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  3. British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been

British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been

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问题     British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been abandoned. But since 2009 levels of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, coarse or fine particles that are linked to lung cancer and asthma(哮喘), have fallen more slowly. The exact number of deaths caused by dirty air is unknown. But in 2010 a government advisory group estimated that removing man-made fine particulate matter from the atmosphere would increase life expectancy for those born in 2008 by an average of six months.
    Much of the slowdown is the result of fumes from diesel(柴油)cars, which were championed by successive governments because they use less fuel and thus produce less carbon dioxide than petrol cars. In 2001 only 14% of all cars ran on diesel: by 2013 the proportion had increased to 35% . Greener "hybrid" and electric cars have increased ninefold since 2006, but account for just 0. 5% of the entire fleet. Second-hand cars are particularly toxic, but even newer ones have not been as clean as hoped. Many cars that let out few pollutants in tests produced more when on the roads.
    Government irresolution has not helped. Part of the problem is that several departments are responsible for air pollution. This means nobody has taken a lead on it, complains Joan Walley, a Labour MP who chairs an environmental committee that has released a series of damning reports. And few politicians are keen to criticize drivers. Talking to Britons about car ownership is " like talking to an American about hand guns", jokes one air-pollution scientist.
    Some improvements have been made. In 2008 a "low-emission zone" was created in London, which targets large vans and coaches. A smaller "ultra low-emission zone" has been proposed for 2020, which would charge all vehicles that are not of a certain standard ￡ 12. 50 a day. European Commission fines for breaching limits may encourage cities to do more. But other countries are more ambitious: 60 such zones exist in Germany, targeting private cars as well as vans. In December Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced that she wanted to ban diesel cars by 2020. Cities in Denmark and the Netherlands do more to boost cycling.
What is the real purpose of creating a "low-emission zone" in cities?
选项 A、To abolish all large vans and coaches.
B、To keep vehicles out of the zone.
C、To encourage cities to clean up dirty air.
D、To provide areas for cycling.
答案C
解析 主旨大意题。原文通篇都在讨论英国空气污染的改善、改善的原因、政府的作为以及治理成效等，围绕air pollution或dirty air进行讨论，只有选项C)包含核心词，故为答案。定位段第二句指出，在伦敦设置“低排放区”是针对大型厢式货车和长途公共汽车，并不是要取消它们，故排除A)；该段第三句建议以收费的方式限制所有机动车辆在“超低排放区”的通行，并不是说要清除所有机动车辆，故排除B)；根据原文最后一句，丹麦和荷兰的城市鼓励人们骑自行车以减少排放，但开设“低排放区”的目的并不是开辟骑行区域，故排除D)。
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