Passage 3

    Shopping habits in the United States have changed greatly in the last quarter of the 20th century. ___1___ in the 1900s most American towns and cities had a Main Street. Main Street was always in the heart of a town. This street was ___2___ on both sides with many various businesses. Here, shoppers walked into stores to look at all sorts of merchandise: clothing, furniture, hardware, groceries. ___3___ , some shops offered services. These shops included drugstores, restaurants, shoe repair stores, and barber or hairdressing shops. ___4___ in the 1950s, a change began to take place. Too many automobiles had crowded into Main Street while too few parking places were available to shoppers. Because the streets were crowded, merchants began to look with interest at the open spaces ___5___ the city limits. Open space is what their car-driving customers needed. And open space is what they got ___6___ the first shopping center was built. Shopping centers, or rather malls, started as a collection of small new stores ___7___ crowded city centers. Attracted by hundreds of free parking space, customers were drawn away from ___8___ areas to outlying malls. And the growing popularity of shopping centers led, in turn, to the building of bigger and better stocked stores. By the late 1970s, many shopping malls had almost developed into small cities themselves. In addition to providing the ___9___ of one stop shopping, malls were transformed into landscaped parks, ___10___ benches, fountains, and outdoor entertainment.

    1. A. As early as B. EarlyC. Early as D. Earlier

    2. A. built B. designed C. intended D. lined

    3. A. Apart from B. However C. In addition D. As well

    4. A. suddenly B. Abruptly C. Contrarily D. But

    5. A. over B. from C. out of D. outside

    6. A. when B. while C. since D. then

    7. A. out of B. away from C. next to D. near

    8. A. inner B. central C. shopping D. downtown

    9. A. cheapness B. readiness C. convenience D. handiness

    10. A. because ofB. and C. with D. provided

    1.【答案】B

    【解析】as early as的意思為“同……一樣早”, early是副詞，“早期”的意思，earlier是比較級“較早” 的意思。

    2.【答案】D

    【解析】本句的意思是“街道的兩旁排列著很多各種各樣的商店”，build的意思是“建造，修建”，design的意思是“設計”，intend“意思是“打算”，line是“沿……排列” 的意思。

    3.【答案】C

    【解析】本句的意思是“除了各種各樣的商店銷售各種各樣的商品之外，有些商店還提供服務”，apart from意為“除此之外”，后必須接名詞或動名詞，however是連詞“然而” 的意思，in addition可單獨使用，意為“除此之外”，as well用在句末。

    4.【答案】D

    【解析】本句的意思是“在五十年代，情況發(fā)生了變化”，有轉(zhuǎn)折的意思。suddenly和abruptly都是“突然” 的意思，contrarily指“相反地”，but是“但是” 的意思,表轉(zhuǎn)折。

    5.【答案】D

    【解析】本句意為“商人們開始對城市界限以外的開闊地感興趣”，out of表示“……的外面”而outside指“超過某一個界限，范圍等”。

    6.【答案】A

    【解析】這里是一個時間狀語從句。因此用when (在……時候)。while指“在……期間”；since表示“自從”，主句一般用完成時。

    7.【答案】B

    【解析】本句意為“遠離擁擠的市中心”, out of指“在……之外”，away from表示距離，“遠離”，next to指“靠近，下一個”，near是“近” 的意思。

    8.【答案】D

    【解析】本句意為“顧客從市區(qū)被吸引到城市以外的商業(yè)中心”，只有downtown “市區(qū)” 符合此意。

    9.【答案】C

    【解析】這里convenience與providing組成短語“提供方便，便利”，符合上下文義。

    10.【答案】C

    【解析】介詞with在這里的意思是“帶有”，本句意為“商業(yè)街被變成了帶有長椅、噴泉及戶外娛樂的風景優(yōu)美的公園”。