共用题干

共用题干
Pedestrians Only

1 The concept of traffic-free shopping areas goes back a long time.During the Middle Ages,traffic-
free shopping areas were built in Middle Eastern countries to allow people to shop iii comfort and,more im-
portantly,safety.As far back as 2,000 years ago,road traffic was banned from central Rome during the day
to allow for the free movement of pedestrians（行人）,and was only allowed inl at night when shops and mar-
kets had closed for the day.In most other cities,however,pedestrians were forced to share the streets with
horses,coaches and,later,with cars and other motorised vehicles.
2 The modern,traffic-free shopping street was born in Europe in the l960s,when both city popula-
tions and car ownership increased rapidly.Dirty gases from cars and the risks involved,in crossing the road
were beginning to make shopping an unpleasant and dangerous experience.Many believed the time was right
for experimenting with car-free streets,and shopping areas seemed the best place to start.
3 At first,there was resistance from shopkeepers.They believed that such a move would be bad for
business.They argued that people would avoid streets if they were unable to get to them in their cars.When
the first streets in Europe were closed to traffic,there were even noisy demonstrations,as many shopkeepers
predicted they would.lose customers.
4 However,research carried out afterwards in several European cities revealed some unexpected statistics.
In Munich,Cologne and Hamburg,visitors to shopping areas increased by 50 percent.On Copenhagen's
main shopping street,shopkeepers reported sales increases of 25-40 percent.Shopkeepers in Minneapolis,
the USA,were so impressed when they learnt this that they even offered to pay for the construction and
maintenance costs of their own traffic-free streets.
5 With the arrival of the traffic-free shopping street,many shops,especially those selling things like
clothes,food and smaller luxury items,prospered.Unfortunately,it isn't good news for everyone,as shops
selling furniture and larger electrical appliances,etc.actually saw their sales drop.Many of these were forced
to move elsewhere,away from the city centre.

Paragraph 2____________
A:Facing Protest From Shop Owners
B:An Experoment That Went Wrong
C:Increase in Sales and Customers
D:Popularity of Online Shopping
E:A Need for Change
F:An Ides From Ancient Histoy