单选题 By 2010 the European Commission predicts 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 won't happen anytime soon.
Several private trucking companies have adapted quickly and creatively to the demands of European unification. Some of the bigger truckers trace cargoes with the Global Positioning System and sophisticated computers. And if trucks also bring more road hazards 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 18kin an hour.
The railways have had trouble outgrowing a heritage of national rivalries and open warfare 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 trains" that run so late that they combine with others and disappear from the railroad's records. In an era when many companies depend on a "just-in-time" inventories 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 service. "All the investments went to passenger traffic," says Denis Douté, 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 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.
单选题 From the second paragraph, we can infer that the major reason for the road hazards is that ______.
  • A. the Global Positioning System is not advanced enough
  • B. the volume of freight traffic on the roads is too heavy
  • C. the bigger truckers are not so flexible and efficient
  • D. the trucks and tunnels are too heavily loaded
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。第二段首先指出一些比较大的货运公司利用先进的技术来跟踪货物运输，所以货车交通事故并不是由于技术不先进造成的，这样我们就排除了选项A。最后两句将欧洲的货物运输手段与美国的相比，欧洲绝大部分货物都是通过公路运输，旨在说明货运交通流量的拥挤是造成交通事故的真正原因，所以本题的正确答案为B。
单选题 According to the author, the badly interconnected national system results from ______.
  • A. serious conflicts between countries
  • B. different language systems
  • C. the bad manners of crew at borders
  • D. the lack of safer rail lines
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。第三段第一句话指出，铁路很难逾越欧洲国家之间的抗争和公开竞争的传统。欧洲委员会的一份报告将它造成的后果称为“彼此之间联系非常糟糕的国家系统的拼图”。问题是将原因与结果调换了一下位置。反过来说，彼此之间联系非常糟糕的国家系统是由国家之间的严重冲突造成的，正确答案是A。其余三个选项都是对国家之间联系非常糟糕的阐述。
单选题 The word "phantom" (Line 2, Para. 4) probably means ______.
  • A. trouble
  • B. ghost
  • C. hero
  • D. turtle
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】词汇题。phantom的意思可以通过下文对phantom trains的解释以及这个词组的引号猜出来。下文讲到这种火车太晚点了，以至于与别的火车重组并从火车的记录中消失。引号可表示讽刺、强调、拟人、引用的含义。结合这两方面，我们通过比较四个选择项，不难猜出选项B最合适，phantom trains也就是“幽灵火车”的意思。
单选题 Denis Douté thinks that ______.
  • A. European governments have much difficulty in improving the railway system
  • B. freight trains in United States often travel on separate tracks
  • C. the French government puts too little emphasis on the freight traffic
  • D. the surplus passenger trains should be changed into freight trains
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。最后一段写道，丹尼斯·都德说，“所有的投资都转向客运交通。”换句话说，也就是他认为法国政府对货运交通不是特别重视，本题的正确答案为C。选项B是一个事实，而不是观点，题干问的是“丹尼斯·都德认为……”
单选题 The author's purpose of writing this passage is to ______.
  • A. stimulate the public and the environmental groups to concern about the freight traffic
  • B. alert the European Commission to the consequence of the blind expansion
  • C. elaborate the freight traffic problems and their causes in Europe
  • D. appeal to the governments to invest more money in freight traffic
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】作者意图题。作者意图一般都会在第一段或最后一段表现出来。本篇文章谈论的内容是选项C“欧洲货运交通的问题及原因”，作者的意图在最后一段第一句和倒数第二句清楚地表现出来，即呼吁政府对货运交通多投资，故正确答案是D。