阅读理解。
As the railroad and the highways shaped the American west in the past centuries, a new electrical
generating (发电) and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the
West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct
physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same
is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19th century saw land grant (政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental
railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad
sections were developed while others remained underdeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has
presented unique challenges to land management. With the competition of the interstate highway system,
many of the small towns which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood
and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West.
This is not n argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage
of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species (物种) will be
forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the
immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American
West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region.
There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just likely that they will be spent
wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far
beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let's remember the effects of the
railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
1. What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?
A. Small towns along the railways became abandoned.
B. Some railroad stops remained underused.
C. Land in the West was hard to manage.
D. Land grants went into private hands.
2. What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?
A. The transmission of power.
B. The use of money and power.
C. The conservation of solar energy.
D. The selection of an ideal place.
3. What is the author's attitude towards building solar plants?
A. Cautious
B. Approving
C. Doubtful
D. Disapproving
4. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. How the Railways Have Affected the West
B. How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West
C. How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced
D. How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled
