Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 6 to 12. Although the private ownership of cars has steadily increased as it has become more affordable, there is still a demand for public transport. The cost of a new car has fallen in real terms so that now it is cheaper than ever to own one. Nevertheless, a minority of the population will never be in a position to do without public transport for even ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 6 to 12.

Although the private ownership of cars has steadily increased as it has become more affordable, there is still a demand for public transport. The cost of a new car has fallen in real terms so that now it is cheaper than ever to own one. Nevertheless, a minority of the population will never be in a position to do without public transport for even the shortest journey.

Successive governments, under pressure from middle class car-owning voters, have poured money into the building of new roads and the widening of existing ones. Better facilities for drivers have tended to attract more drivers. The result is overcrowding on an overstretched and expensive road system. Now governments are faced with huge bills and dissatisfied voters who resent paying taxes for a poor service.

When people travel to other towns, the problem might be eased by getting them to park on the outskirts of town. Buses could be provided to take them into the center. These Park and Ride schemes are increasingly popular and early results from large scale studies seem positive. At Southerton, for example, a council-funded scheme led to a 15% drop in city center traffic over five months.

What the council found, though, was that the measure proved somewhat unpopular with shops and retail outlets in the areas outside the center. Many of these relied on passing traffic for some of their trade. As the number of people driving past dropped, so did incomes. It was discovered that visitors found it more difficult to get around without their cars and so they were not stopping on their way into the city center.

Making car driving expensive is another way of making sure that people use public transport more. Road taxes and tolls on roads to pay for repairs tend to mean that people use their cars less. Fining drivers who are in areas where cars have been banned can also tend to encourage them to leave their car behind. There is one point that has to be got right for any solution to succeed. If we expect people to give up the habits of a lifetime, we must give them an alternative they can depend on. Constant delays, unannounced changes to the timetable, and sudden cancellations all discourage people from using public transport. People will only see it as a real option if the buses and trains are on time.

Education about the threat posed to the environment by our driving culture will prove vital. As people realize that the rate of road building cannot be sustained and that driving is likely to become the right of a privileged, wealthy few, so they will start to take seriously the problem of getting from A to B on public transport.

(Adapted from Reading and Writing by Malcom Mann and Steve Taylore-Knowles, Macmillan)