单选题
Passage Four
Vancouver is the best place to live in the Americas, according to a quality-of-life ranking published earlier this month. The city regularly tops such indexes as its clean air, spacious homes and weekend possibilities of sailing and skiing. But its status as a liveable city is threatened by worsening congestion(拥挤).Over the next three decades, another I million residents are expected to live in the Greater Vancouver region, adding more cars, bicycles and lorries to roads that are already struggling to serve the existing 2.3 million residents.
A proposal by Vancouver’s mayor seeks to prevent the worsening conditions. Upgrades would be made to 2,300 kilometres of road lanes, as well as bus routes and cycle paths. Four hundred new buses would join the fleet of 1,830. There would be more trains and more “seabus” ferry crossings between Vancouver and its wealthy northern suburbs. To get all that, residents must vote to accept an increase in sales tax, from 7% to 7.5%. Polls suggest they will vote no.
Everyone agrees that a more efficient transport system is needed. Confined by mountains to the north, the United States to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west, Vancouver has spread in the only direction where there is still land, into the Fraser Valley, which just a few decades ago was mostly farmland. The road is often overcrowded.
Yet commuters’ suspicion of local bureaucrats may exceed their dislike of congestion. TransLink, which runs public transport in the region, is unloved by taxpayers. Passengers blame it when Skytrain, the light-rail system, comes to a standstill because of mechanical or electrical faults, as happened twice in one week last summer, leaving commuters stuck in carriages with nothing to do but expressing their anger on Twitter. That sort of thing has made voters less willing to pay the C＄7.5 billion in capital spending that the ten-year traffic upgrade would involve.
Despite the complaints, Vancouver’s transport system is a decent, well-integrated one on which to build, reckons Todd Litman, a transport consultant who has worked for TransLink. “These upgrades are all-important if Vancouver wants to maintain its reputation for being a destination others want to go to.” He says.
单选题
The biggest problem threatening Vancouver as a liveable city is .
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段第三句“But its status as a liveable city is threatened by worsening congestion.”。
细节题。题目问的是对温哥华的宜居地位最大的威胁是______。根据定位句可知，温哥华的宜居地位受到了威胁，是因为城市越来越拥挤，故选A。
单选题
The upgrade proposal by Vancouver’s mayor may be turned down by residents because .
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 第二段最后两句“To get all that, residents must vote to accept an increase in sales tax, from 7% to 7.5%. Polls suggest they will vote no.”。
细节题。题目问的是温哥华市长提出的升级建议可能会被市民们反对是因为______。根据定位句可知，升级交通系统就意味着要加税，所以人们不愿意，故选D。
单选题
The only direction for Vancouver to further expand is towards .
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 第三段最后两句“Confined by mountains to the north, the United States to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west, Vancouver has spread in the only direction where there is still land, into the Fraser Valley, which just a few decades ago was mostly farmland. The road is often overcrowded.”。
推断题。题目问的是温哥华进一步开发的唯一方向是向着______。由定位句可知，温哥华的北边有山，南边邻美国，西边有海，所以只能往东边扩展，故选A。
单选题
TransLink is mentioned (Para.4) as an example of .
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段前两句“Yet commuters" suspicion of local bureaucrats may exceed their dislike of congestion. TransLink, which runs public transport in the region, is unloved by taxpayers.”。
细节题。题目问的是TransLink是作为一个______例子被提到的。定位句说，人们抱怨政府和管理者，后面提到TransLink公司是作为论据，故选B。
单选题
According to Todd Litman, the upgrade proposal .
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 最后一段最后一句“"These upgrades are all-important if Vancouver wants to maintain its reputation for being a destination others want to go to." he says.”。
推断题。题目问的是根据Todd Litman可知，升级建议______。定位句说，如果温哥华想要维持它那人们最向往之地的名声的话，这种交通系统的升级是极其重要的，所以他认为人们应该支持政府升级交通系统，故选D。