题目：
As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19 th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
小题1:What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?
A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.
B．Land in the West was hard to manage.
C．Some railroad stops remained underused.
D．Land grants went into private hands.小题2:What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?
A．The use of money and power.
B．The transmission of power.
C．The conservation of solar energy.
D．The selection of an ideal place.小题3:What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?
A．Disapproving.
B．Approving.
C．Doubtful.
D．Cautious.小题4:Which is the best title for the passage?
A．How the Railways Have Affected the West
B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced
C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West
D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled
答案：
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C
题目分析：主要讲述的就是新型的太阳能装置是否能重新塑造出西部的新的发展，人们对于新型的能源很渴望，但是也有很多的担心。
小题1:B 细节题。根据第二段3,4,5行In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management.说明西部的土地难以管理是重要的原因，故B正确。
小题2:A 细节题。根据There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind,说明人们很担心钱没有被正确第使用，而是被浪费掉了，故A正确。
小题3:D 推理题。根据文章最后两段可知，虽然这样做有很多的好处，但是人们仍然担心投资的钱和精力会不会被浪费掉，所以态度很谨慎。故D项正确。
小题4:C 主旨大意题。本题主要讲述的就是新型的太阳能装置是否能重新塑造出西部的新的发展，人们对于新型的能源很渴望，但是也有很多的担心。故C项符合文章要求。
点评：经济类短文是考生的难度，此类文章的最大的障碍是词汇以及考生对阅读内容的不熟悉，需要考生在阅读的时候有足够的耐心。要养成在上下文串联中猜测词义的能力，根据上下文中出现的同义词，近义词，反义词，以及词义的解释来理解生词。同时要抓住文章的中心，不要受其他信息的影响。要根据题目及选项以及文章的上下文串联合理的判断推理。
