首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Driving along South Street, where the Los Angeles sprawl meets sprawling Orange County, you enter and leave Cerritos three times
Driving along South Street, where the Los Angeles sprawl meets sprawling Orange County, you enter and leave Cerritos three times
admin
2015-07-27
34
问题
Driving along South Street, where the Los Angeles sprawl meets sprawling Orange County, you enter and leave Cerritos three times. Although the city is confusingly shaped, it is easy to tell where it begins. Overhead power cables abruptly disappear and run underground. The grass, watered by innumerable sprinklers, is a brighter shade of green. Indeed, a blind man could tell where the boundary lies. Crossing into Artesia there is a bump, followed by a series of clumsily patched potholes; a few hundred yards later you re-enter Cerritos and the road is smooth again.
Cerritos cannot boast a glorious history, old money or natural beauty. Fifty years ago it was a flat area of farmland known as Dairy Valley. These days, "it’s a terribly unremarkable place on the way to Disneyland," says Tom Irish, a property developer. Yet this small suburban city of some 55,000 people has become remarkable thanks to superb management and geographical good fortune. It reveals much about why America’s suburbs are so appealing, and how they are changing.
Like an increasing number of suburbs, Cerritos is both a bedroom community and an economic engine. It began to prosper in the early 1970s when it encouraged car dealers to cluster near the motorway that clips its western edge. Fully 27 outfits now trade there, making it the largest such centre in a car-obsessed state. Cerritos also has a shopping mall and a "town center", otherwise known as an office park. As a result, it has far more jobs than working residents. Last year the city collected $483 in sales taxes per person — more than the glitzy city of Santa Monica. And it has leased, not sold, its land, so a future stream of money is guaranteed.
What goes on inside the offices seems less important to locals than what they look like. The city has municipal codes to rival those of notoriously staid Irvine, a planned city in Orange County: don’t even think about installing a rotating, blinking or oscillating sign. Sculptures adorn car dealers’ forecourts. Cerritos’s busy library is covered with titanium; its Wal-Mart is clad in granite. It has an opulent performing arts centre that will host some 140 impeccably populist acts this year.
Building work is underway on the local jail, known for good reason as the "sheriff’s hotel". Although Cerritos has a contract with Los Angeles’s county sheriff for its policing, it pays for the building and the officers. They have some of the easiest jobs in California. So far this year 53 serious assaults have been recorded, a bit less than one per cop. The city is so peaceful, says Daryl Evans, the police captain, that gang members from nearby cities occasionally meet there to play basketball, knowing they will not be attacked by rivals.
Of course, many American cities have built parks, performing-arts centres and fancy libraries while struggling financially. The key to Cerritos’s success may be the timing of its investments. Cities such as Cleveland and Baltimore poured money into museums and other grand projects in the vain hope that they would lure businesses and young, creative folk. Cerritos began by building pipelines and roads, then moved on to business parks, policing and schools (including California’s best high school). Only when it was rolling in money did it break out the titanium.
Local officials attribute the city’s success to fiscal discipline and the ability to follow a long-term plan. That, in turn, is the result of its political culture. Cerritos has a tradition of powerful, long-serving city managers, to whom local politicians frequently defer. As Laura Lee, the mayor, explains, "There are many things we, as elected officials, do not understand." Voters, it seems, like this arrangement greatly. In a 2002 poll, an astonishing 96% of residents said they were satisfied with the provision of public services.
Such single-mindedness is particularly striking given the city’s diversity. In 1980 whites comprised more than half of the population. These days Asians do. Striving immigrants are cause and consequence of the city’s excellent schools: in Cerritos High School, pupils who speak inadequate English score better in mathematics tests than those who speak English fluently. Yet the newcomers have not formed ghettos. The last census showed that whites and Asians were more intermixed in Cerritos than in all but 16 other American cities. Whites were even more mixed-up with blacks and Hispanics.
These days Cerritos faces strong competition. Its car mall has inspired imitators; as a result, the value of sales has flattened while the number of vehicles sold seems to be falling. As the city ages, public services will come under increasing strain. Drastic decline is unlikely, but the city may be overtaken — though it is almost certain that the places doing the overtaking will be bland, car-oriented and suburban.
