文章大意:本文是一篇说明文。在过去的五十年里,高铁的发展推动了经济的发展,创造了巨大的社会价值。本文主要介绍了美国的交通现状及美国人对高铁的认知和态度,分析了高铁在美国未来发展的可能性。
Over the past 50 years, it turns out that high-speed trains are not just reducing journey times, but most importantly, it’s driving economic growth, creating job opportunities and bringing communities closer together.
Although Japan started the trend with its Shinkansen “Bullet Trains” in 1964, it was the coming of France’s TGV in the early 1980s that really promoted a global high-speed train revolution that continued to speed up. China has built around 42, 000 kilometers of high-speed railways since 2008 and plans to top 70,000 kilometers by 2035.
But the United States detoured the revolution. For the rich and economically successful nation on the planet, with an increasingly urbanized population of more than 300 million, it is increasingly difficult to give a good reason. Cars and airplanes have dominated long-distance travel in the United States since the 1950s.Now Americans still almost entirely depend on crowded highways or airline networks that are easy to collapse.
“Many Americans have no concept of high-speed rail and fail to see its value,” says William C. Vantuono, editor-in-chief of Railway Age, North America’s oldest railroad industry publication.
“It’s logical that the United States hasn’t yet developed a nationwide high-speed network, "says Scott Sherin, chief commercial officer of train builder Alstom’s US division. “For decades, traveling by car wasn’t a hardship, but as highway congestion (堵塞) gets worse, we’ve reached a stage where we should start looking more seriously for the alternatives.”
“The magic numbers are centers of population with around three million people that are 200 to 500 miles apart, giving a trip time of less than three hours — preferably two hours, where those conditions apply in Europe and Asia, high-speed rail reduces air’s share of the market from 100%to near zero. The model would work just as well in the USA as it does globally.” adds Scott Sherin.
28. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?
A.The value of high-speed trains. | B.The growth of high-speed trains. |
C.The hardship of high-speed trains. | D.The revolution of high-speed trains. |
29. What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
A.To introduce a new topic. | B.To give a possible explanation. |
C.To define a meaning. | D.To draw a comparison. |
30. What does the underlined word “detoured” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.Didn’t get involved in. | B.Didn’t change. |
C.Didn’t give up. | D.Didn’t protest. |
31. What does Scott Sherin think of the United States developing high-speed trains?
A.It is developing high-speed rail. | B.It should be cautious. |
C.It is losing its market share. | D.It should be flexible. |