Question

【题目】When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be “last weekend”.Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the highlights of modem civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge enwronmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping-urban sprawl (扩大) .

Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Prior to 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn’ t produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.

Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to le usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal space. Well-meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.

Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems of unconditional grows. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.

【1】 What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A. Weekend Fun.

B. Urban Sprawl.

C. New Automobiles.

D. Isolated Villages.

【2】 What does the underlined word "They" refer to in the first paragraph?

A. Malls.

B. Activists.

C. Farmers.

D. Scientists.

【3】 Who do activists blame for environmental problems?

A. Endangered animals.

B. Shopping mall owners.

C. Unthinking shoppers.

D. Ambitious farmers.

【4】 What do scholars think should be done about urban sprawl?

A. Understand the situations better.

B. Follow customary policies.

C. Start school in shopping mails.

D. Charge polluters a lot of money.

【5】What is the scholars' attitude toward urban sprawl?

A. Respectful.

B. Disapproving.

C. Pessimistic.

D. Doubtful.

Answer 1

【答案】【1】B

【2】A

【3】C

【4】A

【5】B

【解析】【1】 主旨大意题。第一段中“They cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping-urban sprawl”第三段中“In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl……”以及第四段“Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems.”中都提到“urban sprawl”，故B项正确。

【2】 词义猜测题。根据第一段“For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the highlights of modem civilization?”可知A项正确。

【3】 推理判断题。根据第一段“They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge enwronmental disaster.”可知，环保活动家认为消费者盲目、不计后果的消费造成了这一后果，故C项正确。

【4】推理判断题。根据最后一段“Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment. ”可知，许多学者认为只有更好地分析问题让市民引起重视，才能够制定合适的政策以解决问题，故A项正确。

【5】 推理判断题。根据最后一段最后两句“Many scholars think …their priceless environment.”可知他们是不赞同城市扩张的。