题目内容
Cars account for half the oil consumed in The U. S. , about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse (温室) gases. They take a similar oil of ullage (损耗) resources in other industrial nations and in tile cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U. S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health related and political costs. It is unlikely that oil prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing U. S. contribution to global climatic change.
Policymakers and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the e missions of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, switch tm less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of these—in particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity—is ultimately the only sustainable option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are either impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the U. S. , mass-transit ridership and carpooling (合伙用车) have declined since World War Ⅱ. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than ＄ 1 a liter (about ＄ 4 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travels.
Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made arty progress in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal reductions in pollution and greenhouse emissions especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline.
From the passage we know that the increased use of cars will ______.
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Analysts cite a variety of reasons for this return to the nest. The marriage age is rising, a condition that makes home and its pleasantness particularly attractive to young people. A high divorce rate and a declining rate are sending economically pressed and emotionally hurt survivors back to parental shelters. For some, the expense of an away-from-home college education has become so excessively great that many students now attend local schools. Even after graduation, young people find their wings dipped by skyrocketing housing costs.
Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give her security and moral support. Her mother agreed, "It's ridiculous fur the kids to pay all that money for rent. It makes sense for kids to stay at home." But sharing the family home requires adjustments for all. There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy. Some families, however, manage the delicate balancing act. But for others, it proves too difficult. Michelle Del Turco, 24. has been home three times—and left three limes. "What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol problem," she explains. "He never liked anyone I dated, so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends' house."
Just how long should adult children live with their parents before moving on？ Most psychologists feel lengthy homecomings are a mistake. Children, struggling to establish separate identities, can end up with "a sense of inadequacy, defeat and failure". And aging parents, who should be enjoying some financial and personal freedom, find themselves stuck with responsibilities. Many agree that brief visits, however, can work beneficially.
According to the author, there was once a trend in the U.S ______.
Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one's side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell. Those private citizens who sent packages to cur troops occupying Germany after World War Ⅱ and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that "Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm's length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes A mericans uncomfortable.
Our linguistic (语言上的) and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.
Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerics and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them. When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation's diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.
For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.
But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.
It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably ______.
Throughout, ______ has remained a busy, working church where millions have come to worship
How many hours do the researchers advise people to spend doing weekly physical exercises？
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