The multiplicative group action on singular varieties and Chow varieties

We answer two questions of Carrell on a singular complex projective variety admitting the multiplicative group action, one positively and the other negatively. The results are applied to Chow varieties and we obtain Chow groups of 0-cycles and Lawson homology groups of 1-cycles for Chow varieties. A short survey on the structure of the Chow varieties is included for comparison and completeness. Moreover, we give counterexamples to Shafarevich's question on the rationality of the irreducible components of Chow varieties.