“There is a widespread belief that increasing wealth encourages people to live farther our where cars are the only viable transport. The example of European cities refutes that. They are often wealthier than their American counterparts but have not generated the same level of car use…”
“It would have been easy to criticize the MIRTP for using in the early phases a “top-down” approach, in which decisions were made by experts and officials before being handed down to communities, but it was necessary to start the process from the level of the governmental authorities of the district. It would have been difficult to respond to the requests of villagers and other rural inhabitants without the support and understanding of district authorities.”
“On the other hand, dams, aqueducts and other kinds of infrastructure will still have to be built, particularly in developing countries where basic human needs have not been met. But such projects must be built to higher specifications and with moreaccountability to local people and their environment than in the past. And even in regions where new projects seem warranted, we must find ways to meet demands with fewer resources, respecting ecological criteria and to a smaller budget.”
在这个段路中，通过转折，我们可以确定文章的主旨在but后面。作者用了一系列的比较级形容词来强调今后这些projects应该比原来有所改进。在题目给出的heading中，没有任何一个体现了如何具体改进今后的工程，因此考生会觉得题目难以选出。但是，如果我们看到了划线的一系列比较级，我们可以把它们概括为：改进以后比原来好了很多，也就是说，我们在今后的工程中，要求和标准提高了很多，这样我们就选出了：The need to raise standards这个标题。