66．What can we
infer from the last paragraph?
A．The novel was splendid before the
appearance of the new commercial classes.
B．Literature and film could change
the world.
C．Literature and film do good to the
world or damage to capitalist societies.
D．The modern world is connected with
consumer.
E
By 2012 transcontinental freight traffic will have risen 50 percent
as a result of European expansion, and much of that will have to cross the
enormous obstacle of the Alps. Right now the only practical way for most heavy
traffic to get through is by truck and tunnel. And while that could change if
safer and cleaner rail lines were opened, the chances are that they won’t
happen anytime soon.
Several private trucking companies have adapted quickly and
creatively to the demands of European unification(一体化). Some of the bigger truckers trace cargoes with the computers. And
if trucks also bring more road danger and pollution, at present there is no
alternative. Right now only 8 percent of European merchandise moves by rail,
compared with more than 40 percent in the United States. Delays are so common
that the average speed for freight is about 18 km an hour.
The railways have had trouble passing a heritage of national
resistance and open competition between Europe’s countries. The result is what another
European Commission report calls “a mosaic of badly interconnected national
systems”. Language barriers remain a problem, requiring crew changes at some
borders. Switching systems and signals differ.
And efficiency is more of a dream than a goal. Europe’s railroads
still have to deal with “phantom(幽灵)trains” that run so late that they combine with others and disappear
form the railroad’s records. In an era when many companies depend on a “just-in
time” inventories(盘点)to make a
profit, railroads are rarely on time at all.
Yet there is little official enthusiasm for changing the system, the
reality is that governments have helped create the imbalance between road and
rail in Europe-and government action will likely be needed to fix it. The
French emphasis on using rail to move people instead of goods, for instance,
has helped cripple freight(贷运)service. “All the investments went to passenger traffic”, says Denis
Doute, director of freight services for the French rail company SNCF. Freight
trains have had to find “windows” to run in between passenger trains, unlike
those in the United States, which often travel on separate tracks. The further
development of the freight network requires massive investments to modernize
existing infrastructure (基础设施)and open new ones. However, the political will to fund that kind of
investment is lacking, which means the citizens will have to hold their
noses for a while longer.
