Three-point-four billion riders on New York City subways and buses a year. This amazing number equals one-third of all mass transit trips in the United States. Ridership is at its highest in almost 60 years in almost every American city.
A commuter advocacy group, “Straphangers Campaign,” attributes it to younger Americans, said Gene Russianoff.
“Millenials（千禧一代）, those people born around the turn of the past century are much less car-oriented," he said. "They are urban. They like not owning cars, they like less responsibility and there are a lot of them."
In addition to millenials, many people believe public transit is economical and eco-friendly. In 2012 across America, people took 10.7 billion trips.
“When we talk about insurance rates going up, price of automobiles going up, then people are waking up and realizing: wait, here’s this huge asset(优点)that has been underutilized," said Richard Rudolph, chairman of the Rail Users Network. "Why not take advantage of this particular opportunity. It certainly makes more sense to get people out of automobiles into subways and into commuter and passenger railroads.”
New York is not standing still -- as passenger demand requires several major expansion projects. A new $4.5 billion subway line on New York’s Second Avenue -- which was recently excavated underneath businesses and apartment houses -- will take an overload of passengers off of other subway lines. Its first phase completion is scheduled in 2016.
People who work in New York’s financial district will soon be using a new transit subway transfer center. Almost all lines converge in lower Manhattan and the new center will give riders an easier way to get around the city and into New Jersey.
And, probably the most controversial and costly project is a $7 billion tunnel connection from Long Island into Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal. Trains from there will have access to New York’s midtown business district.
Andrew Albert, a board member of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, said there were many other reasons the public was riding in increasing numbers.
“The system has gotten a lot more dependable. We have new cars. We have countdown clocks to tell you when the next train is coming. We have expanded facilities in places," he said.
New York’s 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, transit system costs a $1.5 billion a year to maintain. It is one of the world’s oldest, with its first subway line having opened in 1904. Who is more likely to use public transmit?
A.People living in suburb B.American young people
B.People living in the countryside D.American old people.What does the underlined word in the 5th paragragh “underutilized” mean?
| A．Not be put forward | B．not be noticed |
| C．not be made full use of | D．not be thought of |
What does the underlined sentence in the 6th paragragh “New York is not standing still” mean?
| A．New York is taking action to expand public transmit. |
| B．New York will encourage more people to use public transmit. |
| C．New York will make public transmit faster. |
| D．New York is waking up and realizing the importance of public transmit. |
Which is Not the reason why the public is riding subways and buses in increasing numbers.
| A．Public transport facilities are better than before. |
| B．Many people believe public transit is economical and eco-friendly. |
| C．The system has gotten a lot more dependable. |
| D．It is more convenient to ride city subways and buses. |
The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel.The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sports car.Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras.The bride wore a silk wedding dress.She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time.Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station's competition.The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other.Miss Germaine,23,is a model.Mr Cordell,27,is a TV salesman.They were among the two hundred people who entered for a peculiar “experiment”organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham,England.Greg and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on radio.They took a lie detector(测谎仪) test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities.The competition judges included an astrologer (占星家)who eclared that they were suited.
The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening,but not everyone shared their joy.Miss Germaine's mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr Cordell's parents are reported to be less than delighted.
Organizations,including the marriage guidance service Relate,have criticized the marriage.As one person put it,“We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this.Marriage should always be about love.”
The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists.Their other prizes include a year's free use of a wonderful apartment in the centre of Birmingham,and a car.But will it last?
1.How did the couple's parents react to the wedding?
A.The bride's mother shared their joy.
B.The bride's father felt uncomfortable about the wedding.
C.The bridegroom's parents were quite delighted.
D.The bridegroom's parents were not that joyful.
2.Some experts believe that _______ .
A.marriage without the couple's meeting each other first ends up in divorce
B.young people nowadays are too careless about marriage
C.taking a lie detector test can not solve all the marriage problems
D.most young people take marriage seriously except this couple
3.One of the prizes for the couple is _______ .
A.to spend their honeymoon wherever they like
B.to use an apartment free for some time
C.to have a wedding dress free
D.to own an American sports car
4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A.Two Strangers and a Wedding
B.A Wedding Based on Love
C.A ShortLived Marriage
D.A WellMatched Couple
At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents (文件) because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internetconnected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime.
“I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organisation.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the hightech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week HewlettPackard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a oneline email, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.
Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away.“ I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling(回收利用)，" said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that hightech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.
1.The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to _______.
A.the rapid development of small businesses
B.the opening up of new markets
C.the printing of high quality copies
D.the increased use of the Internet
2.Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is ________.
A.to encourage printing more quality documents
B.to develop new printers using recycled paper
C.to find new materials for making paper
D.to plant more fastgrowing trees
3.HewlettPackard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because ________ .
