On a cold, blustery morning at Canary Wharf, London’s second financial district, eating outside does not seem appealing. Yet on

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问题     On a cold, blustery morning at Canary Wharf, London’s second financial district, eating outside does not seem appealing. Yet on a solitary concrete quay, suited workers huddle around picnic benches. Half a dozen food stalls line the water’s edge. One sells Thai food out of a rickshaw, another salted pork buns from a converted horse box. Everything on offer is about £6($ 10). Such is the latest in Britain’s culinary evolution.
    Street dining is hardly new. Kebab vans in university towns serve oily gunk to sozzled students: on weekends in London, grizzled men hawk frankfurters outside Tube stations. But until recently smarter nosh was mostiy available only in restaurants. Now most big cities have at least one regular street food event, as a London fashion has spread out.
    Britain’s faltering economy is part of the explanation. " In a recession, people go into food businesses" , says Mark Laurie of NCASS, a trade association for caterers. Setting up a street food stall takes little capital or specialist knowledge. At Canary Wharf, the traders include a former architect and a bank worker, as well as restaurateurs. Demand is increasing, too, as pinched customers trade down from restaurants.
    Yet the biggest driver of outdoor eating is officialdom. Local authorities and commercial property developers see street stalls as a means of quickly gingering up struggling high streets and sterile plazas. The Canary Wharf Group does not charge for the use of its land by the cluster of street vendors. Alistair Turnham, who runs Stock Mkt, a similar outfit, says some councils will even pay his firm to run events. Street food vendors thus avoid paying heavy rents or business rates—which helps them to undercut restaurants.
    Still, the distinction between indoor and outdoor food is blurring. The Marriot, an upmarket hotel in Mayfair, recently put on a street food-inspired menu. Trinity Leeds, a new shopping centre in Yorkshire, hosts rolling street food traders as part of its food hall. Some successful street food vendors are setting up restaurants—few want to work out of vans forever. Others are moving into catering for private events. The market economy is triumphing.
The description of the first paragraph is to______.

选项 A、prove the importance of food
B、introduce the discussion of food
C、introduce the topic of street dining
D、show the busy scene of London life

答案C

解析 本题考查第一段在文章中的作用,属于篇章结构题。一般文章首段是描写性的段落,作用是用来引出下文讨论的话题。故[A][D]两项可以排除。而第二段首句就指出文章讨论的话题:Street dining is hardly new.接下来几个段落也都在讨论有关street dining的话题,故[C]是该题答案。
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