四级冲刺练习阅读171_大学英语阅读_大学英语-查字典英语网

四级冲刺练习阅读171

Perhaps the basic appeal of motoring is its promise of independence. It offers freedom from the time-tables of public transportation, from the need to travel by the same route in the same vehicle to the same place as countless others. It is the opportunity to meander, to leave disappointing places for more hopeful ones; to flee from bad weather and to get the children to school on time. To exploit these advantages the motorist has to accept responsibilities. At the wheel a driver has a duty to be patient, skilful, and sober. All too easily he can shatter the health of other road users and, indeed, the happiness of all of us who have a right to enjoy privacy and the countrysides beauty and tranquility. And there is the financial responsibility. For many families a car represents the second largest financial investment of their lives; in pursuit of the freedom a car can bring, millions of people stake something　　Perhaps the basic appeal of motoring is its promise of independence. It offers freedom from the time-tables of public transportation, from the need to travel by the same route in the same vehicle to the same place as countless others. It is the opportunity to meander, to leave disappointing places for more hopeful ones; to flee from bad weather and to get the children to school on time. To exploit these advantages the motorist has to accept responsibilities. At the wheel a driver has a duty to be patient, skilful, and sober. All too easily he can shatter the health of other road users and, indeed, the happiness of all of us who have a right to enjoy privacy and the countrysides beauty and tranquility. And there is the financial responsibility. For many families a car represents the second largest financial investment of their lives; in pursuit of the freedom a car can bring, millions of people stake something approaching a years net income to buy a bright metal box that may depreciate at the rate of the rent they pay and cost as much to run as it does to heat and light a home.