阅读理解
Car crashes are the top killer of American teenagers. Most of the crashes result from distracted driving — not paying attention to the road.
Ryan Didone was a fifteen-year-old passenger in a car that hit a tree. He was one of the nation's more than thirty thousand victims of traffic crashes in 2008. Nearly four thousand deaths, about twelve percent involved drivers age fifteen to twenty.
Ryan's father, Thomas Didone, is a police captain in Maryland. \"It was an inexperienced, immature driver driving at night with a carload of kids. He was distracted, he was going too fast, and it ended up causing one death and some seriously injured.\" He shares the story of his son's death to help educate teens and their families about distracted driving.
Jim Jennings from the Allstate Insurance Company says the number one cause of distracted-driving accidents is the mobile phone. He says talking on the phone or reaching for it is like drinking four beers and driving. \"If you're texting while driving, you are twenty-three times more likely to get into an accident than somebody who isn't.\"
Government and private groups are using public service announcements and events to bring more attention to the problem. For example, the insurance industry recently held a safety event for teen drivers. At first, nineteen-year-old Kevin Schumann easily avoided large, inflatable dolls thrown in front of the car to represent children. He also avoided orange cones representing the edge of the road. Then, as part of the test, he started texting. He hit several cones and at least one doll. \"That's what really opened up the experience for me to prove how bad it is to really text and drive.\"
Debbie Pickford of Allstate Insurance says teens are especially at risk from distracted driving —and not just because they lack experience on the roads. \"According to the research, teens don't really have fully developed brains until they're twenty-five years old. You put those two things together and you get a much,
much higher risk.\"
A new law proposes a graduated driver licensing system. Graduated means teenagers start with restrictions like on night driving and numbers of passengers. They could not get a full driver's license until age eighteen.
45. Of all the following, which is the best title for the passage?
A. Car Crashes—the Top Killer B. Drunken Driving C. Distracted Driving D. How to Avoid Car Crashes
46. According to Jim Jennings, what might be the main cause of distracted driving accidents?
A. Speed. B. Age. C. Experience. D. Cell-phones. 47. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Thomas Didone is responsible for his son Ryan’s death. B. The insurance companies benefit a lot from teen driving.
C. Kevin Schumann took the test to learn the risk of texting while driving. D. Debbie Pickford thinks that people cannot drive until brains are fully developed. 48. According to the new law, _________.
A. it will be harder for young people to get a full driver’s license B. people will not be allowed to touch the wheel until they are 18 C. young people are forbidden to take any passengers in their cars D. people can’t drive until they graduate from colleges or universities
参考答案45、C 46——50 DCA
This is our country, America. The country where everyone is supposed to have a shot at financial success. The country of dreams and ambition. Yet, caused by the endless pursuit of individual profit, our country is a mess. And we owe it all to capitalism.
We live in a society where people are forced to live without health coverage. A country where the poor can hardly feed themselves while the rich decide which one
of their 10 homes to stay at for the night. All of these sad things arise out of capitalism.
Sadly, our country values little more than money. It motivates our decisions and even influences entire political parties. We have gotten to the point in society where a human life comes secondary to our financial security. Any rational society would value life above all else and realize that health is a basic human right. Yet in our world, money comes first.
I never once have claimed to be an economist and have no interest in debating the financial advantages of any economic system. Yet socialism surely looks better than what we have.
If we lived in a socialist society, we would be a country without such an unfair wealth distribution. We would value friendship over business and we would treat one another as humans. Most importantly, however, is that money would stop controlling our lives and we could act how humans should act.
Capitalism has created an “every man for himself” existence. Everything is a battle for limited resources and fuels. We have become so accustomed to the life value that we will do whatever we have to look out for ourselves. Yet is this really the kind of life we want?
We have become so illusioned. We are tired of the misdirection. All economic systems have their issues, but I feel like ours is turning our country into something it shouldn’t be. The good of man falls secondary to money. In our world, it is all about dollars and cents, which, unfortunately for most, makes no sense.
51. In the author’s opinion, the root cause of the present situation in his country is __________.
A. money B. people’s value C. social unfairness D. social system 【答案】D
【解析】细节理解题。根据we owe it all to capitalism所有的一切都是因为是资本主义社会，也就是他们国家的制度，故选D。
52. According to the passage, which is NOT the characteristic of capitalism? A. individualism
B. endless pursuit of wealth
C. humanism 【答案】C
D. great gap between the rich and the poor
【解析】细节理解题。individualism个人利己主义； endless pursuit of wealth 无休止追求财富；humanism 人道主义；great gap between the rich and the poor富人和穷人的距离拉大；根据Capitalism has created an “every man for himself” existence.利己主义；caused by the endless pursuit of individual profit, 无休止追求财富；If we lived in a socialist society, we would be a country without such an unfair wealth distribution. 财富分配不均；这些都是资本主义的特征，只有人道主义是社会主义的特征，故选C。
53. How does the author feel about his country? A. concerned 【答案】A
【解析】细节理解题。concerned关心的； angry生气的； skeptical 怀疑的； hopeless绝望的。根据Yet is this really the kind of life we want? I feel like ours is turning our country into something it shouldn’t be.这里显示出作者很关心自己的国家，故选A。 54. Which of the following would the author agree with? A. Life should be placed at the top of our considerations. B. Socialism is perfect.
