阅读理解、动词短语精练学案11

When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be "last weekend．" Some people go even more often．Why? Malls offer goods and services all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services．So, are they one of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say no and would go even further, arguing that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster．They cause consumers' ignorance of the side effect of their shopping—urban sprawl （扩大）．

Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a lot．Before 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 far-away villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn't produce themselves．If you stared at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by the countryside．

Now automobiles become affordable and people are quick to make use of them．Ambitious workers could live in suburbs, just outside cities, which have started to grow rapidly．As long as there is lots of cheap land there, no one pays much attention to the usage of that land．Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and such spread out in large, flat buildings．These one-storey buildings and their parking lot take up too much space．Many farmers think they are better off selling their land than

growing crops．No one has realized once the land is built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land will be ruined forever．There is no way to preserve （保护）it．

Only in recent years have people come to miss the old way of life as they have looked into the problems of unconditional growth．Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems．The bad effects that sprawl brings about include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and so on．Many scholars think it's time to analyze the problems better so we can develop proper policies to control further sprawl．Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens．

53．What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A．Shopping Malls B．Urban Sprawl C．New Automobiles

D．Environmental Problems

54．What does the underlined word "They" refer to in the first paragraph?

A．Mails．B．Activists．C．Medical services．D．Consumers．55．What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To introduce mainly the environmental problems．

B．To explain the differences in people's life both today and in the past．