19.About 100 years ago the horse-manure(馬糞) crisis drove most observers to despair.19th-century cities depended on horses for daily functioning.In New York in 1900,100,000 horses were used in all transport,and in delivering the goods needed by the growing population.
The problem was that all these horses produced huge amounts of manure.A horse on average produces 15-35 pounds of manure per day.Consequently,the streets of 19th-century cities were covered by horse manure.This,in turn,attracted huge numbers of flies,and the dried manure was blown everywhere.Every day 2.5 million pounds of horse manure were produced and had to be swept up and disposed of.
In 1898 the first international urban-planning conference was held in New York.It was abandoned after three days,instead of the scheduled ten,because nobody could see any solution to the growing crisis by urban horses and their output.
The problem did seem tough.The larger and richer that cities became,the more horses they needed.The more horses,the more manure.In 1894,a writer estimated that in 50 years every street in London would be buried under nine feet of manure.Moreover,all these horses had to be stabled,which used up ever-larger areas of increasingly valuable land.And as the number of horses grew,ever-more land had to be devoted to producing hay to feed them (rather than producing food for people),and this had to be brought into cities and distributed-by horse-drawn vehicles.It seemed that urban civilization was doomed.
Of course,urban civilization was not buried in manure.Because millions of horses were replaced by motor vehicles!This was possible because of cleverness of inventors and entrepreneurs such as Gottlieb Daimler and Henry Ford,and a system that gave them the freedom to put their ideas into practice.Even more important,however,was the existence of the price mechanism.When the price of horse-drawn transport rose steadily with the increasing cost of feeding and housing horses,strong incentives(動機) were created for people to find alternatives.
32.How would you feel if you were walking on the New York street of 1900?A
A.Sick.B.Light-hearted.C.Excited.D.Satisfied.
33.What was the problem that New York faced one hundred years ago?D
A.Heavy traffic.B.Narrow streets.C.Little valuable land.D.Horse manure.
34.What was the probable target of the first international urban-planning conference in 1898?B
A.To feed more horses.
B.To find a solution to horse manure.
C.To reduce public buses.
D.To produce motor vehicles.
35.What was the most important factor in solving the urban civilization problem of New York?C
A.Entrepreneurs'freedom.
B.People's incentives.
C.Price mechanism.
D.Government's appeal.
分析 本文是一篇社會文化類閱讀,屬于議論文,主要講述了大約100年前,馬糞危機使多數(shù)觀察人士絕望,19世紀,城市的日常運作取決于馬,1900在紐約,100000馬進行運輸,并為日益增長的人口提供需要的物品.本文主要講述了馬糞危機以及其解決方法.
解答 32.A.推理判斷題.根據(jù)Consequently,the streets of 19th-century cities were covered by horse manure.This,in turn,attracted huge numbers of flies,and the dried manure was blown everywhere.可以推測出,紐約的街道當時有很多馬糞,故走在街道上,會感到惡心.故選A.
33.D.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)Consequently,the streets of 19th-century cities were covered by horse manure.This,in turn,attracted huge numbers of flies,and the dried manure was blown everywhere.可知,當時最大的問題是街道上堆滿了馬糞.故選D.
34.B.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)It was abandoned after three days,instead of the scheduled ten,because nobody could see any solution to the growing crisis by urban horses and their output.可知,1898首屆國際城市規(guī)劃大會的目標可能是找到解決馬糞的方法.故選B.
35.C.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)Even more important,however,was the existence of the price mechanism.可知,解決紐約城市文明問題最重要的因素是價格機制.故選C.
點評 本文是一篇社會文化類閱讀,題目涉及多道細節(jié)理解題,推理判斷題.做題時學生應仔細閱讀原文,把握文章主要內(nèi)容,聯(lián)系文章上下文內(nèi)容并結合所給選項含義,從中選出正確答案,一定要做到有理有據(jù),切忌胡亂猜測.