Traffic Jams―No End in Sight

　　1 Traffic congestion(擁堵)affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the U.S., commuters (通勤人員) spend an average of a full working week each year sitting in traffic jams, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.

　　2 The most promising technique for reducing city traffic is called congestion pricing, whereby cities charge a toll to enter certain parts of town at certain times of day. In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have reduced traffic and pollution in city centres thanks to congestion pricing.

　　3 Another way to reduce rush―hour traffic is for employers to implement flextime, which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.

　　4 Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only accommodate more of them.

　　5 Other, more forward―thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some$7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transport systems and upgrade them with more efficient technologies. But environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the$50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.

　　23. Paragraph 1________

　　24. Paragraph 2________

　　25. Paragraph 3________

　　26. Paragraph 4________

　　A Paying to get in

　　B A solution which is no solution

　　C Changing work practice

　　D Closing city centres to traffic

　　E Not doing enough

　　F A global problem

　　27. Most American drivers think it convenient to______.

　　28. If charged high enough, some drivers may______ to enter certain parts of town.

　　29. Building more roads is not an effective way to______.

　　30. The U. S. government has planned to ______ updating public-transport systems.

　　A reduce traffic jams

　　B spend more money

　　C drive around

　　D travel regularly

　　E go by bus

　　F encourage more private cars

　　答案：

　　23 F 第一段講述的是交通擁堵是全世界的一大問題。

　　24 A 第二段講述了控制交通量的一個(gè)方法，即對(duì)在某個(gè)時(shí)間進(jìn)人某個(gè)區(qū)域的車輛征收費(fèi)

　　25 C 事三段講述的是另一個(gè)控制交通量的方法，即實(shí)行靈活上班時(shí)間，允許雇員避開交通高峰出行。

　　26 B 第四段講述的是部分城市規(guī)劃者認(rèn)為應(yīng)該建造更多的公路，不過這種方法并不會(huì)減少交通量，而是能容納更多的車輛。

　　27 C 第一段最后一句：While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.由此可知人們認(rèn)為開車比較方便。

　　28 E 第二段第二句：In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train?由此可知答案為E。

　　29 A 第四段第二句：But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road..，由此可知建造趕多公路并不能減少交通堵塞。

　　30 B 第五段第二句：For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some$ 7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transport systems and upgrade them with more efficient technologies.美國政府決定增加投人升級(jí)公共交通系統(tǒng)。由此可知答案為B。