单选题 Cars account for half the oil consumed in the US, about half the urban pollution and one-fourth the greenhouse gases. They take a similar oil of resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the US and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health-related and political costs. It is unlikely that oil prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing US contribution to global climatic change.
Policymakers and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, switch to less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of these -- in particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity -- is ultimately the only sustainable option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are either impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the US, mass transit ridership and carpooling have declined since World War Ⅱ. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than $1 a liter (about $ 4 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travel.
Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made any progress in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal reductions in pollution and greenhouse emissions (especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline).

单选题 From the passage we know that the increased use of cars will ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】分析推理题。文章第一段分析了汽车给全世界带来的不利影响，其中第三句指出；As vehicle use continues…and political costs，其中的these issues指的就是第一句中所说的燃油、城市污染和温室气体等问题，因此综合起来就是[B] 的意思。
单选题 The US has to deal with the problems arising from vehicle use because ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。答案对应于第一段最后一句：It is unlikely…that other nations will accept a large and growing US contribution to global climatic change，即别的国家不会同意让美国对全球气候变化的影响越来越大，与[C] 一致。
单选题 Which of te following is the best solution to the problems mentioned in the passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。第二段首先提出了几种解决汽车带来的问题的选择，然后在第二句说；The last of these．．．is ultimately the only sustainable option(最后一种——尤其是引入电动汽车——才是最终惟一可持续的选择)，因此本题选[C] 。
单选题 Which of the following is practical but only makes a marginal contribution to solving the problem of greenhouse emissions?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】分析推理题。第二段第三句首先指出，除了找到污染较少的驱动系统(如电动汽车)外，其他选择在理论上很诱人，而在实际应用中要么不实用，要么改善不了多少。而在最后一段继续举例对此进行说明，第二句提到替代燃料如用天然气成本较低(说明可行)但减少不了多少污染和温室气体排放。选[A] 。
单选题 Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。文章只在第二段最后一句提到了西欧，是以它为例，说明减少汽车使用量不可行的原因，故[C] 明显不对；它谈论的是油价，没有涉及到新型燃料，因此[D] 不对；[A] 的意思与这一句中的with easily accessible mass transit正好相反，也是错误的；只有[B] 与这一句的意思相同。