Passage 8

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.

参考译文

就机器而言，汽车并非十分喧闹，污染也不严重，危险性也不大；随着时代的不断发展，所有这些方面将会变得越来越好。但主要问题是汽车的广泛流行，以及人人都使用汽车而带来的社会代价。但假设只是有钱人使用它，那么所造成的危害是相当小的。这就是为平等付出的代价。

在我们把话题变得消沉之前，还是值得回忆一下为什么汽车大概已经成为过去100年里最成功和最流行的产品，而且现在仍然是。这要从20世纪改善环境说起。根据历史学家J.Flink在1975年出版的《汽车文化报道》一书，1900年在纽约，马每天要在公路上留下25万磅的马粪和6万加仑的马尿。每年，城市相关机构不得不从街道上清除平均15万匹死马，这使得汽车的气味闻起来简直就像玫瑰般芳香。

汽车也是非常灵活的。早期解决马匹污染和交通堵塞的方式就是电车，但那要求固定的空中电缆、轨道和站台，这使得电车不仅昂贵、难看，也不灵活。小汽车则可以从任意A点到任意B点，允许城镇可以向任何方向发展，成为低密度居住区，而不是仅仅集中在电车和轨道附近。同时边远地区也受益匪浅，因为它们似乎不那么遥远了。

然而，自从交通污染在20世纪50年代成为焦点之后，专家们曾经错误地预测汽车的繁荣很快就要结束。Flink在他的书中曾说：到1973年为止，美国汽车市场已经饱和，平均每225个美国人就有一辆车，在日本和西欧由于土地有限，所以汽车市场已趋于饱和。对于环境的担忧和正在减少的石油存储量将会限制大规模地使用汽车。

他错了。1970～1990年，美国人口增加了23%，公路上的汽车增长了60%。现在每17人就有1辆汽车，在日本每2.1人有1辆汽车，英国每5.3人有1辆汽车。现在大约有55亿辆汽车行驶在公路上，还没算上所有的卡车和摩托车，每年大约要制造5000万辆新车。这种情况还会继续吗？毋庸置疑，因为人们希望如此。

解题之路

1.选B。第一段的第二句话：汽车的主要问题是普及以及随之而来的社会的费用。故选B，养车很花钱。

2.选C。推理题。第二段：纽约能生产发出玫瑰气味的轿车，人们不用闻马排出的屎尿的恶臭。

3.选B。推理题。第三段：汽车可以从A地到B地，使得城镇朝各个方向发展，减少人口的稠密度。low-density housing低稠密居住条件。

4.选D。细节题。第四段的最后一句：环境问题和减少的石油储藏会阻碍世界上任何其他地方汽车的普及。

5.选A。推理题。第五段：用具体的数字说明Mr.Flink的预测错误。

词汇精解

noisy adj.嘈杂的，聒噪的，喧闹的

polluting adj.有污染的

dimension n.尺度，维度，角度

prevalence n.盛行，流行

fairly adv.公正地，相当地，非常

harmless adj.无害的

ensue vi.接着出现

say adv.例如

gloomy adj.黑暗的，阴沉的，暗淡的，消沉的

recall vt.回想，记起，回忆

arguably adv.可论证地，可能，大概

remain vi.保持，残存，依然，依旧

direction n.指示，趋势，说明，方向

housing n.住宅，住宅群

concentrated adj.浓缩的，集中的

trolley n.电车

remote adj.偏僻的，细微的，遥远的

predict vt.预言，预报，预测

boom n.隆隆声，繁荣

diminish v.变小，减少

reserve n.储备（物），储备量

prohibit vt.阻止，禁止

argue v.争论，辩论，认为

saturate v.浸透，饱和

flexible adj.柔软的，可变形的，灵活的

platform n.月台，讲台，平台

inflexible adj.不屈的，顽固的，不灵活的

shortage n.不足，缺乏

worldwide adv.世界范围内

undoubtedly adv.不可怀疑地，毫无疑问地

难句解析

1.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.

【参考译文】但主要问题是汽车的广泛流行，以及人人都使用汽车而带来的社会代价。但假设只是有钱人使用它，那么所造成的危害是相当小的。

【结构分析】这是一个主从复合句，可以切分为：（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//）。第一部分是主干，即主系表结构；第二部分是that引导的the social costs的定语从句，其中的of something是the use的后定语，本应直接置于the use之后，但因后面还有对something的修饰内容，所以只能将something置于最后；第三部分是that引导的something的定语从句，其中出现了if引导的条件状语从句，it指代something，say是副词，表举例说明，相当于for example。

【知识链接】ensue from来自于……；the rich富人

2.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.

【参考译文】在我们把话题变得消沉之前，还是值得回忆一下为什么汽车已经成为过去100年里最成功和最流行的产品，而且现在仍然是。

【结构分析】这是一个主从复合句，可以切分为：（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//）。第一部分是Before引导的时间状语；第二部分是主句，即形式主语句，it指代后面why引导的从句，该从句由两部分组成，即why the car has been…and remains so，so指代前面的一句话：the car…past 100 years。

【知识链接】be worth doing值得做……

3.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.

【参考译文】小汽车则可以从任意A点到任意B点，允许城镇可以向任何方向发展，成为低密度居住区，而不是仅仅集中在电车和轨道附近。

【结构分析】这个句子的主干是：The car could go…and allowed…to develop，from any A to any B是范围状语；in all directions是方式状语，with low-density housing…the trolley or rail lines是结果状语。

【知识链接】in all directions各个方向；low-density低密度的；rather than而不是；rail line铁路线

4.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）.

【参考译文】Flink在他的书中曾说：到1973年为止，美国汽车市场已经饱和，平均每225个美国人就有一辆车，在日本和西欧由于土地有限，所以汽车市场已趋于饱和。

【结构分析】这个句子的主干是Mr.Flink argued that…，that引导的宾语从句的主干是：the American market had become saturated…and so had the markets…Europe，and之后的句子运用了倒装结构，正常语序是：the markets…Europe had so，at…2.25 people是结果状语。

【知识链接】because of由于；land shortage土地有限