Beijing plans to build huge free or low-cost parking lots beyond the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads to encourage more car owners to take buses or subways to the downtown area．
The plan is just one of the many measures the city plans to take to reduce its traffic jams．Low or no parking fees would be used as economic leverage(杠杆作用) to reduce growing parking demands from urban areas．
Car owners living in the suburbs will be encouraged to park their cars beyond the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads and take buses or subways to the downtown area．Statistics show that nearly one quarter of the city’s traffic flow is concentrated in the 62-square-kilometer downtown area within the Second Ring Road, which makes up only 12 percent of the city’s total area．
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau receives between 400 and 500 calls reporting traffic jams every day and more than 90 percent of the roads are filled to capacity during rush hours every morning and evening．Part of the problem is the lack of easy links between bus routes, subways and cars．
According to the communication commission, half of the city’s investment in transportation will go towards public transit（公共交通） construction in the next few years, making a jump from the current only 20 per cent．Moreover, Beijing plans to change its layout （布局） by building new city centers, such as at Yizhuang, Tongzhou, Shunyi and Changping, in a bid to reduce the traffic flow to the downtown．
The current layout of Beijing-expanded ring roads around the same center of the Forbidden City, is seen as the root cause of the endless traffic jams．The downtown area is crowded with three business centers and one financial center, as well as nearly 400 government organs and institutions．
Traffic experts say building more urban centers around Beijing may reduce the number of residents living in the suburbs and traveling long distances to work downtown every day, thus reducing traffic flow．
40．In the coming years, if a man beyond the Fourth Ring Road goes to work in the downtown of Beijing, he is encouraged to _________．
A．take buses or subways B．take a taxi
C．drive the car quickly D．park his car in a place which asks for no fees
41．According to this passage, when more and more people drive to work in rush hour in Beijing, it is likely to _______．
A．save time B．cause traffic jams
C．cause traffic accidents D．reduce air pollution
42．The aim in building new city centers is to ________．
A．make it convenient for people to go shopping
B．develop its local resources
C．reduce the traffic flow to the downtown
D．solve the problem of more laid-off workers
43．The passage suggests the author ______．
A．is tired of driving to work
B．finds it costs less to take subways than to drive
C．is for the plan to reduce Beijing’s traffic congestion(拥挤)
D．has benefited a lot by driving to the downtown every day
