2016年英语六级考试阅读理解技巧训练：交通类

　　交通类

　　Passage 1

　　As machines go, the car is not terribly noisy, nor terribly polluting, nor terribly dangerous; and on all those dimensions it has become better as the century has grown older. The main problem is its prevalence, and the social costs that ensue from the use by everyone of something that would be fairly harmless if, say, only the rich were to use it. It is a price we pay for equality.

　　Before becoming too gloomy, it is worth recalling why the car has been arguably the most successful and popular product of the whole of the past 100 years—and remains so. The story begins with the environmental improvement it brought in the 1900s. In New York city in 1900, according to the Car Culture, a 1975 book by J. Flink, a historian, horses deposited 2.5 million pounds of manure (粪) and 60,000 gallons of urine (尿) every day. Every year, the city authorities had to remove an average of 15,000 dead horses from the streets. It made cars smell of roses.

　　Cars were also wonderfully flexible. The main earlier solution to horse pollution and traffic jams was the electric trolley bus (电车). But that required fixed overhead wires, and rails and platforms, which were expensive, ugly, and inflexible. The car could go from any A to any B, and allowed towns to develop in all directions with low-density housing, rather than just being concentrated along the trolley or rail lines. Rural areas benefited too, for they became less remote.

　　However, since pollution became a concern in the 1950s, experts have predicted—wrongly—that the car boom was about to end. In his book Mr. Flink argued that by 1973 the American market had become saturated, at one car for every 2.25 people, and so had the markets of Japan and Western Europe (because of land shortages). Environmental worries and diminishing oil reserves would prohibit mass car use anywhere else.

　　He was wrong. Between 1970 and 1990, whereas America’s population grew by 23%, the number of cars on its roads grew by 60%. There is now one car for every 1.7 people there, one for every 2.1 in Japan, one for every 5.3 in Britain. Around 550 million cars are already on the roads, not to mention all the trucks and motorcycles, and about 50 million new ones are made each year worldwide. Will it go on? Undoubtedly, because people want it to.

　　1. As is given in the first paragraph, the reason why the car has become a problem is that　________.

　　A) poor people can’t afford it 　　　B) it is too expensive to maintain

　　C) too many people are using it 　　D) it causes too many road accidents

　　2. According to the passage, the car started to gain popularity because ________.

　　A) it didn’t break down as easily as a horse 　B) it had a comparatively pleasant odor

　　C) it caused less pollution than horses 　　　D) it brightened up the gloomy streets

　　3. What impact did the use of cars have on society?

　　A) People were compelled to leave downtown areas.

　　B) People were able to live in less crowded suburban areas.

　　C) Business along trolley and rail lines slackened.

　　D) City streets were free of ugly overhead wires.

　　4. Mr. Flink argued in his book that cars would not be widely used in other countries because _____.

　　A) the once booming car market has become saturated

　　B) traffic jams in those countries are getting more and more serious

　　C) expensive motorways are not available in less developed countries

　　D) people worry about pollution and the diminishing oil resources

　　5. What’s wrong with Mr. Flink’s prediction?

　　A) The use of automobiles has kept increasing worldwide.

　　B) New generations of cars are virtually pollution free.

　　C) The population of America has not increased as fast.

　　D) People’s environmental concerns are constantly increasing.

　　Passage 2

　　What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special-purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully automated vehicles would share the road with partially automated or manual driven cars. A special-purpose lane system would require more extensive physical modifications to existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in freeway capacity.

　　Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system way was in place, automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp(入口引道).

　　As the driver approached the point of entry for the highway, devices installed on the roadside would electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination and to ascertain that it had the proper automation equipment in good working order. Assuming it passed such tests, the driver would then be guided through a gate and toward an automated lane. In this case, the transition from manual to auto mated control would take place on the entrance ramp. An alternative technique could employ conventional lanes, which would be shared by automated and regular vehicles. The driver would steer onto the highway and move in normal fashion to a "transition" lane. The vehicle would then shift under computer control onto a lane reserved for automated traffic. (The limitation of these lanes to automated traffic would, presumably, be well respected, because all trespassers(非法进入者)could be swiftly identified by authorities.)

　　Either approach to joining a lane of automated traffic would harmonize the movement of newly entering vehicles with those already traveling. Automatic control here should allow for smooth merging without the usual uncertainties and potential for accidents. And once a vehicle had settled into automated travel, the driver would be free to release the wheel, open the morning paper or just relax.

　　1. We learn from the first paragraph that two systems of automated highways .

　　A) are being planned B) are being modified

　　C) are now in wide use D) are under construction

　　2. A special-purpose lane system is probably advantageous in that .

　　A) it would require only minor changes to existing highways

　　B) it would achieve the greatest highway traffic efficiency

　　C) it has a lane for both automated and partially automated vehicles

　　D) it offers more lanes for automated vehicles

　　3. Which of the following is true about driving on an automated highway?

　　A) Vehicles traveling on it are assigned different lanes according to their destinations.

　　B) A car can join existing traffic any time in a mixed lane system.

　　C) The driver should inform his car computer of his destination before driving onto it.

　　D) The driver should share the automated lane with those of regular vehicles.

　　4. We know from the passage that a car can enter a special-purpose lane .

　　A) by smoothly merging with cars on the conventional lane

　　B) by way of a ramp with electronic control devices

　　C)through a specially guarded gate

　　D)after all trespassers are identified and removed

　　5. When driving in an automated lane, the driver .

　　A) should harmonize with newly entering cars

　　B) doesn't have to rely on his computer system

　　C) should watch out for potential accidents

　　D) doesn't have to hold on to the steering wheel

　　Passage 3

　　Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U.S., about half the urban pollution and one-fourth the greenhouse (温室) gases. They take a similar loss (损耗) of 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 oil 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 (合伙用车) 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.