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
(1) The urban population in 2014 accounted for 54% of the total global population, up from 34% in 1960, and continues to grow. A
(1) The urban population in 2014 accounted for 54% of the total global population, up from 34% in 1960, and continues to grow. A
admin
2022-09-29
74
问题
(1) The urban population in 2014 accounted for 54% of the total global population, up from 34% in 1960, and continues to grow. Africa now has a larger urban population than North America and has 25 of the world’s fastest growing large cities. Half of the world’s urban population now lives in Asia, which also has half of the world’s largest cities and fastest growing large cities. Every year the world’s urban population swells by about 75m people. That extraordinary growth—equivalent to adding eight Londons—is a wonderful thing. Cities throw people together, encouraging the exchange of ideas. The people who move there tend to grow richer, freer and more tolerant. What is rather less wonderful is the way in which many of the world’s fastest-growing cities are expanding.
(2) The trouble is not, as is often claimed, that cities in poor and middle-income countries are spreading like oil slicks. Most of them need to expand. Many poor cities are incredibly dense already: Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is nine times as tightly packed as Paris, if you include their suburbs. And no Western city has ever added inhabitants as quickly as the poor and emerging-world champions are doing. African and Asian metropolises are bound to sprawl even if sensible pro-density reforms are passed, such as scrapping height restrictions on buildings.
(3) The real problem is that these metropolises are spreading in the wrong way. Frequently, small housing developments or even individual houses are plunked down wherever a builder can cut a deal with a farmer. In the huge, jumbled districts that result, far too little space is set aside for roads. Manhattan is 36% road (overall, almost half of that capitalist temple is public space). In some unplanned African suburbs as little as 5% of the land is road. Even middle-class districts often lack sewers and mains water. As for amenities like public parks, forget it. Suburbs can eventually be retrofitted with roads and sewers. But that will be horrifically complicated and expensive—too much so for poor countries. It would be vastly cheaper and better to do sprawl properly from the start.
(4) Urban and national officials should begin by admitting two things: their cities are going to become very much larger; and this growth will be too quick to be controlled by comprehensive urban plans. Officials in poor countries often spend many years drawing up detailed plans; by the time they are finished, the city has changed so much that their designs cannot possibly be implemented.
(5) It is wiser to keep things simple. At a minimum, work out where the main thoroughfares and parks will go as the city expands. Again, New York is a good model. In 1811, when the city was still confined to the southern tip of Manhattan, it planned for a sevenfold expansion and laid out a street grid. Acquiring rights of way for future roads and amenities can be both costly and politically difficult (though not nearly as much as waiting until it is too late). Almost all fast-growing cities are in countries where landholdings are small, and small farmers do not take kindly to being booted off their land. But a few countries have developed a promising technique known as land readjustment. Instead of evicting farmers in the path of a new road, officials offer to reorganize a whole district. Everybody loses some land, and the biggest winners—those closest to the new road—compensate those who fare less well. Japanese cities used this technique when they were growing quickly. Today the Indian state of Gujarat makes it work.
(6) Increasingly, the world’s fastest-growing cities will be African. And those are especially hard to corral. Many African countries persist with some form of collective land ownership, which is anathema to professional developers: why buy land that you cannot formally own? Until farmers are given full rights to their lands, including the ability to transfer legal title, cities are likely to grow in a messy way. Good planning and secure property rights make for a better kind of sprawl. (本文选自 The Economist)
What’s the author’s purpose of mentioning New York in Para. 5?
选项
A、To explain the importance of planning in advance.
B、To indicate New York is going to become larger.
C、To imply the city grows too quickly to control.
D、To show officials spend too much time on planning.
答案
A
解析
推断题。作者在原文第五段提及纽约的城市发展过程,旨在强调城市规划在城市发展中的重要性,以及规划带来的裨益,故A“解释提前规划的重要性”为答案。第四段中提到了C和D,是作者认为决策者们需要认识到的事实,故排除;B明显不符合文义,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xHkK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Shouldlatechildbirthbeencouraged?Thishasbeenintenselydiscussedforyears.Thefollowingarethesupporters’andopponen
A、ReceiveinformationonTMA’s.B、Joinandstaywithherparents.C、Handinherworkinadvance.D、Stayinschoolandstudy.D①选
A.littleB.unansweredC.detectD.inevitablyE.deepF.dropG.uselessH.eventuallyI.effectiveJ.addressK.catc
PeoplethroughoutthehistoryhavesoughtwaystoalterconsciousnesaA【C1】_____exampleisthesweatlodgeritualoftheSioux
Althoughthevolumeofworkwasconsiderable,thenatureofthebusinesswas______itcouldonlybeproceededasitcamealong.
VideoGameAddiction1.AglobalandseriousproblemAddictionoccurmorelikelyat【T1】【T1】______【T2】ofvideogamersaddicted【T
Tomsayshewon’tforgettheday_______weworkedtogetherandtheday_______wespenttogether.
Manycountrieshadmade______agreementsforhealthcarewithChina.
Ofcourse,talkingaboutsomethingwhichaffectsthempersonallyis______motivatingforstudents.
(1)Easternmedicinesarebecomingmorepopularinthewest,butfewpeoplerealizehowlongthetwocultureshaveexchangedidea
随机试题
走行于视神经管内的结构除视神经外,还有下列哪项
某儿童食用杏仁后出现头晕、头痛、恶心、呕吐、轻度呼吸困难,入院急救处理。上述特效药的作用机制是()。
饮大量清水后尿量增多的最主要原因是
大叶性肺炎一般起病急,寒战高热、胸痛、咳痰较黏稠或为典型红色泡沫痰。()
对建设项目应予进行敏感性分析的因素包括()。
把地球划分成东、西两半球的经线圈是:
李强是个不太诚实的人,他可以随时欺骗某些人。若上述论述为真,那么以下哪些判定必然为真()(1)你随时都可能被李强欺骗(2)李强随时都可能欺骗人(3)因为李强是个不太诚实的人,所以他会随时想着欺骗人(4)我有可
ThekeytotheindustrializationofspaceistheU.S.spaceshuttle.【C1】______it,astronautswillacquireaworkhousevehicle【C
Thechangesinlanguagewillcontinueforever,butnooneknowssure【M1】_____.whodoesthechanging.Onepossibilityis
A、Theadvantagesoftraditionalsurveyingmethods.B、Usingsatellitestocommunicatewithmountainclimbers.C、Obtainingnewinf
最新回复
(
0
)