Stinking buses jam the crowded street. Drivers shoot at one
another and honk their horns. Smog hurts the eyes and chokes the senses. The
scene is Athens at rush hour. The city is in a sorry state of affairs, built
without a plan, lacking even adequate sewerage facilities, its 135 square miles
packed with 3.7 million people. Even Athens ruins are in ruin; sulfur dioxide
eats away at the marble of the Parthenon and other treasures on the
Acropolis. So great has been the population flow toward the city
that neighboring villages stand vacant or nearly so. About 120,000 people from
distant provinces move to Athens every year. The migrants come for the few
available jobs, which are usually no better than the ones they ran away from, at
the current rate of migration, Athens by the year 2000 will have a
population of 6.5 million, more than half the nation. Aside from
overcrowding and poor public transport, the biggest problems facing Athenians
are noise and pollution. A government study concluded that Athens was the
noisiest city in the world. Smog is almost at killing levels; up to four times
the level that the World Health Organization considers safe. Nearly half the
pollution comes form cars. Despite high prices for vehicles and fuel, nearly
100,000 automobiles are sold in Greece each year; 3000 driver’s licenses are
issued in Athens monthly. After decades of neglect, Athens is at
last getting some attention. In March a government meeting was held to discuss a
plan to make the city livable and clean up its environment. A billion in public
spending for Athens alone. A master plan that will move many government offices
to the city’s suburbs is already in the works. Meanwhile, more Greeks keep
moving into Athens. With few parks and few oxygen-producing plants, the city and
its citizens are literally suffocating. A. noisiest B. mess
C. moved D. kept E. pour
F. limit G. dangerous The high level of smog has made it ______ for people to live in the city.