If an agreement signed in Germany works out,travellers of this Asian city may one day be able to zip from the downtown area to its new airport on a train riding a stream of magnetic energy at speeds up to 500 kilometres per hour. The 40-kilometres-trip-now sometimes a long hour journey when the traffic is heavy-could be cut to less than 10 minutes. Such are the goals of a costly project designed to help to "shorten'the distance between the city centre and the suburban busy airport by making it easier and faster to carry travellers to and back from the airport. The mayor of the city and Germany's Thyssen Krupp AG worked out an agreement in Berlin only several days ago that lays the groundwork for the magnetic levitation train line. They signed a commitment to carry out a feasibility study on the project and outlined the city's intention to import German technology. This project,once completed and acceptable to the two business parties, will be a double-win, the German company can benefit from exporting its technology and equipment and the city receiving German technology can improve its traffic and further strengthen its position as a cosmopolis. Called Maglev for short, the system under discussion makes use of a high-speed train levitated above a guideway and propelled by magnetic fields. The project has been in the talking stage for several months. Hans Ueberschaer, German's ambassador visited the city together with Harmut Heine, representative of Thyssen Krupp. They had an initial discussion with the mayor there about the prospect of the project. The talks were believed to be constructive and paved the way for the future talks in Berlin,where a commitment was reached. Sources familiar with the talks estimated that the project would cost US$723 million, which would cover everything from land use fees and rail construction to train cars. Completion date is 2005. A joint venture company is to be established for the project.
单选题
Who paved the way for further negotiations in Berlin?______
单选题
What was the signed commitment mainly about?______
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】第四段说到，签订的commitment有两点内容：carry out a feasibility study on the proiect and outlined the city's intention to import German technology(对工程进行可行性研究和扼要表述这座城市进口德国技术的意向)，所以，选项C最接近原文。选项A谈到的“钱”、选项B谈到的“合资公司”及选项D谈到的“德国出口技术的意向”，都不是commitment中涉及的内容。