2. 外语
  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

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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 ultimate goal of the survey mentioned in Paragraph Two was to______.
选项 A、trace the effects of online shopping on transportation networks
B、calculate the total annual amount of goods purchased online
C、determine the number and load of delivery trucks for online purchases
D、compare the difference in the data on online shopping
答案A
解析 第二段没有提到网上购物的总量，也没有比较不同阶段的网上购物数据。根据该段的描述，研究人员首先通过研究数据确定了运送网上购物商品的卡车数量，最后一步是判定送货车对交通网络的影响。
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