单选题 Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
Until last spring, Nia Parker and the other kids in her neighborhood commuted to school on Bus 59.But as fuel rose, the school district needed to find a way to cut its transportation costs. So the school"sbusing company redrew its route map, eliminating Nia"s bus altogether. Now, Nia and her neighbors travelthe half mile to school via a "walking school bus" —a group of kids, supervised by an adult or two, whomake the walk together.
Like the rest of us, school districts are feeling pinched by rising fuel costs—and finding new waysto adapt. The price of diesel fuel has gone up 34 percent in the past two years. For the typical Americanschool district, bus bills total 5 percent of the budget. As administrators look to trim, busing is aninviting target, since it doesn"t affect classroom instruction (or test scores). More than one third of schooladministrators have eliminated bus stops or routes in order to stay within budget.
Many parents are delighted to see their kids walking to school, partly because many did sothemselves: according to a 1969 survey, nearly half of school kids walked or biked to school, comparedwith only 16 percent in 2001. Modem parents have been leery of(对……存有戒心) letting kids walk toschool for fear of traffic, crime or simple bullying, but with organized adult supervision, those concernshave diminished.
Schools and busing companies are finding other ways to save. In rural areas where busing is a must,some schools have even chosen four-day school weeks. Busing companies instruct drivers to eliminateextra stops from routes and to turn off the engine while idling. They are also using computer software todetermine the most fuel-efficient routes, which aren"t always the shortest ones.
There could be downsides, however, to the busing cutbacks. If every formerly bused student beginswalking to school, it"s an environmental win—but if too many of their parents decide to drive theminstead, the overall carbon footprint can grow. Replacing buses with many more parent-driven cars canalso increase safety risks: A 2002 report concluded students are 13 times safer on a school bus than in apassenger car, since buses have fewer accidents and withstand them better due to their size. And somestudents complain about the long morning hikes, particularly when the route contains a really big hill.

单选题 What do we learn about the "walking school bus" from the passage?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的walking school bus将本题出处定位到首段末句。该句提到Nia和她的邻居通过“walking school bus”上学，破折号后面对“walking school bus”进行了解释：一群孩子在一位或两位成人的监护下一块步行上学。既然是步行上学，不乘坐任何交通工具，那肯定不会消耗任何燃料，故答案为[B]。步行上学不会造成交通拥堵，故排除[A]“给交通造成很大压力”。[C]与末段末句矛盾，故排除。学生步行上学是因为学校取消了校车，并不是为了使孩子保持强壮和健康，故排除[D]。
特殊标点符号处设题。本题很容易定位，解题关键是由make the walk推断出doesnot consulrle fuel。

单选题 As regards walking to school, modem parents seem much concerned about______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的modern parents和conGerned将本题出处定位到第3段末句。该句提到，出于对交通、犯罪或者仅仅是欺凌的担忧，现代的家长对让孩子步行上学存有戒心。由此可知，对于让孩子步行上学，现代家长担忧的是孩子在路上遇到诸如交通、犯罪或者欺凌等安全问题，故答案为[C]。[A]是针对首段第3句设的干扰项。[D]是针对末句设的干扰项，故排除。
[设题分析] 原因处设题。题干用concemed about替换了for fearof，选项用safety on the way概括总结了家长担忧的具体问题：traffic，crime or simplebullying。

单选题 What do some schools do in order to save on transportation costs?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的some schools和save将本题出处定位到第4段前两句。该段首句提到，学校和校车公司正在寻找其他的方法来节约运费，第2句举例说明：在必须使用校车的乡村地区，一些学校甚至选择使用为期四天的教学周，[A]“他们选择缩短教学周”正是对这一做法的同义转述，故答案为[A]。[B]在文中未提及，故排除。文中提到eliminate extra stops fromroutes而非eliminate routes，且末句提到选择的最省油的路线不总是最短的路线，由此可排除[C]。文中提到选择the most fuel-efficient routes而非buseswhich are more fuel-efficient，故排除[D]。
[设题分析] 举例处设题。本题需要理解第4段第2句和首句之间的解释说明关系，明确首句中的to save即为in order to saveon transportion costs的含义。

单选题 What may eventually happen with the busing cutbacks?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的busing cutbacks将本题出处定位到第5段前两句。该段首句提到，但是，校车的削减可能会有不良后果。第2句进行了具体说明：……但是，与之相反，如果太多的父母决定开车送他们的孩子上学，碳足迹的总量就会上升，[D]中提到的an increase in carbon dioxide emissions(二氧化碳排放量的增加)正是对该句提到的the overall carbon footprint can grow的同义转述，故答案为[D]。文中提到busing cutbacks的后果之一是以前乘坐巴土的学生开始walking to school，并非选择乘坐public transportation，所以不能说明更多学生选择公共交通工具，故排除[A]。文中提到用更多家长驾驶轿车来取代巴士会增加安全风险，是因为乘坐轿车没有乘坐巴士安全，并不是因为校车(即巴土)的安全性能大大降低了，故排除[B]。[C]在文中未提及，故排除。
[设题分析] 转折处/条件状语从句处/特殊标点符号处设题。文中用两个条件状语从句表明busing cutbacks可能导致的正反两个后果，本题考察but转折后强调的不良后果。

单选题 The author"s attitude towards busing cutbacks is______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本文中作者由一个例子引出学校消减校车致使学生步行上学，随后说明原因，接着讲述家长的态度和可能的不良后果，由此可知，作者只是在进行客观的描述，并没有表明自己支持或者反对，故答案为[C]obiective(客观的)。如果作者持critical(批判的)的态度，作者就不可能在文中提到家长对校车消减后孩子在大人监督下步行上学表示赞成这一正面信息，如果作者持favorable(赞成的、支持的)态度，作者就不可能在末段提及校车减少可能造成的不良影响，故排除[A]和[B]。如果作者对学校减少校车这一现象indifferent，(漠不关心的)，那么作者就不会写这篇文章了，故排除[D]。
[设题分析] 观点处设题。本题需要在把握全文内容的基础上进行推理判断。解题的关键是注意作者在文中既提到与之有关的正面信息，也提到负面信息，从而得出作者的态度。