A federal agency on Tuesday called for a ban on all cellphone use by drivers -- the most far-reaching recommendation up to now — saying its decision was based on a decade of investigations into distraction-related (与分散注意力有关的) accidents, as well as growing concerns that powerful mobile devices are giving drivers even more reasons to look away from the road.
As part of its recommendation, the National Transportation Safety Board is urging states to ban drivers from using hands-free devices, including wireless headsets. No state now has made laws to ban such activity, but the Board said that drivers faced serious risks from talking on wireless headsets, just as they do by taking a hand off the wheel to hold a phone to their ears.
However, the concern was heightened by increasingly powerful phones that people can use to send e-mails, watch movies and play games.
“Every year, new devices are being on sale.” she said. “People are attracted to update their Facebook page, to play music with cellphone, as if sitting at a desk. But they are driving a car.”
The agency based its recommendation on evidence from its investigation of numerous crashes in which electronic distraction was a major contributing factor.
Ms. Hersman said she understood that this recommendation would be unwelcome in some circles, given the number of drivers who talk and text. But she compared distracted driving to drunken driving and even smoking, which required wholesale cultural shifts to change behavior.
“It’s going to be very unpopular with some people.” she said. “We’re not here to win a popularity contest. We’re here to do the right thing. This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it is time.”
The agency’s recommendation is not required for states to adopt such a ban. And it won’t likely be agreed upon by state lawmakers who are unwillingly to anger those who have grown accustomed to using their device behind the wheel.
The ban also deserves attention because it is the first call by a federal agency to end the practice completely, rather than the partial ban that some lawmakers have put in place by allowing hands-free talking.
1.The ban on all cellphone use by drivers was put forward ______.
A．after a long discussion and recommendation
B．after about ten years’ investigation in it
C．because of the most powerful mobile devices
D．for the reason of heading away from the road
2.We can know from the passage that ______.
A．electronic distraction resulted in numerous crashes
B．numerous crashes were caused by drunk driving
C．electronic distraction contributed much to the ban
D．the recommendation was based on electronic distraction
3.Ms Hersman thinks that distracted driving, drunken driving and smoking ______.
A．are just common behaviors B．can be shifted to behaviors
C．are behaviors to be changed D．are just cultural behaviors
4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A．Cellphone Ban in Cars
B．Valuable Ban for Cellphones
C．Drivers Ban Cellphones
D．Cellphone Ban while Driving
What happens inside the skull of a soccer player who repeatedly heads a soccer ball? That question motivated a challenging new study of the brains of experienced players that has caused discussion and debate among soccer players, and some anxiety among those of us with soccer-playing children.
For the study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York selected 34 adults, men and women. All of the volunteers had played soccer since childhood and now competed year-round in adult soccer leagues. Each filled out a detailed questionnaire developed especially for this study to determine how many times they had headed a soccer ball in the previous year, as well as whether they had experienced any known concussions (脑震荡) in the past.
Then the players completed computerized tests of their memory and other learning skills and had their brains scanned, using a complicated new M.R.I. technique which can find structural changes in the brain that can’t be seen during most scans.
According to the data they presented at a Radiological Society of North America meeting last month, the researchers found that the players who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention and the processing of visual information, compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times.
This pattern of white matter loss is “similar to those seen in traumatic (外伤的) brain injury”, like that after a serious concussion, the researchers reported, even though only one of these players was reported to have ever experienced a concussion.
The players who had headed the ball about 1,100 times or more in the past year were also generally worse at recalling lists of words read to them, forgetting or fumbling the words far more often than players who had headed the ball less.
1.The passage is most probably a______.
A．news report B．research report
C．story for soccer players D．text for doctors
2.In which way can we find the structural changes in the brain?
A．Computerized test. B．Questionnaire..
C．Scanning. D．M.R.I. technique.
3.From the passage we can conclude that frequent heading may have_____.
A．significant effect on brain B．little effect on one’s brain
C．nothing to do with the brain injury D．one’s memory improved
4.The underlined word "fumbling" is closest in meaning to______.
A．remembering B．misunderstanding
C．recalling D．missing
After my dad died on Aug.30, 2001, my mother made sure we marked each anniversary. At first, my brothers and sister and I would travel hours to get home, but eventually we got to the point where just one or two of us would make it back to go to Mass with her and spend the day together.
