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  3. On the surface, shopping online seems environmentally friendly: it eliminates car trips and carbon emissions. But what about the

On the surface, shopping online seems environmentally friendly: it eliminates car trips and carbon emissions. But what about the

admin2019-10-13  48
问题    On the surface, shopping online seems environmentally friendly: it eliminates car trips and carbon emissions. But what about the emissions from fleets of delivery vehicles bringing orders to houses? Delivery trucks also contribute substantially to the burden of PM2.5, which is associated with many effects on human health.
   Researchers recently conducted a survey of downtown Newark residents’ shopping habits and preferences to calculate the quantity of goods purchased online. They also used the information from delivery companies about the number of trucks on the road and the number of packages per truck to determine how many delivery trucks are required to distribute home shopping purchases. Finally, the researchers used transportation simulation software and data from local transportation authorities to determine the effect of delivery trucks on the transportation network, focusing on an area of downtown Newark that includes a portion of the university’s campus. They conducted similar analyses in 2001, at the dawn of the online shopping era, and again in 2008.
   Curiously, the 2008 data suggested that home shopping in Newark had grown by only 14.8% since 2001. That’s much less than the researchers predicted in their earlier study. It also contrasts with data from other researchers showing that Internet shopping increased six-fold between 2001 and 2011.
   This is an unexpected finding. However, a large proportion of their survey respondents were university students, and the convenience of Internet shopping may appeal more to people who are running a household. Also, the researchers’ latest data are from 2008, which suggests that their study underestimates the effect of home shopping on the transportation network.
   In any case, the researchers found that even though home shopping by residents of Newark grew more slowly than anticipated, traffic in 2008 was worse than they had predicted, for more home shopping purchases increase travel time, traffic delays, and vehicle emissions of the transportation network.
   While some previous studies suggest that e-commerce is associated with lower carbon emissions than traditional retail, other researchers have warned of a "rebound effect, " which occurs when gains in efficiency merely stimulate new consumption. Something similar may be going on in Newark, the results suggest.
   "We found that the total number of vehicles miles travelled hasn’t decreased at all with the growth of online shopping, " says study leader Arde Faghri. "This suggests that people are using the time saved by Internet shopping to do things like eating out at restaurants, going to the movies, or visiting friends."
The results of the survey by Arde Faghri suggest that in Newark______.
选项 A、a "rebound effect" is probably taking place
B、online shopping is being replaced by other entertainments
C、online shopping has reduced people’s daily spending
D、supermarkets or malls are gradually disappearing
答案A
解析 根据文章最后一段，网上购物并没有被其他娱乐活动取代，而是把网上购物节省的时间用于其他活动。该段没有任何文字说明网上购物降低了人们的日常消费，也没有说超市和购物中心逐渐消失。另一方面，发生rebound effect(反弹效应)的条件是“效率的提高仅仅刺激了新的消费”，在此文章中正好与网上购物相关：由于网上购物越来越方便，人们开始寻求新的消费途径。
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