2. 外语
  3. Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U. S. , about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse gases. They t

Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U. S. , about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse gases. They t

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问题     Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U. S. , about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse gases. They take a similar toll (损耗) of resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U. S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health-related and political costs. It is unlikely that oil prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing U. S. contribution to global climatic change.
    Policymakers and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, switch to less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of these—in particular, the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity—is ultimately the only sustainable (可持续的) option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are either impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the U. S. , mass-transit ridership and carpooling (合伙用车) have declined since World War II. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than $ 1 a liter (about $ 4 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travel.
    Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made any progress in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal (边缘的, 最低限度的) reductions in pollution and greenhouse emissions (especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline).
Which of the following is practical but only makes a marginal contribution to solving the problem of greenhouse emissions?
选项 A、The use of fuels other than gasoline.
B、Improved energy efficiency.
C、The introduction of less polluting driving systems.
D、Reducing car use by carpooling.
答案B
解析 细节题。根据文章最后一段，improved energy efficiency“改进能源效率”是很有吸引力的，但汽车燃料经济在10年间没取得什么进步。使用天然气虽能降低成本，但只对减少污染和温室气体排放有边缘效力。因此B是正确答案。
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