单选题 Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U.S., about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse (温室) gases. They take a similar toll of (损耗) resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U.S. 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 U.S. contribution to global climatic change.
Policymakers and industry have four solutions: 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 U.S., mass-transit ridership and carpooling (合伙用车) 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】[解析] 细节题。利用定位关键词可以定位到第一段“As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U.S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health-related and political costs”，即“因为在未来十年中车辆的使用会继续增加，美国和其他国家将不得不应付这个问题，否则将面临无法接受的经济、健康以及政治代价”，原文中的“vehicle use continues to increase”与题干中的“increased use of cars”为同义改写，由此可知选项B(对所有国家的幸福都会带来严重后果)为正确答案，选项A(消耗世界生产的一半的石油)、C(加剧了发达国家和发展中国家的差距)和D(给大城市的居民带来难以忍受的经济负担)均仅涉及问题的某个方面。

单选题 The U.S. has to deal with the problems arising from vehicle use because ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用定位关键词可以定位到第一段“the U.S. 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 U.S. contribution to global climatic change”，即“美国和其他国家将不得不应付这个问题，否则将面临无法接受的经济、健康以及政治代价。油价不可能停留在目前的低水平，其他国家也不可能接受美国对全球气候变化造成的巨大而且越来越大的影响”，可知美国不处理用车导致的问题，会面临沉重的代价，尤其是带给全球气候变化的影响，所以C(其他国家将会抗议美国的温室气体排放)为正确答案，原文中的“climatic change”与“greenhouse”为同义改写。

单选题 Which of the following is the best solution to the problems mentioned in the passage?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。题干中有关键词best solution，“which of following...”类型的题目也可以利用定位选项关键词定位。利用题干中的“solution”可以定位到“Policymakers and industry have four solutions...The last of these—in particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity—is ultimately the only sustainable option”，即“决策者和汽车工业有4种解决方式……其中最后一项——特别是开发以电力为动力的汽车——最终是唯一可行的选择”，由此可知选项C(发展以电力为动力的汽车)与原文信息一致，其中原文的“the only sustainable option”与题干中的“the best solution”为同义改写。利用定位选项的方法也不难得出选项C为正确答案。

单选题 Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。题干无明显关键词，所以改为利用选项关键词定位，观察四个选项后发现有共同的定位关键词“Western Europe”。利用定位关键词“Western Europe”可以定位到第二段“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.”，即“尽管西欧油料价格平均每公升一美元多(大约4美元—加仑)，乘公交车很容易，而且人口密集，但人们出行时乘用私人轿车仍占80％”，所以选项A(公共交通的减少解释了西欧私人轿车使用量的增加)、选项C(减少私人轿车的使用是人口密集的西欧地区的唯一可行方式)、选项D(西欧公司不能维持开发新型燃料的成本)与原文信息不一致；而选项B(私人轿车在西欧很普遍，虽然其燃料价格很高)与原文信息一致，故该题的正确答案为B。(选项共同的词汇和短语往往也是很好的定位关键词，特别是针对“which of the following...”类型的题目)

单选题 What does the author think of the way to improve energy efficiency?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 态度题。利用定位关键词可以定位到第三段“Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made any progress in 10 years”，即“改进能效也很诱人，但10年来在节省汽车燃料方面几乎没有进步”，从中可知作者既说了其优点又指出其不足，因而作者是客观的态度，所以该题正确答案为C。