阅读理解。
When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be "last weekend." Some
people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one
place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the
highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and
say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance
of the side effect of their shopping-urban sprawl (扩大).
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last
half century. Prior to 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public
transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages
and came into town only when they needed things they couldn't produce themselves. If you gazed at the
landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live
in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap
land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas,
and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up
a great deal space. Well-meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops.
In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would
be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the
problems of unconditional grows. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental
problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams,
and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the
problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to
do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.
1. What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A. Weekend Fun.
B. Urban Sprawl.
C. New Automobiles.
D. Isolated Villages.
2. What does the underlined word "They" refer to in the first paragraph?
A. Malls.
B. Activists.
C. Farmers.
D. Scientists.
3. Who do activists blame for environmental problems?
A. Endangered animals.
B. Shopping mall owners.
C. Unthinking shoppers.
D. Ambitious farmers.
4. What do scholars think should be done about urban sprawl?
A. Understand the situations better.
B. Follow customary policies.
C. Start school in shopping mails.
D. Charge polluters a lot of money.
5. What is the scholars' attitude toward urban sprawl?
A. Respectful.
B. Disapproving.
C. Pessimistic.
D. Doubtful.