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  3. It’s easy to dismiss as absurd the federal government’s ideas for plugging the chronic funding gap of our national parks. Can an

It’s easy to dismiss as absurd the federal government’s ideas for plugging the chronic funding gap of our national parks. Can an

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问题     It’s easy to dismiss as absurd the federal government’s ideas for plugging the chronic funding gap of our national parks. Can anyone really think it’s a good idea to allow Amazon deliveries to your tent in Yosemite or food trucks to line up under the redwood trees at Sequoia National Park?
    But the government is right about one thing: U. S. national parks are in crisis. Collectively, they have a maintenance backlog of more than $12 billion. Roads, trails, restrooms, visitor centers and other infrastructure are crumbling.
    But privatizing and commercializing the campgrounds would not be a cure-all. Campgrounds are a tiny portion of the overall infrastructure backlog, and businesses in the parks hand over, on average, only about 5％ of their revenues to the National Park Service.
    Moreover, increased privatization would certainly undercut one of the major reasons why 300 million visitors come to the parks each year: to enjoy nature and get a break from the commercial drumbeat that overwhelms daily life.
    The real problem is that the parks have been chronically starved of funding. An economic survey of 700 U. S. taxpayers found that people would be willing to pay a significant amount of money to make sure the parks and their programs are kept intact. Some 81％ of respondents said they would be willing to pay additional taxes for the next 10 years to avoid any cuts to the national parks.
    The national parks provide great value to U.S. residents both as places to escape and as symbols of nature. On top of this, they produce value from their extensive educational programs, their positive impact on the climate through carbon sequestration, their contribution to our cultural and artistic life, and of course through tourism. The parks also help keep America’s past alive, working with thousands of local jurisdictions around the country to protect historical sites—including Ellis Island and Gettysburg—and to bring the stories of these places to life.
    The parks do all this on a shoestring. Congress allocates only $3 billion a year to the national park system—an amount that has been flat since 2001 ( in inflation-adjusted dollars) with the exception of a onetime boost in 2009 as pail of the Obama stimulus package. Meanwhile, the number of annual visitors has increased by more than 50％ since 1980, and now stands at 330 million visitors per year.
It can be concluded from the text that national park system________.
选项 A、is able to cope with staff shortages
B、is able to meet visitors’ demands
C、is in need of a new pricing policy
D、is in need of a funding increase
答案D
解析 推理题。根据题干中的national park system定位到第七段第二句。定位句指出，对国家公园系统的财政拨款多年没有增加。定位句前一句指出，国家公园却只靠着微薄的资金做着这一切贡献；同时根据第三句可知，游客数量每年都在上涨。这些情况都说明了国家公园需要增加资金。由此可知选项D符合文义。本段并未提及有关员工短缺的问题，故排除选项A；本段指出，自1980年以来，每年的游客量增加了50％以上，但是财政拨款却一直没有增加，突出说明国家公园目前的经济问题，但本句并未说明国家公园是否能够满足游客的需求，故排除选项B；本段并未提及有关国家公园的定价问题，故排除选项C。
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