Some people claim that the disadvantages of the car are more than the advantages. Do you agree or disagree?

Advantages:

Many people are very attached to their cars. They say that having a car is an essential part of their lives.

l燪uick and easy transportation:

牋 Cars offer flexibility and mobility to people抯 life and work.

牋 Cars enable rapid and timely distribution/delivery of goods.

牋 Cars offer people ready access to a variety of services and leisure options.

牋?Economic and social benefits:

牋 The car industry is the largest industry in the world economy.

牋 In most parts of the world the motor car is seen as a sign of progress and development.

牋 Different makes of cars with different colors run on the roads, creating beautiful scenery.

牋 The car industry in China is developing rapidly, creating millions of job opportunities and boosting China抯 economy.

牋 The development of car industry is accompanied by / has lead to city expansion.

Disadvantages:

Pollution: The widespread use of cars has real environmental and economic costs.

Vehicles are major sources of urban air pollution and greenhouse gases emissions.

Road traffic is the source of one third of all harmful air pollution in the world. Car exhausts contain nitrogen oxide, which contributes to acid rain, carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, and lead, which damages human brain and kidney.

The motor car industry requires a vast quantity of raw materials.

It uses 20% of all world抯 steel, 10% of aluminum, 7% of copper, 50% of lead and 60% of natural rubber.

The development of motor vehicles has worsened world energy crisis. The transport sector consumes about one half of the world抯 oil production.

Car engines use only 10 to 20% of energy in the fuel. The rest is lost as noise, heat and pollution.

Traffic Jam

As more and more people drive to work rather than walk, cycle or take public transport to work, there are heavy traffic jams almost every day at rush hours.

Road building withdraws large areas of land from agricultural use.

Motorways and the associated interchanges, exits and entry ramps cover thousand of acres of prime food-producing land.

In places where roads are built, the topsoil is pushed aside, the vegetation is stripped away and animal habitats are destroyed.

In cities close to one third of all land goes to accommodate the car, parking lots, expressways, roundabouts, bridges, petrol stations and garages. Parking lots devour huge stretches of land and are empty 80 per cent of the time.

Safety

Car accidents are causing huge numbers of casualties every year.

Large numbers of women, all children, most young people, the elderly and the poor cannot or do not want to own or use a car. Building more cars and roads does not solve these people抯 transport problems.

Conclusions and recommendations

牋 Restrict the use of cars, improved public transport and created better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

牋 Now car manufacturers are trying to make more environmentally friendly cars, which use fuel more efficiently and cause less pollution.

牋 In the future cars may run on solar power, alcohol from plants or fuel cells using methanol or hydrogen. They will be much lighter with advanced electronics.