单选题 {{B}}Passage One{{/B}}
Money may not be flowing much in Thailand's capital these days, but something more unlikely is traffic. Motorists like to joke that it took the International Monetary Fund to unclog Bangkok's notoriously jammed thoroughfares.
Before the economy crashed last summer, Bangkok was famous for its round-the-clock gridlock. Stories of how people coped became urban lore. Thais bought custom-made vans equipped with TVs and microwave ovens. On the endless trips home after school and work, parents would serve family dinners, then the kids would do their homework and change into pajamas before finally arriving. One company did a booming business in plastic disposable toilets. Consumers could get just about anything, from McDonald's hamburgers to prescription medicine, delivered via motorbike.
The solution for easing congestion turned out to be simple: economic catastrophe. Rising fuel costs, coupled with lost jobs and declining incomes, mean people are making fewer trips. About 20,000 cars have been repossessed, while new-car buying has dwindled from about 900 a day a year ago to just 300 now. Bus rider ship is up; taxi trips are down. So many cabbies are having trouble making enough fares to cover gas and car rental that hundreds of taxis are sitting idle every day.
Thinner wallets also mean people are spending less time in bars, restaurants, movie theaters and shopping malls. Instead, they're staying home.
The government, much maligned in the past for botching up mass transit construction, deserves credit as well. New expressways have opened, and some of the construction that has blocked traffic lanes for years has been cleared. The good times may not last, however, at least for motorists. If traffic flow is in fact a reliable economic indicator, Thailand may be on the rebound. "The last few days," says taxi driver Boonlarb Srikam, "I've noticed the traffic getting busy again." Bring out those portable toilets.
单选题 According to the passage, they can do all of the following in their vans EXCEPT______.
  • A. watching TV
  • B. having meals
  • C. doing homework
  • D. taking showers
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 依据文章第二段,泰国人可以在车上吃饭,做功课,但不包括洗澡。显然选择D。
单选题 The author mentions a company that sells disposable toilets in order to show that______.
  • A. Thais spend long hours in their cars
  • B. traffic jams are good for the economy
  • C. the IMF makes unreasonable demands
  • D. Thais are very innovative people
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第二段的论述归纳起来便是说明泰国人在车上停留的时间很长。而选项B,C,D的说法均不符合题意。因此答案是A。
单选题 According to the passage, Thais are taking trips less often for all of the following reasons EXCEPT______.
  • A. congested streets
  • B. more expensive gasoline
  • C. widespread unemployment
  • D. reduced incomes
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 文中第三段说,“The solution for easing congestion mean people are making fewer trips”,泰国人不常旅行的原因是经济危机,因此正确答案是A。
单选题 By saying that the good times may not last "at least for motorists," the author suggests that______.
  • A. good times for traffic are not necessarily good times for the economy
  • B. traffic flow is not a reliable economic indicator
  • C. new expressways may soon deteriorate
  • D. drives do not want the economy to improve
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 依据文中最后一段,“If traffic flow is in fact a reliable economic indicator,Thailand may be on the rebound(如果车流真的是可靠的经济指标,那泰国可能在复苏中)”,正确答案应为A。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that the Thai economy______.
  • A. suffers from poor infrastructure
  • B. is showing signs of recovery
  • C. is driven by automobile manufacturing
  • D. won't enjoy good times much longer
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 从最后一段,“I've noticed the traffic getting busy again”可以看出,泰国经济确有复苏的迹象。因此答案是B。
单选题 The word "portable" in the last sentence probably means______.
  • A. endurable
  • B. light
  • C. clean
  • D. nice
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] portable意为“轻便的,便携式的”,这里用来形容一种轻便的厕所。四个选项中只有B项,“light”的意思较为接近。