Section C This section consists of one passage
followed by five questions. Read the passage carefully, and then answer each of
the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the
answer sheet. Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following
passage. As the world’s urban population gets bigger,
cities are struggling to provide the basic services that their residents need.
One of the most pressing problems is public transport. Now let’s look at the
crisis facing the city of London. In no time in history has
there been such a mass migration of people from countryside to city as is
happening now. By the year 2030, it’s estimated that more than two thirds of the
world’s population will be living in cities, twice as many as today. This means
that the problems faced by cities today--overcrowding, poor housing,
unemployment, poverty, and lack of food and water will be twice as bad in the
this century, unless we find solutions soon. Another crucial
issue facing cities today is how to provide good transport links to service the
commercial, cultural and leisure needs of their inhabitants. Today, many of the
world’s major cities are already struggling to cope with out-of-date transport
infrastructures. How they will cope with the additional demands placed on them
has not yet been addressed. London is a good example of the
problems facing many major urban centres. It was the world’s first megacity and
the first with a population of a million people. Its expansion was made possible
by the invention of the steam engine, which, among other things, powered the
world’s first underground railway. Today, London has one of the
world’s most extensive transport systems. But, because it was the first city to
build a railway network, much of the infrastructure--the trains and buses, the
tracks and tunnels--is now hopelessly out-of-date, and needs urgent
modernization. London’s future success depends very much on
transport. The city lies at the heart of Britain’s road and rail networks and
problems in London can rapidly affect other areas of the country. On an average
morning, over ground trains bring passengers to stations on the outskirts of the
city, and they then continue their journeys by underground, bus or
taxi. Over a million people travel into central London every
clay from outside the city. They, and the people who live in London, want a
public transport system that is frequent, safe, reliable, affordable and
environmentally friendly. What they often get, however, falls far short of that
ideal. Commuters complain about delays, unreliability, cost and
pollution, while businesses worry about the problems their staff have getting to
work on time. Companies also face high costs for delivering goods and services
in a city where congestion means that cars today travel at the same speed as
horse-drawn carriages did in the last century. Yet car ownership
continues to grow. The proportion of London households that own a car grew from
just over 10 per cent in the early 1950s to over 60 per cent today. 20 per cent
of house-holds now own two or more cars. As the city has become
increasingly congested and polluted, there has been a growing realization that
action is needed. However, precisely what should be clone is hotly debated. Some
people have called for cleaner fuels and strict controls on exhaust emissions.
Others say more effort must be put into persuading people not to use their cars,
perhaps by charging people to drive into London. There does seem to be agreement
on one thing, though--that until London’s public transport system is improved,
people will continue to use their cars. This raises the all
important questions of where the money is going to come from. Until about 10
years ago, most public transport in Britain was owned and paid for by the
government. But in the last decade, most train and bus networks have been
privatized. The government says that the private sector should
take most, but not all, of the responsibility for public transport. In London,
the underground railway system known as the "Tube" is likely to be where this
policy is first put into practice. The government admits that it cannot afford
to modernize the Tube system alone. Instead, it wants to form a partnership with
private companies, so that they provide some of the money. Questions :
What are big cities trying to offer as the world’s
population increases
【参考答案】
The basic services文中第一段开头,As the world’s urban population ge......