C. Health is equally important as wealth. D. The pursuit for wealth should be restricted. 【答案】A
【解析】细节理解题。根据Any rational society would value life above all else 及The good of man falls secondary to money.作者同意钱放在第二位，生命放在第一位，故选A。
55. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage? A. How to Save America
B. Capitalism Is in Trouble D. America Is in Trouble
B. angry
C. skeptical
D. hopeless
C. Why Is America in Trouble 【答案】C
【解析】标题归纳题。根据本文的内容叙述了美国为什么处于困境之中，故选C。
阅读理解
Hospitals not only treat infections — they can also cause them.
In the United States alone, the number of infections in hospitals is estimated at close to two million each year. About one hundred thousand patients die.
A new government report notes that very little progress has been made in reducing what are called health care-associated infections. The most common are infections of the urinary tract(尿路), surgical site and bloodstream.
Many infections have been increasing even as hospitals have made efforts to improve. About forty percent of all health care-associated infections are linked to the use of catheters. A tube is placed inside the body to collect urine（尿液）, so the patient does not have to get out of bed.
But the latest report says urinary tract infections after surgery increased more than three and a half percent. It says catheters should be used only if necessary.
Another way to prevent infections is to give patients antibiotics before surgery. Doctors are advised to give them within the hour before the operation. Patients who get antibiotics earlier than one hour are more likely to get an infected surgical wound. Also, doctors are advised to discontinue the antibiotics within twenty-four hours after the surgery. The report says longer than that is usually not necessary. It can increase the risk of antibiotic resistance.
Kathleen Sebelius is secretary of health and human services. She noted that racial and ethnic minorities were less likely to have insurance and less likely to get the treatments they needed. She called the report numbers \"troubling.\"
But she also said the health care reforms passed by Congress will improve the quality of care for all Americans. She said the new law will reward quality over quantity of care, creating a system that prevents diseases before more costly treatment is required.
49.What do we learn about healthcare-associated infections from this passage?
A. It is a new disease that is discovered by American doctors. B. It is not reported in other countries but the United States. C. It is connected with what doctors do to treat their patients.
D. It is so deadly that it kills two million people every year. 50. In this passage antibiotics are used to _______.
A. reduce pain B. prevent infections C. shorten operation time D. make patients sleep 51. From the last paragraph but one we know Kathleen Sebelius is_________.
A. very optimistic about the situation B. quite worried about the minorities C. suffering from the infection herself D. blaming doctors for their slow response 52. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Antibiotics may be the most effective way to resist infection after surgery. B. Some ethnic minorities without insurance are in need of basic treatments. C. Hospitals are where infections are least likely to take place.
D. Hospitals have made great progress in reducing healthcare-associated infections.
参考答案49、CB 51——55 AB
I left baseball, not for physical reasons but because it was my season for change. So I decided to walk away and once I did, like the vast majority of players, I was lost. It would be the first time since I learned to swing a bat that I would spend an entire summer without ever putting on a uniform. Once you leaves the pitch it’s no longer you against that fastball, it is you against yourself.
So you swim around trying to figure out what young, retired baseball players do with their lives. For me, the moment was completely without the guiding wisdom of my father, who could communicate with me with just a nod of his head, but he passed away two years ago.
Since my retirement, I have searched for the next passion. It is a discouraging journey, and many players never find that next love, even though they kept looking.
Of course my father could never be replaced. His passion was writing. He left
behind a body of poetry that guides me now.
I didn’t stay lost forever. I found something that I wasn’t looking for: a voice through writing. Writing introduced me to people who were otherwise strangers and made them guests at my table. Only later did I understand that this would be a bridge to understanding my father in another way. A way that led me to connect to a passion I didn’t realize we both shared.
After my first book was published, I realized that writing was passion and even therapy(疗法), but now I also thought that maybe I’d found my next profession.
Thankfully, I always knew my father was proud of me. But despite living the dream of so many Americans and reaching its highest level, I have no doubt that he would be even prouder of what I am doing with my words. Words that I can leave for my son to read one day.
53. Why couldn’t his father offer him any help at the moment?
A. Because his father had been dead for two years. B. Because his father was busy writing poems. C. Because his father was away on business.
