Text 3 Even before economist Howard Davies thinking where to put extra airport capacity in Britain,rejecting the idea of building a big new hub in the Thames Estuary,the backlash had begun.Boris Johnson,the mayor of London and an enthusiastic supporter of

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.
Ebbsfleet is mentioned in the text to show____

A.the necessary Dart of urbanization
B.the boldness of building new towns
C.the urgency of housing construction
D.the importance of building infrastructure

For the first time in history more people live in towns than in the country.In Britain this has had a curious result.While polls show Britons rate“the countryside”alongside the royal family,Shakespeare and the National Health Service（NHS）as what makes them proudest of their country,this has limited political support.A century ago Octavia Hill launched the National Trust not to rescue stylish houses but to save“the beauty of natural places for everyone forever.”It was specifically to provide city dwellers with spaces for leisure where they could experience“a refreshing air.”Hill’s pressures later led to the creation of national parks and green belts.They don’t make countryside any more,and every year concrete consumes more of it.It needs constant guardianship.At the next election none of the big parties seem likely to endorse this sentiment.The Conservatives’planning reform explicitly gives rural development priority over conservation,even authorizing“off-plan”building where local people might object.The concept of sustainable development has been defined as profitable.Labour likewise wants to discontinue local planning where councils oppose development.The Liberal Democrats are silent.Only Ukip,sensing its chance,has sided with those pleading for a more considered approach to using green land.Its Campaign to Protect Rural England struck terror into many local Conservative parties.The sensible place to build new houses,factories and offices is where people are,in cities and towns where infrastructure is in place.The London agents StirlingAckroyd recently identified enough sites for half a million houses in the London area alone,with no intrusion on green belt.What is true of London is even truer of the provinces.The idea that“housing crisis”equals“concreted meadows”is pure lobby talk.The issue is not the need for more houses but,as always,where to put them.Under lobby pressure,George Osborne favours rural new-build against urban renovation and renewal.He favours out-of-town shopping sites against high streets.This is not a free market but a biased one.Rural towns and villages have grown and will always grow.They do so best where building sticks to their edges and respects their character.We do not ruin urban conservation areas.Why ruin rural ones?Development should be planned,not let rip.After the Netherlands,Britain is Europe’s most crowded country.Half a century of town and country planning has enabled it to retain an enviable rural coherence,while still permitting low-density urban living.There is no doubt of the alternative—the corrupted landscapes of southern Portugal,Spain or Ireland.Avoiding this rather than promoting it should unite the left and right of the political spectrum.
Britain’s public sentiment about the countryside.

A.didn’tstart till the Shakespearean age.
B.has brought much benefit to the NHS.
C.is fully backed by the royal family.
D.is not well reflected in politics.

For the first time in history more people live in towns than in the country.In Britain this has had a curious result.While polls show Britons rate“the countryside”alongside the royal family,Shakespeare and the National Health Service（NHS）as what makes them proudest of their country,this has limited political support.
A century ago Octavia Hill launched the National Trust not to rescue stylish houses but to save“the beauty of natural places for everyone forever.”It was specifically to provide city dwellers with spaces for leisure where they could experience“a refreshing air.”Hill’s pressures later led to the creation of national parks and green belts.They don’t make countryside any more,and every year concrete consumes more of it.It needs constant guardianship.
At the next election none of the big parties seem likely to endorse this sentiment.The Conservatives’planning reform explicitly gives rural development priority over conservation,even authorizing“off-plan”building where local people might object.The concept of sustainable development has been defined as profitable.Labour likewise wants to discontinue local planning where councils oppose development.The Liberal Democrats are silent.Only Ukip,sensing its chance,has sided with those pleading for a more considered approach to using green land.Its Campaign to Protect Rural England struck terror into many local Conservative parties.
The sensible place to build new houses,factories and offices is where people are,in cities and towns where infrastructure is in place.The London agents StirlingAckroyd recently identified enough sites for half a million houses in the London area alone,with no intrusion on green belt.What is true of London is even truer of the provinces.
The idea that“housing crisis”equals“concreted meadows”is pure lobby talk.The issue is not the need for more houses but,as always,where to put them.Under lobby pressure,George Osborne favours rural new-build against urban renovation and renewal.He favours out-of-town shopping sites against high streets.This is not a free market but a biased one.Rural towns and villages have grown and will always grow.They do so best where building sticks to their edges and respects their character.We do not ruin urban conservation areas.Why ruin rural ones？
Development should be planned,not let rip.After the Netherlands,Britain is Europe’s most crowded country.Half a century of town and country planning has enabled it to retain an enviable rural coherence,while still permitting low-density urban living.There is no doubt of the alternative—the corrupted landscapes of southern Portugal,Spain or Ireland.Avoiding this rather than promoting it should unite the left and right of the political spectrum.
Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A.Labour is under attack for opposing development.
B.The Conservatives may abandon“off-plan”building.
C.The Liberal Democrats are losing political influence.
D.Ukip may gain from its support for rural conservation.

For the first time in history more people live in towns than in the country.In Britain this has had a curious result.While polls show Britons rate“the countryside”alongside the royal family,Shakespeare and the National Health Service（NHS）as what makes them proudest of their country,this has limited political support.
A century ago Octavia Hill launched the National Trust not to rescue stylish houses but to save“the beauty of natural places for everyone forever.”It was specifically to provide city dwellers with spaces for leisure where they could experience“a refreshing air.”Hill’s pressures later led to the creation of national parks and green belts.They don’t make countryside any more,and every year concrete consumes more of it.It needs constant guardianship.
At the next election none of the big parties seem likely to endorse this sentiment.The Conservatives’planning reform explicitly gives rural development priority over conservation,even authorizing“off-plan”building where local people might object.The concept of sustainable development has been defined as profitable.Labour likewise wants to discontinue local planning where councils oppose development.The Liberal Democrats are silent.Only Ukip,sensing its chance,has sided with those pleading for a more considered approach to using green land.Its Campaign to Protect Rural England struck terror into many local Conservative parties.
The sensible place to build new houses,factories and offices is where people are,in cities and towns where infrastructure is in place.The London agents StirlingAckroyd recently identified enough sites for half a million houses in the London area alone,with no intrusion on green belt.What is true of London is even truer of the provinces.
The idea that“housing crisis”equals“concreted meadows”is pure lobby talk.The issue is not the need for more houses but,as always,where to put them.Under lobby pressure,George Osborne favours rural new-build against urban renovation and renewal.He favours out-of-town shopping sites against high streets.This is not a free market but a biased one.Rural towns and villages have grown and will always grow.They do so best where building sticks to their edges and respects their character.We do not ruin urban conservation areas.Why ruin rural ones?
Development should be planned,not let rip.After the Netherlands,Britain is Europe’s most crowded country.Half a century of town and country planning has enabled it to retain an enviable rural coherence,while still permitting low-density urban living.There is no doubt of the alternative—the corrupted landscapes of southern Portugal,Spain or Ireland.Avoiding this rather than promoting it should unite the left and right of the political spectrum.
In the last paragraph,the author shows his appreciation of____.

A.the size of population in Britain.
B.the political life in today’s Britain.
C.the enviable urban lifestyle in Britain.
D.the town-and-country planning in Britain.

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.
We can learn from Paragraph 3 that extending Help to Buy_____

A.will bring numerous benefits
B.may gready boost the stock market
C.will do more harm than good
D.may be both constructive and risky