专题04 阅读理解之说明文10篇(第三期)-备战2024年高考英语名校模拟真题速递(广东专用)

备战2024年高考英语名校模拟真题速递(广东专用) 第三期 专题05 阅读理解之说明文10篇 （2023上·广东·高三校联考阶段练习）Since the 1920s, a little-known policy called parking minimums has shaped many Americans’ life. In major cities, this meant that any type of building needed to reserve a certain number of parking spaces to accommodate anyone who might visit. But as the country attempts to cut carbon emissions (排放), we should rethink what transportation and public space look like, especially in cities. Earlier this month, the city of Austin, Texas, became the latest community to undo parking minimums. “If we want half of all trips to be in something other than a car, then we can’t, as a city, in my opinion, demand that every home or business have at least one parking space for each resident or customer,” said Zohaib Qadri, the Austin city council member who introduced the measure. Reducing dependency on cars was a huge push for the initiative in Austin. Qadri hopes the measure also will lead to a more sustainable city. The undoing of this law could pave the way for cities to build denser (密集的) housing, increase public transit options, and reduce their carbon emissions, according to Donald Shoup, an engineer and professor. “It isn’t just the housing crisis and climate change; it’s a traffic jam; it’s local air pollution; it’s the high price of everything—except parking,” said Shoup. Climate change and air pollution are particularly costly outcomes, with both estimated to cost the US billions of dollars every year. Parking spots, meanwhile, can run in the tens of thousands of dollars to construct, with one estimate putting that figure at almost $30, 000 per spot. But undoing parking minimums does not mean that all parking will disappear overnight. It means that any off-street parking built will not need to meet any minimum standard. “Austin is the same city that it was two weeks ago,” said Shoup. “It’s going to take quite a while for that city to really get the benefits of their parking space reforms. And so it