题目内容

With a growing number of people in San Francisco choosing not to own a car, German carmaking company BMW has decided to branch out into car-sharing services with 70 cars spread around the city, first in 14 locations, with a further 100 being added gradually.

“This is not an A-to-A service — it is A-to-B,” says Richard Steinberg, chief executive of the DriveNow scheme (方案), pointing out that members can pick up a car downtown for the half-hour drive to the airport for only $12, compared with about $40-50 for a taxi.

Whether that is possible in real life depends on traffic, of course. A midmorning drive from Union Square down Highway 101 to the airport takes just 22 minutes; however, driving back during the rush hour takes twice as long.

Most of the cars that are stuck in San Francisco's traffic jams (交通阻塞) are giving off all sorts of harmful gas. But not DriveNow's BMW ActiveE cars.

“All the cars in San Francisco are electric,” Mr Steinberg says.

In San Francisco, handing back the car to DriveNow is easy — just pick one of its drop-off points, park and walk away. There are no forms to fill in, no time-consuming (耗时的) rules.

Several other carmakers and other players within the motor industry are experimenting with similar schemes, for example Daimler's Car2go scheme, which is operated in many cities around the world.

“We picture a future where car-sharing members outnumber car owners in big cities around the world,” says Car2go spokesman Andreas Leo.

Franck Leveque, from company Frost & Sullivan, agrees.

“Car sharing is growing at a pace we have not seen before,” he says. “By 2020 we believe there will be 15 million members of car-sharing schemes in Europe alone, with 140,000 vehicles in operation.”

1.What does the underlined part “branch out into” probably mean?

A. Start offering. B. Stop improving.

C. Make use of. D. Take control of.

2.The DriveNow scheme _____.

A. works better in rush-hour traffic

B. makes city driving less dangerous

C. encourages people to buy a cheap car

D. allows drivers to pay money to use a car

3.What's special about BMW ActiveE cars?

A. They drive much faster than other cars.

B. They never get stuck in heavy traffic.

C. They don't harm the environment.

D. They need less gas to run.

4.What does Franck think of the future of car sharing?

A. Worrying. B. Hopeful.

C. Uncertain. D. Disappointing.

练习册系列答案
相关题目

Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.

I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.

Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.

After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.

Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.

1.What do we know about the author?

A. His university education focused on the theoretical knowledge.

B. His dream at university was to become a volunteer.

C. He took pride in having contributed to the world.

D. He felt honored to study English literature.

2.According to the Project Lighthouse, it is likely that the author______________

A. discussed his decision with his family.

B. asked previous volunteers about voluntary work

C. attended special training to perform difficult tasks

D. felt sad about having to leave his family and friends

3.In his application for the volunteer job, the author _______________

A. Participated in many discussions

B. Went through challenging survival tests

C. Wrote quite a few paper on voluntary work

D. Faced strong competition from other candidates

4.On arrival at the village, the author was ___________

A. asked to lead a farming team

B. sent to teach in schoolhouse

C. received warmly by local villagers

D. arranged to live in a separate house.

5.What can we infer from the author’s experiences in Nigeria?

A. He found some difficulty adapting to the local culture

B. He had learned to communicate in the local language.

C. He had overcome all his weakness before he left for home.

D. He was chosen as the most respectable teacher by his students.

The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their problems, but only until 6 p.m. Then he has to do his homework. Michael Sessions, 18, beat former mayor Douglas Ingles, 51, by just two votes and became the new mayor of Hillsdale. He is America's youngest mayor.

As Sessions was too young to enter the election in the spring of 2005, he registered to vote on Sept, 22, one day after his 18-year-old birthday. The day after that he started his write-in campaign, which means he should persuade voters to remember his name and write it by hand on the voting ballots(选票).

To help get his name known, Sessions earned$700 by selling apples over the summer. He spent the money on posters and put them on the Hillsdale's lawns.

Sessions' month-long campaign included going door to door, explaining his ideas of the town's future in the kitchens of his neighbors. "They'd look at me, and say‘How old are you again? How much experience do you have?' And I say ‘I'm still in high school', " he said. Sessions promised Hillsdale's voters he would renew local economy. “I was hopeful the whole time, ” he explained. One day he spent so long out on the streets knocking on the doors that he ended up in a hospital emergency room.

Sessions said that his schoolwork will not get in the way of his job as a mayor. “From 7:50 a.m. to 2:30p.m., I'11 be a student. From 3 to 6, I'11 be the mayor of Hillsdale," he said.

“He did a very brave thing that couldn't have been easy for him to do, "said Jack Vettel, a councilman in Hillsdale, a city of 8,200 about 75 miles southwest of Detroit. "He does care about this town. He's been here all his life.”

Sessions will receive$3, 600 a year during this four-year term, and will work out of his bedroom since the town does not provide the mayor with an office.

1.What is TRUE of Sessions' election campaign according to the text?

A. Sessions launched his election campaign on Sept, 22.

B. Sessions worked so hard that he once tried to persuade people in a hospital.

C. Sessions won the election campaign by a very close outcome (结果).

D. Sessions felt disappointed when asked about his age and experience.

2.In order to gain more support from the voters Sessions had to do all these things EXCEPT________.

A. put up posters B. renew the economy

C. sell apples D. talk to neighbors in kitchens

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. American mayors usually work from 3 p. m. to 6 p. m.

B. In America, young people are encouraged to get involved in politics.

C. All teenagers are allowed to enter political elections.

D. American mayors receive a salary of 3, 600 a year during their 4-year term.

4.Which of the following would best summarize the text?

A. Schoolboy becomes American's youngest mayor.

B. How to become a teenage mayor.

C. Hard work is the ticket to success.

D. Never too young to shake the world.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网