Britain almost more than any other country in the world must seriously face the problem of building upwards, that is to say of accommodating(居住) a considerable proportion of its population in high blocks of flats. It is said that the Englishman objects to this type of existence, but if the case is such, he does in fact differ from the inhabitants of most countries of the world today. In the past our own blocks or flats have been associated with(把……同……聯(lián)系起來) the lower-income groups and they have lacked the obvious provisions, such as central heating, constant hot water supply, electrically operated lifts from top to bottom, and so on, as well as such details, important notwithstanding(然而), as easy facilities for disposal(處理) of dust and rubbish and storage places for baby carriages on the ground floor, playgrounds for children on the top of the buildings, and drying grounds for washing. It is likely that the dispute regarding flats versus individual houses will continue to rage(風(fēng)行) on for a long time as far as Britain is concerned, and it is unfortunate that there should be hot feelings on both sides whenever this subject is raised. Those who oppose the building of flats base their case primarily on the assumption that everyone prefers individual home and garden and on the high cost per unit of accommodation. The latter ignores the higher cost of providing full services to a scattered(分散)community and the cost in both money and time of the journey to work for the suburban resident.
1. We can infer from the passage that ____.
A. English people, differently from most people in other countries, dislike
living in flats
B. people in most countries of the world today are not opposed to living in flats
C. people in Britain are forced to move into high blocks of flats
D. modern flats still fail to provide the necessary facilities for living
2. What is said about the blocks of flats built in the past in Britain?_____
A. They were mostly inhabited by people who did not earn much.
B. They were usually not large enough to accommodate big families.
C. They were sold to people before necessary facilities were installed.
D. They provided playgrounds for children on the top of the buildings.
3. Some people oppose the building of flats because ____.
A. this living expenses for each individual family are higher
B. it involves higher cost compared with the building of houses
C. they believe that people like to live in houses with gardens
D. the disposal of rubbish remains a problem for those who lives in flats
4. The author mentions that people who live in suburban houses ____.
A. do not have access to easy facilities because they live away from the city
B. have to pay a lot of money to employ people to do service work
C. take longer time to know each other because they are a scattered community
D. have to spend money and time going to work every day
