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One of the most common images of an advanced, Westernstyle culture is that of a busy, trafficfilled city. Since their first |
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appearance on American roadways, automobiles have become a |
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symbol of progress, a source of thousands of jobs and an almost inalienable right for citizens' personal freedom of movement. In recent decades , our " love affair" with the car is being exported directly to the developing world, and it is increasingly |
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apparent that this transfer is leading to disaster. |
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American' s almost complete dependence on automobiles has been a terrible mistake. As late as the 1950s, a large percentage of the American public used mass transit. A combination of public policy decisions and corporate scheming saw to it that countless |
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convenient and efficient urban street car and intracity rail systems were dismantled chāi chú. |
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Our air quality now suffers from the effects of pollutants emitted directly from our cars . Our lives have been planned along a road grid homes far from work, shopping far from everything, with ugly stretches of concrete and blacktop in between. |
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Developing countries are copying Westernstyle transportation systems down to the last detail. |
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The problems caused by motorized vehicles in the West are often magnified in developing nations . Pollution control measures are either not strict or nonexistent, leading to choking clouds of smog. Gasoline still contains lead, which is extremely poisonous to humans. |
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Movement in some cities comes to a virtual standstill as motorized traffic competes with bicycles and pedestrians. |
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In addition to pollution and traffic jams, auto safety is a critical issue in developing nations. |
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cháng yòng cí huì: inalienable bù kě bō duó de love affair liàn ài, fēng liú yùn shì export shū chū, chū kǒu import shū rù, jìn kǒu intracity shì nèi de concrete hùn níng tǔ blacktop lì qīng lù, bǎi yóu lù down to the last detail fēi cháng xiáng jìn de smog yān wù pedestrian xíng rén |