It does not come as a surprise that Dubai has a growing problem with "tragic". The local rulers have explored all the conventional ways to get traffic moving again,including higher prices for parking,fuel and insurance. But at a recent conference in Hamburg, Hussain Lootah said that the city may adopt a more strict approach: setting an income level for vehicle ownership. Mr Lootah's approach is unlikely to be copied widely, but mayors of other big cities around the world are starting to think about taking severe actions of their own, including complete car bans in inner cities.But the efforts may not be enough to reduce traffic and pollution. The problems will only get worse: the number of vehicles sold globally each year will grow from around 80 million today to more than 100 million by the end of the decade, according to IHS Automotive. There are already a handful of car-free communities around the world.But these are typically small and often tourist destinations that seek to create a throwback(;) in time, such as Sark Island, in the English Channel. The largest car-free urban area is probably Venice, where it is impossible to build roads and bridges to link the more than 100 small islands the city sits on. Yet pedestrian malls and other car-free zones keep popping up in cities around the world. Some cities are considering ways to limit central city access to "green" machines, such as battery-electric vehicles. Hamburg is perhaps the furthest along. Such extreme plans may fly in a city such as Hamburg. But in many other cities the political resistance even to less far-reaching measures is hard to overcome. Michael Bloomberg, New York's former mayor, tried twice to introduce a jam charge for much of Manhattan, but his plans were rejected by state lawmakers. What causes Venice to be the largest car-free urban area? A) Its natural geographical characteristics. B) Its too many tourist destinations. C) Its reduced number of cars. D) Its government law on car free.
A
(Question)
I was doing a weekend seminar at the Deerhurst Lodge, north of Toronto. On Friday night a tornado swept through a town north of us called Barrie, killing dozens of people and doing millions of dollars worth of damage. Sunday night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got to Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around. It was a mess. Everywhere I looked there were smashed houses and cars turned upside down. That same night Bob Templeton was driving down the same highway. He stopped to look at the disaster just as I had; only his thoughts were different than my own. Bob was the vice-president of Telemedia Communications, which owns a string of radio stations in Ontario and Quebec. He thought there must be something we could do for these people with the radio stations they had. The following night I was doing another seminar in Toronto. Bob Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-president from Telemedia, came in and stood in the back of the room. They shared their conviction that there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie. After the seminar we went back to Bob's office. He was now committed to the idea of helping the people who had been caught in the tornado. The following Friday he called all the executives at Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart he wrote three 3s. He said to his executives, "How would you like to raise 3 million dollars 3 days from now in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?" There was nothing but silence in the room. Finally someone said, "Templeton, you're crazy. There is no way we could do that." Bob said, "Wait a minute. I didn't ask you if we could or even if we should. I just asked you if you'd like to." They all said, "Sure we'd like to." He then drew a large 'T' underneath the 333. On one side he wrote, "Why we can't." On the other side he wrote, "How we can." "I'm going to put a big X on the 'Why we can't' side. We're not going to spend any time on the ideas of why we can't. That's of... We can conclude from the passage that Bob Templeton is _ . A) compassionate and determined B) stubborn and simple-minded C) independent and strong-willed D) passionate and stubborn
(Answer)
A
Question: I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts. The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, "Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change. And it did. On arriving at the beach cottage, I kissed Evelyn meeting me at the door and said, "That new yellow sweater looks great on you." "Oh, Tom, you noticed", she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me." We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites. So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression. "What's the matter?" I asked her. "Tom," she said in a voice filled with distress, "I don't?" "What do you mean?" "Well...that checkup I had several weeks ago...our doctor...did he tell you something about me? Tom, you've been so good to me...am I dying?" It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing. "No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just starting to live." During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because _ . A) he was determined to be a good husband B) he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm C) she looked lovely in her new clothes D) the doctor said his wife was seriously ill
Answer:
A