Key:
Task 1:
1. The intersection of the lines on the graph marks the point where we
start to make a profit.
2. These measures were/have been/are designed to improve carsafety.
3. The senator thoroughly squelched the journalist who tried to interrupt
him during his speech.
4. The cold weather is likely to persist throughout the week.
5. It is unclear how to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island.
Task 2: Answers may vary
1. He tried, albeit without success.
2. Record sales are not always a measure of a singer's success.
3. Unlike trains, trams do not have their own dedicated lines, but sharing
the road with other means of transport such as cars, motorbikes or bikes.
4. The increase of individual vehicles has exacerbated trafficcongestion.
5. In order to meet the transport demand of citizens and tackle traffic
congestion, governmental spending needs to be invested in upgrading the
public transport system.
Task 3:
The methods of (1) mitigating traffic congestion have become a heated
topic of controversy. Some people argue that the construction of larger
roads is the answer to the problem. However, I contend that such a
solution is (2) ineffective in the long term, while the option to construct
railways and subways is a far better (3) measure.
There is a common fallacy that (4) governmental spending on building
larger roads could (5) sustainably address the problem of traffic
congestion. An increase in road size could reduce the (6) traffic
intensity in the short term, but larger roads also mean that citizens are
encouraged to purchase more (7) individual vehicles. This leads to the fact
that the roads, (8) albeit larger, would soon be filled with intense traffic
again. For instance, traffic jams returned to Shanghai's main streets not
long after they were expanded in the early 1990s. In brief, if this solution
were (9) implemented, traffic jams would still
(10) persist in the long run.
Rail and subway systems, however, could ensure that (11) traffic
congestion is (12) properly addressed. Unlike cars and buses, trains are
capable of transporting hundreds of people simultaneously and thus
would (13) meet the transport demands of a vast number of passengers.
Moreover, trains do not have to go through (14) intersections or traffic
lights, and (15) dedicated lines ensure their travel is hardly
(16) interrupted. In other words, trains are always on time regardless of
the level of traffic. This standard of (17) punctuality would encourage
many people to choose railways and subways as their primary (18) means
of transport, and the number of individual vehicles would decrease
accordingly. As a result, traffic congestion could be
(19) tackled successfully.
In conclusion, building more and larger roads is an
(20) unsustainable measure, while train and subway lines would be a
much more effective solution for the problem of traffic congestion.