A.people are concerned about the environment
B.printers in many offices are working overtime
C.small companies need more hard copies
D.they see a growing market for printers
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.Computers and Printers
B.E-mail and the Business World
C.Internet Revolution and Environment
D.Modern Technology and New Markets
A newspaper in Helsinki,Finland,recently published a cartoon of a baby with a mobile phone,telling his parents that his diaper(尿布) needed changing.But it's hardly a joke.Helsinki is home to Nokia,the mobilephone maker.It's one of the most “mobile”cities in the world.About 92 percent of its households have at least one mobile phone.And the kids start young.
“A relatively normal age to get a mobile phone is now 7,”says Jan Virkki,marketing manager for a mobile phone company.Among the second graders at the Kulosaari Elementary School,the most popular object of desire this year is not a Barbie or a Gameboy.It is a Nokia mobile phone with a picture of their own choice on the screen.
“One of the first things we discuss when school starts is the rules for mobile phones,”says Tiia Korppi,a teacher.Among the rules:You have to put it away out of sight.You cannot turn it on.You cannot send text messages to your friends,or play amusing tunes(令人发笑的曲调)in class,or call your parents or call for a pizza during history.
1.The author uses the newspaper cartoon to show that ________ .
A.he is good at telling jokes
B.he cares much for children
C.mobile phones are toys for newborn babies
D.mobile phones are widely used in Finland
2.The passage is mainly about__________
A.different uses of mobile phones
B.a successful mobilephone maker
C.effect of mobile phones on children
D.school rules for the use of mobile phones
Tristan da Cunha, a 38squaremile island, is the farthest inhabited island in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. It is 1,510 miles southwest
of its nearest neighbor, St.Helena, and 1,950 miles west of Africa. Discovered
by the Portuguese admiral（葡萄牙海军上将）of the same name in 1506, and settled
in 1810, the island belongs to Great Britain and has a population of a few hund
red.
Coming in a close second—and often wrongly mentioned as the most distant land—is Easter Island, which lies 1,260 miles east of its nearest neighbor, Pitcair
n Island, and 2,300 miles west of South America.
The mountainous 64-square-mile island was settled around the 5th century, supposedly by people who were lost at sea. They had no connection with the outside world for more than a thousand years, giving them plenty of time to build more than 1,000 huge stone figures, called moai, for which the island is most famous.
On Easter Sunday, 1722, however, settlers from Holland moved in and gave the island its name. Today, 2,000 people live on the Chilean territory (智利领土).They share one street, a small airport, and a few hours of television per day.
1.It can be learned from the text that the island of Tristan da Cunha_______.
A.was named after its discoverer
B.got its name from Holland settlers
C.was named by the British government
D.got its name from the Guinness Book of Records
2.Which of the following is most famous for moai?
A. Tristan da Cunha. B. Pitcairn Island. C. Easter Island. D. St. Helena.
3. Which country does Easter Island belong to?
A. Britain. B. Holland. C. Portugal. D. Chile.
There are three separate sources of danger in supplying energy by nuclear power(原子能).
First, the radioactive material must travel from its place of production to the power station. Although the power stations themselves are strongly built, the containers used for the transport of the materials are not. Normally, only two methods of transport are in use, namely road or rail. Unfortunately, both of these may have an effect on the general public, since they are sure to pass near, or even through, heavily populated areas.
Second, there is the problem of waste. All nuclear power stations produce wastes that in most cases will remain radioactive for thousands of years. It is impossible to make these wastes nonradioactive, and so they must be stored in one of the inconvenient ways that scientists have invented. For example, they may be buried under the ground, or dropped into deserted mines, or sunk in the sea. However, these methods do not solve the problem, since an earthquake could easily break the containers.
Third, there may occur the danger of a leak(泄漏) or an explosion at the power station. As with the other two dangers, this is not very likely, so it does not provide a serious objection to the nuclear program. However, it can happen.Separately, these three types of dangers are not a great cause for worry. Taken together, though, the probability of disaster(灾难) is extremely high.
1.Which of the following is FALSE?
A.It is possible that a leak or an explosion occurs at a power station.
B.It is unusual for radioactive materials to be transported across land.
C.The containers are likely to be broken by an earthquake.
D.Nuclear wastes remain dangerous in most cases for many years.
2.The author thinks that the ways to store nuclear wastes are ________.
A.easy B.impossible C.reasonable D.ineffective
3.What do we learn from the last paragraph?
A.The power station is a safe place.
B.The dangers of nuclear energy can be prevented.
C.The general public are strongly against the nuclear program.
By itself, none of the three dangers is very likely to cause much worry.
4.What is this passage about?
A.Uses of nuclear power. B.Dangers from nuclear power.
C.Public anger at nuclear power. D.Accidents caused by nuclear power.