3 another way to reduce rush—hour traffic is for employers to implement flextime，which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour.those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars.employers can also allow more staff to telecommute(work from home)so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.
4 some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads，especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets.but such techniques do not really keep cars off the road;they only accommodate more of them.
5 other, more forward—thinking，planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day，and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment.for this reason, the american government has decided to spend some$7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transport systems and upgrade them with more efficient technologies.but environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the$50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.
23.paragraph 1____
24.paragraph 2____
25.paragraph 3 ____
26.paragraph 4____
a.not doing enough
b.a global problem
c.changing work practice
d.a solution which is no solution
e.paying to get in
f.closing city centres to traffic
27. most american drivers think it convenient to______
28. if charged high enough, some drivers may______ to enter certain parts of town.
29. building more roads is not an effective way to______
30. the u. s. government has planned to ______ updating public-transport systems.
a.go by bus
b.encourage more private cars
c.drive around
d.spend more money
e.reduce traffic jams
f.travel regularly
第4部分：阅读理解(第31~45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。
第一篇
making a loss is the height of fashion
given that a good year in the haute couture(高级定制女装)business is one where you lose even more money than usual, the prevailing mood in paris last week was sensational.the big-name designers were faiiing over themselves to boast of how many outfits they had sold at below cost price，and how this proved that the fashion business was healthier than ever.jean—paul gaultier reported record sales。“but we don’t make any money out of it，’，t the designer assured journalists backstage.“no maker how successful you are，you can’t make a profit from couture，”explained jean—jacques picart, a veteran fashion pr man，and co—founder of the now—bankrupt lacroix house.
almost 20 years have passed since the unusual economics of the couture business were first exposed.outraged that he was losing money on evening dresses costing tens of thousands of pounds，the couturier jean-louis scherrer published of his costs.one outfit he described curtained over half a mile of gold thread，1 8，000sequins(亮片)，and had required hundreds of hours of hand—stitching in an atelier(制作室).a fair price would have been~50，000，but the couturier could only get~35。000 for it.rather than riding high on the foolishness of the super—rich，he and his team could barely
feed their hungry families.
the result was an outcry and the first of a series of government-and industry—sponsored inquiries into the surreal(超现实的)world of ultimate fashion.the trade continues to insist that couture offers you more than you pay for，but it’s not as simple as that.when such a temple of old wealth starts talking about value for money。it isn’t to convince anyone that dresses costing as much as houses are a bargain.rather，it is to preserve the peculiar mystique(神秘)，lucrative(利润丰厚的)associations and
threatened interests that couture represents.
essentially，the arguments couldn’t be simpler.on one side are those who say that the business will die if it doesn’t change. on the other are those who say it will die if it is highly dated. huge in its costs，tiny in its clientele and questionable in its influence，it still remains one of the great themes of parisian life.in his book, the fashion conspiracy, nicholas coleridge estimates that the entire couture industry rests on the whims(一时兴起)of less than 30 immensely wealthy women，and although the number may have grown in recent years with the new prosperity of asia, the number of couture customers worldwide is no more than 4.000.
to qualify as couture, a garment must be entirely handmade by one of the 11 paris couture houses registered to the chambre syndicale de la haute couture.each house must employ at least 20 people.and show a minimum of 75 new designs a year.so far,so traditional.but the big four operators——chanel，dior,givenchy and gaultier—increasingly use couture as a marketing device for their far more profitable ready—to—wear，fragrance and accessory lines.