The great love of her life, the man who broke up with her right before her college graduation, only to return two years later claiming he’d traveled the world and hadn’t found anyone to compare with her, remained a daily presence in her life. She spoke about him so often and kept his memory so alive that people were sometimes surprised to learn that he was gone. She took over the garden where he’d planted and made it her own.
When the 10th anniversary of his death approached, my mom began talking about it and planning for it weeks in advance. The date on her kitchen calendar was circled and marked R.I.P. (Rest in Peace). Of course she wanted all of us there and settled the dates for our coming back.
On Monday — the day before the anniversary — she went to morning Mass and walked downtown for lunch with friends, and later told my sister on the phone that she felt Dad still so close that as she was walking back home, she heard someone yell and thought, “Oh, there’s Dick.”
That evening she went out to water flowers, just as my father, 10 years before, had gone out to the garden to pick vegetables before he died. A neighbor heard the tin watering can strike the ground as she fell and hit her head. My mother died within hours, on Aug.30, 2011, the 10thanniversary. She needed to mark that anniversary, she wanted us all home and my dad had waited long enough.
1.From the second paragraph we know that the author’s father______.
A．traveled around the world and left her mother
B．left her mother first but returned two years later
C．had a quarrel with her before her graduation
D．was not the right man her mother wanted at that time
2.We can infer from the passage that the author’s mother _____.
A．knew her last day was coming on Aug.30
B．kept everything of her father’s home
C．missed Father though he had passed away
D．remained a daily presence in his life
3.Which of the following statements is true EXCEPT that _____.
A．Mother died the day before the anniversary of Father’s death
B．Mother died in the garden as Father did ten years ago
C．Mother died because she fell to the ground accidentally
D．Mother died on the same date when Father did ten years ago
4.What does the writer imply in the underlined part of the last sentence?
A．She wanted us to stay at home. B．Mother missed us very much.
C．Mother expected us to get back. D．That day was her last day.
Actually we have known a lot of examples and meaningful words to support the fact that we should try our best to ease the bad impression of others. Just like the old saying goes, we should give a better assumption to the one than we think he was. But many of us always fail to do this.
Take the situation of my class for example. Right at the beginning of the first semester when we were freshmen we all showed great favor to each other. And when there was an activity that needed some people to join, we would be willing to attend whether it was interesting or not. And we were really like brothers and sisters, and our class was just like a family, a warm family. But now, I feel tired of those meaningless activities not only because of the boring activities themselves but also the cool response of our classmates.
I think the reasons why the passion of most classmates is so low may be as follows:
To start with, many of us take part in more than one organization, which will certainly make us tired. Also, in the study fields, many of us may find that our courses are sometimes difficult to understand or comprehend, especially the specialized subjects. Moreover, “history” teaches us that if one does not study hard, it is possible to fail in the exams. So it is a big and good excuse to say that “I do really want to attend, but I have a lot of homework to do, so...”
Last but not least, some people believe that some of our leaders should not be regarded as a leader, maybe I should say we, as leaders, lost the reputation, support and trust of yours. At least I am the warm-hearted one, although I cannot promise you that your advice will be adopted surely, at least I will spare no effort to “give” you the right to be heard, and to serve you.
Be active to show your talents and abilities and to create a better image of our class. Most important of all, work painstakingly for a better condition that we should have reached.
1.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Students’ passion for activities was high at first but disappeared gradually.
B．Students’ passion for activities grew gradually because they were interesting.
C．Students were too busy to take part in activities after their classes.
D．Students were unwilling to participate in activities because of their leaders.
2.We can infer from the passage that the writer must be ______.
A．a supporter of activities B．a responsible teacher
C．a top student in class D．a devoted class leader
3.The writer hopes that all the members of the class will ______.
A．develop better talents and skills B．improve their abilities and creativity
C．work together to make a better class D．adopt others’ advice patiently
Modern furniture would be ____ in a Victorian house．
A．out of place B．out of sight
C．out of reach D．out of practice
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, founded in 1963, ____ 50 in 2013．
A．turns B．becomes C．grows D．passes
