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
As the world’s urban population gets bigger, cities are struggling to provide the basic services that their residents need. One
As the world’s urban population gets bigger, cities are struggling to provide the basic services that their residents need. One
admin
2016-01-10
66
问题
As the world’s urban population gets bigger, cities are struggling to provide the basic services that their residents need. One of the most pressing problems is public transport. Now let’s look at the crisis facing the city of London.
In no time in history has there been such a mass migration of people from countryside to city as is happening now.
By the year 2030, it’s estimated that more than two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities, twice as many as today. This means that the problems faced by cities today—overcrowding, poor housing, unemployment, poverty, and lack of food and water will be twice as bad in the this century, unless we find solutions soon.
Another crucial issue facing cities today is how to provide good transport links to service the commercial, cultural and leisure needs of their inhabitants. Today, many of the world’s major cities are already struggling to cope with out-of-date transport infrastructures.
How they will cope with the additional demands placed on them has not yet been addressed.
London is a good example of the problems facing many major urban centres. It was the world’s first megacity and the first with a population of a million people. Its expansion was made possible by the invention of the steam engine, which, among other things, powered the world’s first underground railway.
Today, London has one of the world’s most extensive transport systems. But, because it was the first city to build a railway network, much of the infrastructure—the trains and buses, the tracks and tunnels—is now hopelessly out-of-date, and needs urgent modernization.
London’s future success depends very much on transport. The city lies at the heart of Britain’s road and rail networks and problems in London can rapidly affect other areas of the country. On an average morning, over ground trains bring passengers to stations on the outskirts of the city, and they then continue their journeys by underground, bus or taxi.
Over a million people travel into central London every day from outside the city. They, and the people who live in London, want a public transport system that is frequent, safe, reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly. What they often get, however, falls far short of that ideal.
Commuters complain about delays, unreliability, cost and pollution, while businesses worry a-bout the problems their staff have getting to work on time. Companies also face high costs for delivering goods and services in a city where congestion means that cars today travel at the same speed as horse drawn carriages did in the last century.
Yet car ownership continues to grow. The proportion of London households that own a car grew from just over 10 per cent in the early 1950s to over 60 per cent today. 20 per cent of house-holds now own two or more cars.
As the city has become increasingly congested and polluted, there has been a growing realization that action is needed. However, precisely what should be done is hotly debated. Some people have called for cleaner fuels and strict controls on exhaust emissions. Others say more effort must be put into persuading people not to use their cars, perhaps by charging people to drive into London. There does seem to be agreement on one thing, though—that until London’s public transport system is improved, people will continue to use their cars.
This raises the all important questions of where the money is going to come from. Until about 10 years ago, most public transport in Britain was owned and paid for by the government. But in the last decade, most train and bus networks have been privatized.
The government says that the private sector should take most, but not all, of the responsibility for public transport. In London, the underground railway system known as the "Tube" is likely to be where this policy is first put into practice. The government admits that it cannot afford to modernize the Tube system alone. Instead, it wants to form a partnership with private companies, so that they provide some of the money.
Sydney is the first city in the world to have a million people.
选项
答案
The basic services
解析
文中第一段开头,As the world’s urban population gets bigger,cities arestruggling to provide the basic services…,即随着城镇人口的增长,城市都在努力提供基础设施服务。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/0kyK777K
本试题收录于:
A类竞赛(研究生)题库大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)分类
0
A类竞赛(研究生)
大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)
相关试题推荐
SummaryListentothepassage.Forquestions26~30,completethenotesusingnomorethanthreewordsforeachblank.Likeo
SummaryListentothepassage.Forquestions26~30,completethenotesusingnomorethanthreewordsforeachblank.Likeo
Soon,peoplewhogotothecinemawillnotjustwatchandlistentothefilm.Theywillbeabletosmellthefilm,too.Acompan
Itisimperativethatthegovernment_________moreinvestmentintotheshipbuildingindustry.
Asanyonewhohastriedtoloseweightknows,realisticgoal-settinggenerallyproducesthebestresults.Itappearspeoplewhos
AccordingtoSaffron,whichofthefollowingstatementsisWRONG?
Howdidmusicbegin?Didourearlyancestorsfirststartbybeatingthingstogethertocreaterhythm,orusetheirvoicestosin
Australiais【21】driestcontinentinthisworld.TheevaporationrateofrainfallinAustraliais【22】.Thereasonforrapid
Bandscomeandgo.Somebecomefamous.Othersdon’t.Someenjoygreatwealth.Othersmakenothing.Butwhy?Sometimestheyjust
Sheis______amusicianthanherbrother.
随机试题
在SQLServer2000中,小王创建了一个视图test_view,现在他要创建另一个视图,使用下列语句Createviewtest_view_viewasselect*fromtest
关于肉芽组织的描述,哪些是正确的
下列药物中,用于紧急避孕的药物是
下列审判组织的组成,不符合法律规定的有:()
本质安全技术是指利用该技术进行机械预定功能的设计和制造,不需要采取其他安全防护措施,就可以在预定条件下执行机械的预定功能时满足机械自身的安全要求。它包括()。
债券收益率的构成因素包括()
甲企业为增值税一般纳税人,适用的增值税税率为17%,商品售价中均不含增值税。销售商品和提供劳务均符合收入确认条件,其成本在确认收入时逐笔结转。2016年12月,甲企业发生如下交易或事项:(1)1日,与乙公司签订为期3个月的劳务合同,合同总价款为3
某科研小组要对某一社区人群进行营养状况调查,在此过程中。需要采集被调查者的尿液、粪便和血液标本进行实验室检查。尿液标本收集后放置一段时间会发生()
北方航空公司实行对教师机票六五折优惠,这实际上是吸引乘客的一种经营策略,该航空公司并没有实际让利,因为当某天航班的满员率超过90%1~寸,就停售当天优惠价机票,而即使在高峰期,航班的满员率也很少超过90%。有座位空着,何不以优惠价促销它呢?以下哪项如果为真
“随着新生产力的获得……人们也就会改变自己的一切社会关系,手推磨产生的是封建主义的社会,蒸汽磨产生的是工业资本家的社会。”这段话表明科学技术是
最新回复
(
0
)