第3部分:概括大意與完成句子(第23~30題,每題1分,共8分)
下面的短文后有2項測試任務:(1)第23~26題要求從所給的6個選項中為指定段落每段選擇1個小標題;(2)第27~30題要求從所給的6個選項中為每個句子確定一個最佳選項。
Pedestrians Only
1 The concept of traffic-free shopping areas goes back a long time. During the Middle Ages, traffic-free shopping areas were built in Middle Eastern countries to allow people to shop in comfort and, more importantly, safely. As far back as 2,000 years ago, road traffic was banned from central Rome during the day to allow for the free movement of the pedestrians(行人), and was only allowed in at night when shops and markets had closed for the day. In most other cities, however, pedestrians were forced to share the streets with horses, coaches and, later, with cars and other motorized vehicles.
2 The modern, traffic-free shopping street was born in Europe in the 1960s, when both city populations and car ownership increased rapidly. Dirty gases from cars and the risks involved in crossing the road were beginning to make shopping an unpleasant and dangerous experience. Many believed the time was right for experimenting with car-free streets, and shopping areas seemed the best place to start.
3 At first, there was resistance from shopkeepers. They believed that such a move would be bad for business. They argued that people would avoided streets if they were unable to get to them in their cars. When the first streets in Europe were closed to traffic, there were even noisy demonstrations, as many shopkeepers predicted they would lose customers.
4 However, research carried out afterwards in several European cities revealed some unexpected statistics. In Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, visitors to shopping areas increased by 50 percent. On Copenhagen’s main shopping street, shopkeepers reported sales increases of 25-40 percent. Shopkeepers in Minneapolis, the USA, were so impressed when they learnt this that they even offered to pay for the construction and maintenance costs of their own traffic-free streets.
5 With the arrival of the traffic-free shopping street, many shops, especially those selling things like clothes, food and smaller luxury items, prospered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good news for everyone, as shops selling furniture and larger electrical appliances(電器)actually saw their sales drop. Many of these were forced to move elsewhere, away from the city centre.
23. Paragraph 1___B___
24. Paragraph 2___A___
25. Paragraph 3___D___
26. Paragraph 4___E___
A. A need for change
B. An idea from ancient history
C. Popularity of online shopping
D. Facing protest from shop owners
E. Increase in sales and customers
F. An experiment that went wrong
27. Traffic-free shopping streets first developed in__E____
28. In the 1960s, dirty gases from cars made shopping___D___
29. Shopkeepers mistakenly believed that car-free streets would keep away__D____
30. The arrival of the traffic-free shopping street made many ___F___ lose their business.
A. pedestrians
B. North America
C. customers
D. a bad experience
E. Middle Eastern countries
F. furniture sellers
(責任編輯:vstara)