英語四級閱讀模擬實(shí)戰(zhàn) 28

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Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U.S., about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse（溫室）gases. They take a similar toll of（損耗）resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle-use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U.S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health-related and political costs. It is unlikely that prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing U.S. contribution to global climatic change.

Policymakers and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, switch to less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of these—in particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity—is ultimately the only sustainable option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are either impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the U.S., mass-transit ridership and carpooling（合伙用車）have declined since World War Ⅱ. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than $1 a liter (about $4 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travel.

Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made any progress in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal reductions in pollution and greenhouse emissions (especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline).

1.From the passage we know that the increased use of cars will______.

A.consume half of the oil produced in the world

B.have serious consequences for the well-being of all nations

C.widen the gap between the developed and developing countries

D.impose an intolerable economic burden on residents of large cities

2.The U.S. has to deal with the problems arising from vehicle use because______.

A.most Americans are reluctant to switch to public transportation systems

B.the present level of oil prices is considered unacceptable

C.other countries will protest its increasing greenhouse emissions

D.it should take a lead in conserving natural resources

3.Which of the following is the best solution to the problems mentioned in the passage?

A.The designing of highly efficient car engines.　B.A reduction of vehicle use in cities.

C.The development of electric cars.　　　　　D.The use of less polluting fuels.

4.Which of the following is practical but only makes a marginal contribution to solving the problem of greenhouse emissions?

A.The use of fuels other than gasoline.

B.Improved energy, efficiency.

C.The introduction of less polluting driving systems.

D.Reducing car use by carpooling.

5.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A.The decline of public transportation accounts for increased car use in western Europe.

B.Cars are popular in western Europe even though fuel prices are fairly high.

C.The reduction of vehicle use is the only sustainable option in densely populated western Europe.

D.Western European oil companies cannot sustain the cost of developing new-type fuels.

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1.【答案】B。

【解析】事實(shí)辨認(rèn)題。問從文中我們可看出小汽車的使用量增加會導(dǎo)致什么。從文中第一段可看出，小汽車耗費(fèi)了美國一半的汽油消費(fèi)量，接近一半的城市污染和1/4的導(dǎo)致溫室效應(yīng)的氣體是由汽車造成的。在其他工業(yè)化國家和發(fā)展中國家的城市里也是如此。因此選B，即汽車的增加對各國的生活福利有惡劣的影響，選項(xiàng)A、C、D均僅涉及問題的某個(gè)方面。

2.【答案】C。

【解析】事實(shí)辨認(rèn)題。問美國不得不解決由于汽車使用產(chǎn)生的問題的原因是什么。從文中第一段的后半部分可找到本題的答案。由于汽車使用量將在未來十年不斷增長，美國和其他國家不得不處理由此帶來的難以承受的經(jīng)濟(jì)、健康和政治代價(jià)的問題。石油的價(jià)格不可能保持目前的低水平，而其他國家也不可能容忍美國對全球氣候變化造成的影響。因此C正確，即其他國家將反對美國日益增多的溫室效應(yīng)的擴(kuò)散。

3.【答案】C。

【解析】細(xì)節(jié)辨認(rèn)題。問下列哪一項(xiàng)措施是解決文中提到問題的最好辦法。文章第二段談到了四種方法：減少汽車的使用，增加能源的使用效率，減少普通汽車的排放量，轉(zhuǎn)向使用污染較少的燃料或采用污染更少的動力系統(tǒng)。接著，文章指出，使用電動的汽車是最終可行的選擇。因此選C。

4.【答案】A。

【解析】事實(shí)辨認(rèn)題。問下列哪一項(xiàng)措施對于解決溫室效應(yīng)雖然有用但效果不大。文章第三段談到這個(gè)問題，第二句說：替代性燃料如天然氣，在內(nèi)燃機(jī)中燃燒可以降低消耗，但是對于減少污染和溫室效應(yīng)只能起到很小的作用。故選A。

5.【答案】B。

【解析】推斷題。問根據(jù)文章，下列哪一個(gè)選項(xiàng)是正確的。根據(jù)對文章的理解，B是正確的，其意思是：在西歐，盡管燃料價(jià)格高，但小汽車仍很受歡迎。文章第二段的最后一句談到，即使在西歐，盡管燃料價(jià)格平均為每升1美元多，公共交通工具很方便以及人口很稠密，小汽車仍承擔(dān)了80%的客運(yùn)量。A之因果關(guān)系與短文內(nèi)容（第二段倒數(shù)第二句）不一致；C與短文內(nèi)容（第二段最后一句及第一、二句）相矛盾；D也非短文最后一句之本意。