2008年职称英语真题之综合类A级阅读理解:  
 
    第4部分：阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)

    下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。

    第一篇Centers of the Great European Cities

    The centers of the great cities of Europe are meeting places by tradition-People
 gather there to drink coffee and chat late into the night．A mixture of locals and tourists make for an exciting，metropolitan atmosphere．

    Squares，plazas(广场)and arcades(拱廊)form the heart of Europe’s cities．

    Venice in Italy has the Piazza San Marco—a beautiful square surrounded by shops，churches，restaurants and caf6s．In Barcelona，Spain，La Bosqueria is a lively market with hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of goods．London’s Covent Garden is filled with fruit and vegetable stalls by day and musicians，acrobats(杂技演员)and artists by night. The government buildings at the center of many cities often are architecturally impressive. In London，they serve as a beautiful backdrop(背景)to the coffee tables that line the streets and the banks of the Thames．

    These vibrant(有活力的)hearts are the product of centuries of evolution，social
 historian Joel Garreau told US News and World Report recently．“The reason people think Venice is so great today is you don’t see all the mistakes，”said Garreau-“ Those have all been removed．”Most European cities were laid out before the invention of the car, so bars．restaurants and cafes were near to，people’s homes．Today，the focus of many Europeans’life has moved away from the centers．They live in the suburbs and outskirts，driving to supermarkets to get their supplies．But on a continent where people treasure convention，there are still those who hold onto traditional ways，living and shopping locally．These people．together with tourists，provide the city centers with the reason for existence．
 
    Coffee culture plays a part in keeping these city centers flourishing .this is
Particularly true of Paris whose citizens are famous enthusiastic conversationalists  this skill is developed over many hours spent chatting over espressos(浓咖啡)and cigarettes．

    Religion also plays a role in developing sociable atmosphere．People In Roman
Catholic countries used to visit the Church on an almost daily basis．Entire communities would gather in the same building and then move out to the markets．cafes and bars In the surrounding streets．An enormous example of this relationship between church and society is the Duomo。The huge marble cathedral in Florence，Italy IS surrounded by bakeries and coffee shops，and caters not only to the tourist crowds，but also the local community．

31. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that each big city in Europe

  A  has many large squares．
  B  has many very magnificent sky-scrapers．