Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Many European countries have been making the shift to electric vehicles and Germany has just stated that they plan to ban the sale of vehicles using gasoline and diesel as fuel by 2030. The country is also planning to reduce its carbon footprint by 80-95% by 2050, ___26___ a shift to green energy in the country. Effectively, the ban will include the registration of new cars in the country as they will not allow any gasoline ___27___ vehicle to be registered after 2030.

　　Part of the reason this ban is being discussed and ___28___ is because energy officials see that they will not reach their emissions goals by 2050 if they do not ___29___ a large portion of vehicle emissions. The country is still ___30___ that it will meet its emissions goals, like reducing emissions by 40% by 2020, but the ___31___ of electric cars in the country has not occurred as fast as expected.

　　Other efforts to increase the use of electric vehicles include plans to build over 1 million hybrid and electric car battery charging stations across the country. By 2030, Germany plans on having over 6 million charging stations ___32___. According to the International Business Times, electric car sales are expected to increase as Volkswagen is still recovering from its emissions scandal.

　　There are ___33___ around 155,000 registered hybrid and electric vehicles on German roads, dwarfed by the 45 million gasoline and diesel cars driving there now. As countries continue setting goals of reducing emissions, greater steps need to be taken to have a ___34___ effect on the surrounding environment. While the efforts are certainly not ___35___, the results of such bans will likely only start to be seen by generations down the line, bettering the world for the future.

A) acceptance

B) currently

C) disrupting

D) eliminate

E) exhaust

F) futile

G) hopeful

H) implemented

I) incidentally
J) installed
K) noticeable
L) powered
M) restoration
N) skeptical
O) sparking