Passage 5

     Yang Yongfang used to take the bus to work. But, these days, when she takes a look at the bus, all she sees is "a big box full of people,all breathing in there. It seems very unsafe."      

     And that means SARS. So Yang got out her bicycle and dusted it off. Other Chinese who, until recently, appeared to be moving away from the old mode of transportation, seem to he back riding as well.

     Of course, there's no shortage of bikes. There were plenty long before SARS showed up. But in recent years, private care have been growing in large numbers, crowding bicycles off the streets in some of the biggest cities. Now SARS has brought the bicycle traffic back. Crowded trains and buses look less attractive(吸引人的).

     In Shanghai 120,000 more bicycles were registered (登记) in April, well above last year's monthly average of 50,000.

     People's Daily recently reported that "bicycle" had suddenly become the third most frequently searched term on the nation's largest Web search engine.

     However, if bike sales continue upward, it could become a nightmare (噩梦)for traffic planners, who had to contend with the often deadly clash between bikes and motorized vehicles. Shanghai officially sees nearly one traffic-related bicycle death a day, a figure that many people here say is probably an understatement (少报).

1. Before SARS broke out, Yang Yongfang______.
   A. was tired of going to work by car
   B. went to work by bike
   C. had already sold her bike
   D. went to work by bus
答案: D 指导：由文章第一句可知。
2. More and more people in Shanghai are beginning to ride, because______.
   A. riding a bike is much more convenient
   B. riding a bike costs less than taking the bus
   C. they care more about their health
   D. the government has been encouraging them to do exercise
答案: C 指导：由于SARS的影响，越来越多的人愿意骑自行车而非乘车是从身体健康方面考虑。
3. The writer of the passage______the phenomenon (现象)that bike sales continue upward.
   A. is strongly against    B. is for
   C. shows no opinion of    D. is worried about
答案: D 指导：由“if bike sales continueupward，it could become a nightmare．．．可知。
4. What is the best title for the passage?
   A. Bikes Sell Well in Shanghai.
   B. The New Fashion.
   C. Back to Nature.
   D. Shanghai Takes on a New Look.
答案: A 指导：为了躲避SARS，人们又重新选择了自行车，从而导致了自行车的旺销。因此，将A作为标题，可以揭示出“triffic"与"SARS'，之间在这一特定时期的关系。