Passage 1 Britain almost more than any other country in the world must seriously face the problem of building upwards, that is to say of accommodating a considerable proportion of its population in high blocks of flats. It is said that the Englishman objects to this type of existence, but if the case is such, he does in fact differ from the inhabitants of most countries of the world today. In the past our own blocks of flats have been associated with the lower-income groups and they have lacked the obvious provisions, such as central heating, constant hot water supply, electrically operated lifts from top to bottom, and so on, as well as such details, important notwithstanding (然而) , as easy facilities for disposal of dust and rubbish and storage places for baby carriages on the ground floor, playgrounds for children on the top of the buildings, and drying rounds for washing. It is likely that the dispute regarding flats versus (对,对抗) individual houses will continue to rage on for a long time as far as Britain is concerned. And it is unfortunate that there should be hot feelings on both sides whenever this subject is raised. Those who oppose the building of flats base their case primarily on the assumption (设想) that everyone prefers an individual home and garden and on the high cost per unit of accommodation. The latter ignores the higher cost of providing full services to a scattered community and the cost in both money and time of the journeys to work for the suburban resident.