阅读理解。
London started its first major bike hire scheme (方案) on July 30th. Transport For London (TFL),
the agency responsible for moving people around England's capital, put 5,000 bicycles in 400 different
locations around the city.
The idea is to cut traffic, reduce pollution and provide a greener way of getting around London's
streets. The scheme had a few small problems on its first day as people could not lock the bikes properly
once they had finished riding them. As a gesture of goodwill, London Mayor Boris Johnson announced
all rentals (租金) on the first day would be free of charge. The bikes are available for free for the first 30 minutes but costs go up sharply since then. Renters have to pay $1.60 for the first hour and $78 for 24
hours. The bikes are clearly designed for very short trips.
TFL says it sees a "cycle revolution" happening in London. It predicts there will be around 40,000
new cycle journeys every day on the rental bikes. Mr. Johnson says he wants to see a return to the turn
of the 20th century, when 20 per cent of journeys in London were made by bicycle. The scheme has
received a lot of positive feedback (反馈) in the first two days.
Many Londoners believe it is a great alternative (替代品) to London's overcrowded and overpriced
trains and buses. One person, Andy Clark, told the Reuters news agency, "It's a great idea. I've seen it
operating in Paris and Barcelona and thought why don't we have one?" The Londonist Blog said the
bikes were very strong and were "designed to bear a beating from both careless cyclists and drunken
people".
1. What's the main idea of the passage?
A. London starts a new bike hire scheme.
B. London needs better measures to cut traffic.
C. London encourages people to buy bikes.
D. London decides to protect the environment.
2. At the beginning of the scheme, there was some difficulty with the ____.
A. rental
B. time
C. distance
D. lock
3. Which of the following is NOT the purpose of the bike rental scheme?
A. To reduce traffic pressure.
B. To protect nature.
C. To decrease pollution.
D. To beautify the city.
4. It can be learned from the passage that ____.
A. the bikes are designed for long journeys in London
B. it costs nearly $80 to rent one of the bikes for a day
C. London is the first city to start the bike rental scheme
D. All Londoners approve of the scheme