Which of the following does NOT account for Cerritos’ success?
选项
A、Superb management.
B、Wealth of previous generations.
C、Advantageous location.
D、Proper timing of investments.
答案
B
解析
事实细节题。由二段首句“Cerritos cannot boast…old money or…”可知Cerrito没有传统资本,故[B]为答案。由第二段倒数第二句可知出色的管理和良好的地理环境都是促使其成功的因素,故排除[A]、[C]。 由第六段第二句可知Cerrito成功的关键是对投资时机的把握, 故排除[D]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/OMOO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Tounderstandthemarketingconcept,it’sonlynecessarytounderstandthedifferencebetweenmarketingandselling.Nottooma
WhichofthefollowingisNOTFrancisBacon’sessay?
InWesternCulturesyoudon’topenacloseddoorwithoutknocking,unlessitisyourownoroneclearlyinapublicplace.Or【M1
ReviewingthedecadethatfollowedWorldWarn,Cartwrightspeaksofthe"excitementandoptimism"ofAmericansocialpsycholo
RichardNixonresignedbecauseof
DaydreamingⅠ.DaydreamingcanbeharmfulbecauseitwasconsideredasA.awasteoftimeB.a【1】______ofneurotictende
A、Becausehewillhavesomeonetotalkwithduringthetrip.B、Becausetravelingaloneisdangerous.C、Becausetheexpensecanb
AudienceofWritingAudienceisaveryimportantconceptforwriting.Youneedtoanalyzeyouraudienceintermsofthefollowin
ClaremontMcKennaCollege,asmall,prestigiousCaliforniaschool,admittedthatithassubmittedfalseSATscorestopublicati
LosAngelescabinet-makerEdwardStewartmaybeamodernDr.Frankenstein.In1959,heclaims,herestoredadeadfriendtolife
随机试题
A.隐形子宫内膜炎B.慢性卡他性子宫内膜炎C.慢性卡他性脓性子宫内膜炎D.慢性脓性子宫内膜炎E.子宫积液一成年奶牛屡配不孕,食欲及产乳量略微降低;发情正常,子宫及阴道常排出粘稠浑浊黏液;子宫冲洗回流液略浑浊,似淘米水。该病是
根据物权标的是动产还是不动产,可将物权分为()和不动产物权。
某机电安装公司承接了一平板玻璃厂的施工总承包工程,合同执行过程中发生了如下事件:事件一,由于设计原因,设计图纸对主生产工艺线进行了修改;设备基础按图施工时,发现基础下有一溶洞,而业主提供的工程地质资料未显示,需采用桩基处理;政府对项目环境保护等级
在高背压泡沫产生器进口侧设置的压力表接口要竖直安装;其出口侧设置的压力表、背压调节阀和泡沫取样口的安装尺寸要符合设计要求,环境温度为()℃及以下的地区,背压调节阀和泡沫取样口上的控制阀须选用钢质阀门。
商业银行在一定的置信度和期限下,为了覆盖和抵御银行超出预期的经济损失(即非预期损失)所需要持有的资本数额是()
某饮料生产企业为增值税一般纳税人,年末将本企业生产的—批饮料发放给职工作为福利。该饮料市场售价为12万元(不含增值税),增值税适用税率为17%,实际成本为10万元。假定不考虑其他因素,该企业应确认的应付职工薪酬为()万元。
在旅游过程中如果发生火灾,导游人员应采取的措施有()。
教学活动的本质是()。
材料一沧海横流,方显英雄本色,社会发展日新月异,各种挑战层出不穷。在百年未有之大变局中,社会治理只有准确识变、科学应变、主动求变,才有可能实现更高质量、更可持续、更为安全的发展;基层干部只有扎根基层、锐意进取、奋发有为,经风雨、见世面,才能百炼成钢,成长
A、 B、 C、 B本句为询问附近是否有地铁站的Be动词疑问句。
最新回复
(
0
)