Shopping habits in the United States have changed greatly in the last quarter of the 20th century.   1    in the 1900s most American towns and cities had a Main Street. Main Street was always the heart of a town. This street was lined on the both sides with  many   2   businesses. Here, shoppers walked into stores to look at all sorts of merchandise: clothing, furniture, hardware, groceries. In addition, some shops offered    3   . There shops included drugstores, restaurants, shoe repair stores, and barber or hairdressing shops. But in the 1950s, a change began to   4   place. Too many automobiles had crowded into Main Street while too few parking places were   5   to shoppers. Because the streets were crowded, merchants began to look with interest at the open spaces outside the city limits. Open space is what their car driving customers needed. And open space is what they got when the first shopping centre was built. Shopping centers, or rather malls,   6   as a collection of small new stores away from crowded city centers.   7   by hundreds of free parking space, customers were drawn away from    8   areas to outlying malls. And the growing   9   of shopping centers led in turn to the building of bigger and better stocked stores. By the late 1970s, many shopping malls had almost developed into small cities themselves. In addition to providing the    10   of the stop shopping, malls were transformed into landscaped parks, with benches, fountains, and outdoor entertainment.

A. designed     I.various

B. take         J. popularity

C. Early        K. cosmetics

D. Attracted    L. started

E. though       M. downtown

F. convenience  N. available

G. services     O. cheapness

H. fame

  【答案】

   1. C  20世纪早期，大多数美国城市和城镇都有一条主街道。20世纪早期即用early in the 1900s。

   2. I 这条街道排成一列，街道两边都是各式各样的商店。various 意为“不同的、各种各样的”。

   3. G 另外，一些商店还提供一些服务。提供服务可用固定的搭配offer services。

   4. B 所填词take 才能与后面的词place搭配，take place 为固定词组，意为“发生”But in the 1950s, a change began to take place. 意为20世纪50年代发生了巨大的变化。

   5 . N 主街道充斥着太多的汽车，却没有地方给顾客停车。available 意为“可用到的、可利用的”，这里指没有可用的地方给顾客停车。

   6. L Shopping centers, or rather malls, started as a collection of small new stores away from crowded city centers. 购物中心或者购物商场开始在拥挤的城市中心之外建小型的新商场。开始即用start。

   7.D 顾客们被许多免费的停车场所吸引，attracted 是被吸引之意。

   8.M customers were drawn away from downtown areas to outlying malls.顾客们被从市区吸引到郊区的购物商场。市区即用downtown 一词。

   9.J 购物中心越来越流行，popularity即普及、流行之意。

   10.F购物中心除了提供停车的便利之外，还提供其他服务。提供便利即用provide convenience。