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  3. Our government recently has focused on the importance of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency as the best way to sus

Our government recently has focused on the importance of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency as the best way to sus

admin2013-09-16  59
问题     Our government recently has focused on the importance of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency as the best way to sustainably grow America’s dying economy, and President Obama has called for the creation of a high-speed rail system as a way to generate green jobs, enhance economic productivity and reduce carbon emissions. The White House has announced the awarding of $ 8 billion in stimulus funding to kick-start high-speed-rail projects and improve service in 13 corridors across the country.
    That’s a nice move, but America’s antiquated(旧式的，过时的)rail system will have to advance a long way just to make it to the present, let alone the future. U. S. intercity railroads are a laughingstock compared with those in most other developed nations.
    Today you can travel the 250 miles from Paris to Lyon on the high-speed TGV in two hours. Covering a similar distance from Philadelphia to Boston takes some five hours, and that’s on an Amtrak Acela train, the closest thing the U. S. has to high-speed rail. "Every other major industrialized nation has recognized that high-speed rail is key to economic growth and mobility, " says Petra Todorovich, director of the America 2050 program at the Regional Planning Association. "It’s time for America to realize that as well. "
    But whatever the public’s vision of a sparkling new 150-m. p. h. bullet train like those in Japan and Europe, the reality is that not all, or even most, of the stimulus money will go toward creating entirely new rail service. Instead, much of the initial funding will be spent improving and speeding up existing service.
    Still, the initial round of $ 8 billion is just a tiny percentage of what it would cost to significantly overhaul(彻底革新)the country’s rail system. And there are concerns that by spreading the funds to so many different projects in so many different states, it won’t be possible to make a real difference in any one place. It doesn’t help that the one region that could most obviously benefit from truly high-speed rail—the Boston-to-Washington corridor—received a mere $112 million in funding, in part because building new track in the congested area would be prohibitively expensive and politically challenging.
    Nevertheless, high-speed rail is an idea whose time has come—at least for environmentalists. According to Environment America, high-speed rail uses a third less energy per mile than auto or air travel, and a nationwide system could reduce oil use by 125 million bbl. a year. In addition, high-speed rail represents the kind of long-term infrastructure investment that will pay back for decades. "This is a down payment on a truly national program, " said Petra, "It will change the way we travel and change the way we work and live. "
What do we learn about the current U. S. intercity railroads from the passage?
选项 A、It is already a high-speed rail system.
B、It attracts a lot of fund for improvement.
C、It covers a long way nationwide.
D、It lap far behind other developed nations.
答案D
解析 根据题干关键词current U．S．intercity railroads定位到原文第二段第一句：…but America’s antiquatedrail system will have to advance a long way just to make it to the present，let alone the future．U．S．intercityrailroads are a laughingstock compared with those in most other developed nations．可知，美国的铁路系统水平远远落后于大多数发达国家，故选D)项。
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