobles which have survived are still in good working condition, some having been driven over half a million miles with only normal maintenance. Astonishingly, an unmodified Doble Model Eruns clean enough to pass the emissions laws in California today, and they are pretty strict. It is true that the technology poses some difficult problems, but you cannot help but wonder how efficient a steam car might be with the benefit of modern materials and computers. Under the current pressure to improve automotive performance and reduce emissions, it is not unthinkable that the steam car may rise again.

段落A：19世纪初，汽车开始出现在人们的生活中，最初使用的是蒸汽引擎。蒸汽引擎在铁路上已经得到成功应用，因此将这项技术演化成小型版本并与火车分离是顺其自然的事情。然而，早期的汽车继承了蒸汽引擎的优点和缺点。它们的锅炉需要手动点火，并且需要大约20分钟才能产生足够的压力以供行驶。此外，其水箱只能支持大约30英里的行程，就需要补充水源。尽管存在这些缺点，这些新设计的自行驶马车提供了快速的运输，到了20世纪初，人们经常能看到这些车辆在城市中运送富裕市民。

段落B：但是，蒸汽汽车的辉煌时期并不多。一种名为内燃机的新技术很快问世，它可以在启动后的瞬间行驶。起初，由于操作更复杂且需要手摇启动器（一旦引擎回火就会断手），这些嘈杂的汽油车并不受欢迎。但是在1912年，通用汽车公司推出了电启动器，在接下来的几年里，蒸汽动力逐渐被淘汰。

段落C：即使市场不再看好，四兄弟仍为重振蒸汽动力技术做出了最后一次努力。在1906年至1909年间，就读高中的阿布纳·多布尔（Abner Doble）和他的三个兄弟在父母的地下室里建造了他们的第一辆蒸汽汽车。它由从一辆报废的早期蒸汽汽车中取出的零件组成，但重新配置以驱动自己设计的引擎。虽然运行效果不佳，多布尔兄弟在接下来的几年里建造了第二辆和第三辆原型车。多布尔兄弟的第三个原型车被昵称为B型，虽然缺乏内燃机的便利性，但它引起了汽车贸易杂志的关注，因为它在以往蒸汽汽车的基础上进行了许多改进。B型车在许多方面都表现出优于汽油车的性能。它的高压蒸汽驱动引擎活塞时几乎无声，与发出砰砰声并散发燃烧碳氢化合物气味的汽油引擎形成鲜明对比。最令人印象深刻的是，B型车非常迅猛。它能在短短15秒内从静止加速到每小时60英里，这一壮举被1914年的《汽车》杂志描述为“惊人的加速”。

段落D：第二年，阿布纳·多布尔驾驶B型车从马萨诸塞州驶往底特律，以寻求对他的汽车设计进行投资，并创建了通用工程公司。他和他的兄弟立即开始研发C型车，旨在进一步创新B型车的优点。兄弟们增加了一些功能，例如车舱内的钥匙启动装置，消除了操作员手动点火的需求。通过这些改进，多布尔兄弟的新汽车公司承诺将提供所有汽油车方便性，但拥有更高的速度、更简单的驾驶控制和近乎无声的动力系统。到随后的4月，通用工程公司已经收到了5,390份多布尔底特律车的订金，预计在1918年初交付。

段落E：然而，当年，阿布纳·多布尔给那些急切等待交付现代新车的买家带来了不好的消息。那些收到少数已完成车辆的买家抱怨这些车辆行驶缓慢且不稳定，有时候在应向前行驶时却反向行驶。尽管新的发动机设计创新，但仍然存在严重故障。

段落F：兄弟们最后一次尝试生产一种可行的蒸汽汽车。在1924年初，多布尔兄弟将一辆E型车运往纽约市，交由美国汽车俱乐部进行道路测试。在寒冷的夜晚静置后，该车被推出道路，在寒冷的清晨空气中静置了一个多小时。旋开钥匙，锅炉在40秒内点燃并达到工作压力。随着他们进一步驾驶测试车辆，他们发现这款车均匀分布的重量使其具有令人惊讶的良好操控性，尽管它很重。随着新的多布尔蒸汽车的进一步发展和测试，它的最高速度提升到每小时超过百英里，并以平均煤油15英里每加仑的速度行驶，几乎没有任何排放。

段落G：遗憾的是，多布尔兄弟的辉煌蒸汽车从未在经济上取得成功。1924年的售价约为18,000美元，它只在非常富裕的人中间流行。而且据说没有两辆E型车完全相同，因为阿布纳·多布尔在设计上不断进行修改。到1931年公司倒闭时，仅生产了不到五十辆令人惊叹的E型蒸汽车。在他去世前一直到1961年，阿布纳·多布尔坚信蒸汽动力汽车至少与汽油车不相上下，甚至更优越。鉴于这些证据，他或许是正确的。许多幸存下来的多布尔E型车仍然完好运行，有些甚至行驶了超过50万英里，仅需正常维护。令人惊叹的是，原装的多布尔E型车的排放足够达到今天严格的加州排放法规要求。虽然这项技术存在一些难题，但你不禁想象一下在现代材料和计算机技术的支持下，蒸汽汽车可能会有多高效。面临提高汽车性能和减少排放的当前压力，蒸汽汽车的再次崛起也并非不可想象。