全球范围内开车出行和通勤的人数持续增长。这一趋势可能会带来诸如交通拥堵增多、健康水平下降等多种后果。一些城市铺设新道路来容纳更多汽车，而还有一些城市则通过提高用车成本、减少汽车保有量等方式来提升交通效率。本文浅谈过度依赖开车出行对交通甚至社会造成的影响。

词汇： traffic 交通

1  Driving: do we love it because it's quick and convenient, or is it just that we don't have a choice? Either way, commuting by car is becoming more common across the world. While this could mean that people are getting more mobility and freedom, could it have a cost?

2  As the number of cars on the road increases, so does congestion. As more people travel by car, more road space is used up. According to the OECD's International Transport Forum, the average person travelling in a car takes up five times as much road space as someone on a bus. This is made worse by the fact that, on average, today's cars are larger than those of the past. Tailbacks and other traffic jams in the UK could be costing £7.5 billion each year in wasted time.

3  It's not just gridlock and wasted time that's the problem. Car dependency has significant health impacts. Air pollution from diesel and petrol cars can cause health problems such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Road traffic accidents lead to injuries and fatalities. Additional to this are the long-term problems caused by sedentary lifestyles, leading to poor fitness and obesity. Road-building developments can also split communities, leading people to feel cut off. Where road transport dominates an area, people without access to a car can feel isolated.

4  Cities and countries are sometimes tempted to build new roads to reduce the potential for snarl-ups. However, some experts say that this can cause induced demand where increased road capacity leads to more people driving, and congestion is soon back to its previous level. The other side of this theory is that when road space allocation is taken away from private cars, often congestion won't get any worse. Authorities in some cities, such as Seoul and Utrecht, have demolished motorways, leaving natural features such as streams and rivers in their place. Making drivers pay more is an approach used in cities like London, or Singapore, where ten-year car ownership licenses can cost over £60,000. The increased costs can help reduce the number of cars on the road and make traffic flow faster.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______

Paragraph 2 _______

Paragraph 3 _______

Paragraph 4 _______

a. Traffic and health

b. Convenience at what price?

c. Is cycling the answer?

d. The cost of congestion

e. Reducing dependency

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. Buses use road space more efficiently than cars.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. What does 'this' refer to in the following sentence? This is made worse by the fact that, on average, today's cars are larger than those of the past.
a. wasted time
b. bus passengers
c. cars' need for space

3. Asthma can be caused by...
a. road traffic accidents
b. pollution
c. isolation

4. People can feel cut off by…
a. road traffic accidents
b. respiratory problems
c. roads splitting their communities

5. Singapore regulates traffic through
a. high fees
b. road building
c. population density

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

1) _______by car is increasingly popular globally. This can lead to 2) _______ which cost lots of money through wasted time. Increased pollution from static cars can lead to people developing 3) _______ conditions, such as asthma. Road traffic accidents can cause casualties and 4) _______. The solution to the problem could be through ways to reduce car 5) _______.

sedentary
ownership
gridlock
commuting
fatalities
mobility
respiratory

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

convenient 方便的，便利的
commuting 通勤
mobility 流动性，移动性
congestion 交通拥堵
tailback （因拥堵而形成的）车辆长龙
traffic jam 交通堵塞
gridlock 交通大堵塞
pollution 污染
respiratory 呼吸的
fatality 死亡
sedentary 缺乏活动的
cut off 与外界隔绝
isolated 孤独的，被孤立的
snarl-up 拥堵
induced demand 诱导需求
allocation 分配
motorway 高速公路
flow 流动，移动

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 b) Convenience at what price

Paragraph 2 a) The cost of congestion

Paragraph 3 e) Traffic and health

Paragraph 4 d) Reducing dependency

二 、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. a. True. According to the OECD's International Transport Forum, the average person travelling in a car takes up five times as much road space as someone on a bus.

2. c. The pronoun 'this' refers to the previous sentence which says that people travelling in cars need more space than people travelling on a bus.

3. b. Air pollution from diesel and petrol cars can cause health problems such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

4. c. Road developments can also split communities, leading people to feel cut off.

5. a. Making drivers pay more is an approach used in cities like London, or Singapore, where ten-year car ownership licenses can cost over £60,000. The increased costs can help reduce the number of cars on the road and make traffic flow faster.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Commuting by car is increasingly popular globally. This can lead to gridlock which cost lots of money through wasted time. Increased pollution from static cars can lead to people developing respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Road traffic accidents can cause casualties and fatalities. The solution to the problem could be through ways to reduce car ownership.