2. Read the passage and choose the best answer A, B, C or D to each of the following questions. In many old cities in Europe, there are narrow twisting roads with many shops huddling together along the two sides. These commercial places are not so modern and convenient as those called shopping centers in modern cities, especially in the suburbs of the big cities in the United States.

Shopping centers have developed rapidly because of the shift of the population to the suburbs, the growing use of and dependence upon the automobile and the heavy traffic in downtown areas.

A shopping center is a large group of stores facing a huge central enclosed mall which may be covered, heated and air-conditioned. A shopping center is also surrounded by a parking area with space for thousands of cars.

We can buy all kinds of food and get anything we need in a shopping center. Unlike a supermarket, where groceries are chiefly sold, a shopping center provides us with all services besides food. We can get our heir cut, eyes examined, clothes washed; we can book our tickets for a world tour and even enroll in special classes.

Shopping centers are, therefore, very convenient for customers, but they lack the ‘sense of closeness’ as felt in older commercial center.

36. The rapid development of shopping centers in mainly due to .

A. the fast-growing prosperity of suburban people.

B. the increased use of the automobile.

C. the growing use of heavy cars in bug cities.

D. the shift of the population to downtown areas.

37. A shopping center is a large group of stores facing a huge central mall which is

.

A. narrow and winding.

B. very crowded with automobiles.

C. used as a store-house for heaters and conditioners.

D. shaded and comfortable.

38. American shopping centers are especially established in the suburbs because

.

A. the customers want to avoid the heavy traffic in downtown areas.

B. the traffic is heavier in the suburbs than in the downtown areas.

C. there are few people moving from the downtown areas to the neighboring regions.

D. the streets in the downtown areas are so narrow and twisting.

39. Customers can’t find the ‘sense of closeness’ in a modern shopping center because

.

A. all the items in the stores are very expensive.

B. the shopkeepers are not very cordial.

C. it is too modern and conventional.

D. they worry too much about the safety of their cars.

40. In the shopping sections of many old cities in Europe, the stores are located

.

A. in the suburbs.

B. in residential areas.

C. along poor, dirty roads.

D. along small, winding streets.