One of the most common images of an advanced, Western-style culture is that of a busy, traffic-filled city. Since their first 
appearance on American roadways, automobiles have become a 
symbol of progress, a source of thousands of jobs and an almost inalienable right for citizens’ personal freedom of movement. In recent decades , our “love affair” with the car is being exported directly to the developing world, and it is increasingly 
apparent  that this transfer is leading to disaster. 

American’s almost complete dependence on automobiles has been a terrible mistake. As late as the 1950s, a large percentage of the American public used mass transit. A combination of public policy decisions and corporate scheming saw to it that countless 
convenient and efficient urban street car and intra-city rail systems were dismantled(拆除). 
Our air quality now suffers from the effects of pollutants emitted directly from our cars . Our lives have been planned along a road grid - homes far from work, shopping far from everything, with ugly stretches of concrete and blacktop in between. 

Developing countries are copying Western-style transportation systems down to the last detail. 
 The problems caused by motorized vehicles in the West are often magnified in developing nations . Pollution control measures are either not strict or nonexistent, leading to choking clouds of smog. Gasoline still contains lead, which is extremely poisonous to humans. 
 Movement in some cities comes to a virtual standstill as motorized traffic competes with bicycles and pedestrians. 

In addition to pollution and traffic jams, auto safety is a critical issue in developing nations. 

    


常用词汇： inalienable 不可剥夺的 love affair 恋爱，风流韵事 export 输出，出口 import 输入，进口 intra-city 市内的 concrete 混凝土 blacktop 沥青路，柏油路 down to the last detail 非常详尽的 smog 烟雾 pedestrian 行人