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  3. Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States an

Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States an

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问题     Over the past 50 years, expansive, low density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States and Canada, creating a phenomenon known as suburhan sprawl.
    Andres Duany, Elizabeth Flater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck, a group of prominent town planners belonging to a movement called New Urbanism, contend that suburban sprawl contributes to the decline of civic life and civility. For reasons involving the flow of automobile traffic, they note, zoning laws usually dictate that suburban homes, stores, businesses, and schools be built in separate areas, and this separation robs people of communal space where they can interact and get to know one another. It is as difficult to imagine the concept of community without a town square or local pub, these town planners contend, as it is to imagine the concept of family independent of the house.
    Suburban housing subdivisions, Duany and his colleagues add, usually contain homes identical not only in appearance but also in price, resulting in a de facto economic segregation of residential neighborhoods. Children growing up in these neighborhoods, whatever their economic circumstances, are certain to be ill prepared for life in a diverse society. Moreover, because the widely separated suburban homes and businesses are connected only by "collector roads," residents areforccd to drive, often in heavy traffic, in order to perform many daily tasks. Time that would in a town center involve social interaction within a physical public realm is now spent inside the automobile, where people cease to be community members andinstead become motorists, competing for road space, often acting antisocially. Pedestrians rarely act in this manner toward each other.
    Duany and his colleagues advocate development based on early-twentieth century urban neighborhoods that mix housing of different prices and offer residents a "gratifying public realm" that includes narrow, tree-lined streets,parks, corner grocery stores, cafes, small-neighborhood schools, all within walking distance. This, they believe, would give people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles an opportunity to interact and thus develop mutual respect.
    Opponents of New Urbanism claim that migrationto sprawling suburbs is an expression of people’s legitimate desire to secure the enjoyment and personal mobility provided by the automobile and thelifestyle that it makes possible. However, the New Urbanists do not question people’s right to their own values; instead, they suggest that we should take a more critical view of these values and of the sprawl-conducive zoning and subdivision policies that reflect them. New Urbanists are fundamentally concerned with the long-term social costs of the now-prevailing attitude that individual mobility, consumption, and wealth should be valued absolutely, regardless of their impact on community life.
According to Paragraph 4, which one of the following is not characteristic of early-twentieth century urban neighborhoods?
选项 A、Mixing housing of different prices and styles.
B、Offering residents a "gratifying public realm" .
C、Forcing residents to drive, often in heavy traffic.
D、Giving people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles an opportunity to interact and thus develop mutual respect.
答案C
解析 本题考查考生对第四段中二十世纪早期城市社区的特点，难度较低，考生只需回到第四段，逐项对照，不难发现ABD项均在第四段描述当中，只有C项不是，需要注意的是，题目问的是哪一项“不是”……的特点。实际上，C项“迫使居民不得不在交通繁忙时段驾车出行”恰恰正是郊区扩展现象的表现形式，在第三段中有具体论述，这正是倾向于二十世纪早期城市社区模式的新城市主义者们反对郊区扩展现象的原因之一。因此选择C项。
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