考研英語閱讀模擬訓練（八）

There is extraordinary exposure in the United States to the risks of injury and death from Motor vehicle accidents.More than 80 percent of all households own passenger cars or light trucks and each of these is driven an average of more than 11，000 miles each year.Almost one-half of fatally injured drivers have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.1 percent or higher.For the average adult，over five ounces of 80 proof spirits would have to be consumed over a short period of time to attain these levels.One third of drivers who have been drinking，but fewer than 4 percent of all drivers，demonstrate these levels.1)Although less than 1 percent of drivers with BACs of 0.1 percent or more are involved in fatal crashes，the probability of their involvements is 27 times higher than for those without alcohol in their blood.There are a number of different approaches to reducing injuries in which drinking plays a role.Based on the observation that excessive consumption correlates with the total alcohol consumption of a country‘s population，it has been suggested that higher taxes on alcohol would reduce both.While the heaviest drinkers would be taxed the most，anyone who drinks at all would be punished by this approach.

To make drinking and driving a criminal offense is an approach directed only at drinking drivers.In some states，the law empowers police to request breath tests of drivers committing any traffic offense and higher BAC can be the basis for arrest.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates，however，that even with increased arrests，there are about 700 violations for every arrest.At this level there is little evidence that laws are effective ways to reduce drunk driving.In Britain，motor vehicle accidents fell 25 percent immediately following implementation of the Road Safety Act in 1967. 2) As Britishers increasingly recognized that they could drink and not be stopped，the effectiveness declined，although in the following three years the death-rate seldom reached that observed in the seven years prior to the Act.

Whether penalties for driving with a high BAC or excessive taxation on consumption of alcoholic drinks will deter the excessive drinker responsible for most accidents is unclear.One thing is clear，however：unless we deal with automobile and highway safety and reduce accidents in which alcoholic drinking plays a role，many will continue to die.

1.The author is primarily concerned with____.

[A] interpreting the results of surveys on traffic accidents

[B] reviewing the effectiveness of attempts to reduce drunk driving

[C] analyzing the causes of the large number of annual traffic deaths

[D] making an international comparison of experience with drunk driving

2.It can be inferred that the 1967 Road Safety Act in Britain____.

[A] changed an existing law to lower the BAC level which defined drunk driving

[B] made it illegal for the drunk driver to drive

[C] increased the number of drunk driving arrests

[D] placed a tax on the sale of alcoholic drinks

3.The author implies that a BAC of 0.1 percent ____. the sale of alcoholic drinks

[A] is unreasonably high as a definition of drunk driving

[B] penalizes the moderate drinker while allowing the heavy drinker to consume without limit

[C] is well below the BAC of most drivers who are involved in fatal crashes

[D] proves that a driver has consumed five ounces of 80 proof spirits over a short time

4.The author cites the British example in order to____.

[A] show that the problem of drunk driving is worse in Britain than in the U.S.

[B] prove that stricter laws against drinking drivers would reduce traffic deaths

[C] prove that a slight increase in the number of arrests of drunk drivers will not deter drunk driving

[D] suggest that taxation of alcohol consumption may be more effective than criminal laws

5.The word“deter”in the last paragraph probably means____.

[A] prevent

[B] encourage

[C] punish

[D] threaten

參考答案：

1.[B] 本文探討了飲酒和汽車事故率的關係，以及相應的限制酒後駕駛的法律對事故率的影響。這在最後一段體現得最爲明顯。

2.[B] 第二段第一句是這一段的主題句。英國的例子旨在說明，在英國，在剛剛實施新的道路安全法——根據本段第一句該項法律肯定也將酒後(超過規定含量)駕駛視爲刑事犯罪——以後，汽車事故少了，但是，因爲根據這項法律可以被逮捕的人是血液內酒精含量(BAC)超過一定標準的人，並不是所有酒後駕車的人，所以人們後來認爲喝少量酒也沒有關係，這樣，這項法律的效力也就下降了。

3.[A] 根據第一段第五、六句，1/3的酒後駕車者能達到這個含量(BAC of 0.1 %)，但是這還不到所有駕駛員人數的4 %.雖然在達到或超過0.1 %的人中不到l %卷人致命的事故中，但是，他們出事的可能性是不喝酒的人的28倍。由此可見，在作者看來，還有很多沒有達到這個含量的人也同樣危險，因此，0.1 %的含量標準太高了。

4.[C] 參閱第2題題解。

5.[A] 該詞意爲“阻止”。