Question

Shopping habits in the United States have changed greatly in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Early in the 1900s, most American towns and cities had a Main Street. Main Street was always in the heart of a town. This street was lined on both sides with many businesses. Here, shoppers walked into stores to look at all kinds of merchandise（商品）：clothing, furniture, hardware（五金）, groceries（杂货）. In addition, some shops offered services. These shops included drugstores, restaurants, shoe-repair stores, and barber or hairdressing shops. But in the 1950s, a change began to take place. Too many cars and trucks had crowded into Main Street. There were few parking places. Because the streets were crowded, merchants（商人） began to look with interest at the open spaces outside the city limits. Open space is what their car-driving customers needed．And open space is what they got when the first shopping center was built. Shopping centers, or malls, started as collection of small new stores built away from crowded city centers. Attracted by hundreds of free parking spaces, customers were drawn away from downtown areas to the outlying malls.

By the late 1970s, many shopping malls had almost developed into small cities themselves. In addition to providing the convenience of one-stop shopping, malls were changed into landscaped parks, with beautiful flowers, fountains, and outdoor entertainment. For example, one of the shopping malls is The Galleria in Houston, Texas. Inside the Galleria, more than ten of shops face balconies and there is an indoor ice skating rink（溜冰场）. Some of Houston’s best restaurants are also here. Atop（在……顶上） the whole mammoth（巨大的） structure is a new hotel. The Galleria, and other imaginative shopping centers throughout the United States, have led a magazine to title its recent leading article “The Malling of America”.

1. Which of the following is not correct?

A．During the 1950s, many parking places were available（可用的，有效的） to shoppers who drove to any Main Street.

B．Before the 1950s, a Main Street was a shopping center in most American towns.

C．Main Street was usually in the heart of a town.

D．At the beginning of the 20th century, all kinds of stores were located along Main Street.

2. The Galleria in Houston, Texas is ____________.

  A．a huge and modern restaurant.         B．a beautiful guest house.

  C．a soaring new hotel.                D．a wonderful shopping mall.

3. The best title for this passage would be ____________.

A．The changes of American Shopping Centers.

B．The Malling of America.

C．The Convenience of One-stop Shopping.

D．The Past and Present of the American People

Answer 1

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