D. Because his father had a head injury two years ago. 54. How did the author get over the most difficult time in life?
A. By swimming the entire summer.
B. By communicating with his father face to face. C. By turning to his friend for help.
D. By reading his father’s works and writing his own.
55. According to the passage, the author was most likely to become a_______.
A. reporter B. writer C. coach D. player 56. The author picked up writing as a career mainly because_______.
A. he couldn’t find any other job after he left baseball B. his father asked him to continue his lifelong hobby C. writing was another way to understand his father D. it could help him to make a more comfortable life
参考答案 53、ADB 56——60 C
A lot of interesting things have happened in the past several months as people from all walks of life learn how to stretch their money. A lot of changes have been accelerated by the fuel shocks during the summer of 2008; in a lot of ways we seem to be reverting to the frugal(economical) sensibilities of a past generation. More people are choosing to be more picky when they swipe their credit cards even if that means not buying things until they have money in their bank accounts, the days of the $0-down mortgage(抵押贷款)seem to be murdered, and there is a lot more acceptance of environmentally-friendly technologies that promise to reduce our overall dependency on foreign oil even if it means taking a hit to the excesses that used to define our quality of living.
An interesting new trend being taken by small businesses is the practice of offering discounted prices to customers willing to pay in cash. This is not the same as paying “under the table”---rather, the store saves its merchant processing fees and passes those savings on to the customers. The idea is a good one in principle---paying in cash forces consumers to take stock of what they are spending as much as it saves stores from transaction(交易) fees.
Of course there are drawbacks to the plan. When people pay in cash, they tend to be more conservative with their spending since they tangibly(really) feel their money leave their possession. That will cause stores to lose profits because customers will think twice before buying high—margin “impulse” products at checkout whereas before they might not have thought twice before charging it. Increased volume of cash handling opens stores to loss through employee theft at the till(抽屉), not to mention controls that need to be put into place to count and deposit physical currency.
Our family has saved a fortune by switching to cash. When getting to the bottom of your change jar means no more purchase power until your next pay period, you really start to appreciate the fine art of merchandising(做买卖) and the expertise applied
to make you want to buy more and more. Cold hard cash feels more organic, and helps us to appreciate the effort it takes to maintain our lifestyle. 56. From the passage, we can learn that __________.
A. customers are in a more favorable position by paying in cash.
B. people will not be allowed to use their credit cards if there is no money in their bank account.
C. people have adjusted their way of living to the new situation. D. people are living better than before by paying in cash. 【答案】C
【解析】细节理解题。根据全文的内容可知出现了新的现象时，人们会慢慢地去适应，故选C。 57. By saying “people from all walks of life learn how to stretch their money”, the author means that _________.
A. people walk to work in order to save money.
B. people of all professions learn to make the best use of their money. C. people of the whole society learn to earn more money. D. all people learn to extend money so that it is worth more. 【答案】B
【解析】句意理解题。all walks of life各行各业；stretch their money充分利用钱；这句应该是来自各行各业的人们都充分利用他们自己的钱，也就是让钱发挥最大的作用，故选B。 58. When the customers pay their goods in cash, the stores will be affected in the
following ways EXCEPT ___________.
A. the sale of their goods will decrease as the customers are more reluctant to buy things.
B. there is a potential danger of money loss by their staff.
C. it brings a burden to the stores as they need to deal with the cash.
D. the stores make less money as they need to give some money back to the customers. 【答案】D
【解析】细节理解题。根据That will cause stores to lose profits because customers will think twice因为顾客不是情愿地去买东西所以商店的销售量会有所下降，选项A符合原文；Increased volume of cash handling opens stores to loss through employee theft at the
till(抽屉), not to mention controls that need to be put into place to count and deposit physical currency.
有大量地现金使员工处理现金时负担增大，同时也增加了员工丢失钱的危险，选项CD符合原文；只有选项D没有提到，故选D。
59. What caused people to start to use cash instead of credit cards? A. The rising prices. B. High unemployment. C. The fuel shocks. D. The economic crisis. 【答案】C
【解析】细节理解题。根据A lot of changes have been accelerated by the fuel shocks during the summer of 2008; in a lot of ways we seem to be reverting to the frugal(economical) sensibilities of a past generation.由于燃料的冲击，我们为了节俭，又开始使用现金来代替信用卡，故选C。
60. What’s the author’s attitude towards the practice of paying in cash? A. Approving B. Ridiculous C. Uninterested D. Opposed 【答案】A
【解析】细节理解题。approving赞成的； ridiculous荒谬的； uninterested不感兴趣的； opposed 反对的。根据Cold hard cash feels more organic, and helps us to appreciate the effort it takes to maintain our lifestyle.可知作者对于现金支付是赞成的，故选A。
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