Question

    When you are sitting in the car, do you ever notice the drivers looking over their shoulders or side to side in the car? Well, they are doing this to check their blind spots! Blind spots take driving extremely difficult and increase the potential for car accidents.

Fourteen-year-old Alaina Gassler from Pennsylvania noticed her mother struggling with blind spots while driving their family car. So she came up with an ingenious solution that won the first place and $25,000 in the Broadcom Masters Competition.

Blind spots are the areas around the car that cannot be directly observed by the driver. There are two kinds of blind spots---on the back of the car that cannot be seen with mirrors, and blind spots at the front of the car as well.

When a driver is changing lanes, he has to look over his shoulder through the side windows to make sure that there is no vehicle in the blind spot. This invisible area is big enough to hide a car!

The other blind spot is created in the front by the A-pillar（柱子）---the material on either side on the windshield（挡风玻璃）that holds the glass and forms the frame of the car. In some cars, this pillar can be quite thick. Usually, people or cyclists can be hidden by this pillar.

Alaina's design was to get rid of the blind spot created by the front A-pillar of the car, the one that helps hold up the windshield.

She put a camera on the outside passenger side of the car which then sent the photos to a projector above the drivers' head. Then, she covered the inside of the pillar in reflective fabric onto which the image was projected. Basically, her device made the pillar "see through" and removed the blind spot on that side of the car.

Alnina's solution is very creative and could be improved by using LCD displays that will make it easier to see during day time as well.

1.What can be learned about blind spots during driving?

A.They call for careful driving. B.They make driving thrilling.

C.They are many in kinds. D.They can't be get rid of.

2.Which of the following can replace the underlined word "ingenious" in paragraph 2?

A.interesting B.creative

C.inspiring D.invisible

3.How did Alaina solve the problem?

A.By improving the A-pillar. B.By using a mirror on the outside of the A-pillar.

C.By relying on LCD displays. D.By using a camera to capture images.

4.What's the best title for the text?

A.An Introduction to Blind Spots B.A Warning About the Road Safety

C.A Teen's Creative Solution to Blind Spots D.Scientific Research on Blind Spots

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了来自宾夕法尼亚州的14岁的Alaina Gassler想出的有关汽车盲点的解决方案。盲点是指驾驶员无法直接观察到的车辆周围的区域。Alaina用相机捕捉图像的方法解决了汽车盲点的问题。

1.推理判断题。由第一段中的Blind spots take driving extremely difficult and increase the potential for car accidents.(盲点使驾驶极其困难，增加了发生车祸的可能性)，可以推理得知盲点的存在要求驾驶员在开车时必须谨慎驾驶，故选A项。

2.词义猜测题。由第二段中的...solution that won the first place and $25,000 in the Broadcom Masters Competition可知，Alaina想出的解决方案在Broadcom Masters大赛中赢得了一等奖，由此可以得知她的方案是有创意的。根据最后一段中的Alnina’s solution is very creative(Alnina的解决方案非常有创意)可再次确定B项为正确答案，故选B项。

3.细节理解题。由倒数第二段中的She put a camera on the outside passenger side of the car which then sent the photos to a projector above the drivers’ head.可知，她在车外乘客侧放了一个摄像头，然后将照片发送到司机头顶上方的投影仪上。因此可知Alaina是用相机捕捉图像的方法解决了汽车盲点的问题。故选D项。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文及由第二段中的Fourteen-year-old Alaina Gassler from Pennsylvania noticed her mother struggling with blind spots while driving their family car. So she came up with an ingenious solution(来自宾夕法尼亚州的14岁的Alaina Gassler注意到她的母亲在驾驶汽车时，受到汽车盲点的困扰。所以她想出了一个巧妙的解决方案)可知，文章介绍了14岁的Alaina Gassler想出的有关汽车盲点的解决方案。因此C项（青少年对盲点的创造性解决方法）为最佳标题，故选C项。