阅读理解。
Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is
mapping out a new plan for the city's parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai
but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles. It is no wonder
that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses,
the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than
in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying
cars.
By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking
lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles.
Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building
more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn't provide an ideal solution. The idea of
"Park & Ride" system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks
nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will
limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking
areas near main subway and bus stops.
1. The underlined phrase "mapping out" in the first paragraph means ______. [ ]
A. making
B. arguing
C. controlling
D. inspiring
2. About ______ drivers can find places to park their cars in Shanghai now.[ ]
A. 850,000
B. 1,000,000
C. 150,000
D. 2,000,000
3. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us? [ ]
A. The city sent out more private licenses in February.
B. Less and less people bought cars in March.
C. The city sent out less private licenses in March.
D. More and more people are going to buy cars.
4. According to the idea of a "Park & Ride" system, the city will ______. [ ]
A. send out more private car licenses
B. build more parking lots near bus stops
C. encourage people to buy more cars
D. build more parking areas in downtown
