Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) to complete the passage.

Câu hỏi :

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) to complete the passage.

In most capital cities, which were built long before the heyday of the private car, there is rarely enough (21) ................... for moving traffic, and certainly not enough for parked vehicles. Buses move slowly because of the volume of traffic thus encouraging more commuters to abandon public. Banning traffic (22) .................. some areas may help, but such a solution may not actually diminish the number of cars coming into the city. What has happened in effect is that the needs of the private car have become the number one priority, (23) ............... the older functions of the city center as meeting place and focus for social life have been lost. The new city cannot survive without a series of ring roads. Giant car parks are its new palaces. During the working hours of the day, there is the constant din of traffic, but at night the center is (24) .................... empty, apart from a few homeless in doorways. Most people have commuted back to the suburbs, and very few of those who live in the center have cars, for often there is nowhere to park them. The old city, with its narrow streets, may still retain a (25) ................. air but that may be because it exists as an island, where no cars are permitted. Unless the local authorities have not yet (26)...................the courage to ban most traffic from the streets, in which case the city center is congested by day, and a gigantic car park by night.