Question

The U.S. government’s push to decrease the nation’s output of greenhouse gases by increasing the fuel efficiency of the cars Americans drive is arousing again an emotional argument Does driving a small, fuel-efficient car make you more likely to die on the road?

Engineers and statistical analysts can point to data that suggest more-efficient cars don’t necessarily put motorists at greater overall risk. But most of us care less about the “overall” risk than we do about ourselves. Driving a big Chevrolet Tahoe SUV makes many of us believe we are safer than we would be in a smaller car — even if statistical measures across a large population of vehicles and all kinds of car accidents suggest the advantage of safety isn’t quite as wide as SUV owners believe.

The Obama government has put the fuel-efficiency and safety question back on the front burner by calling for new-vehicle fuel economy to rise to an average of 35 miles per gallon （加侖） by 2020 from about 25 mpg today. That goal could move higher if the government decides to adopt California’s requirement to cut vehicle greenhouse-gas giving off, which would result in stricter mileage standards.

Those moves, and the effects of last summer’s gas-price shock, are driving auto makers to offer cars such as the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and Daimler AG’s Smart For Two — which get the kind of mileage today that law says should be the average in a decade. Beyond that, auto makers will launch a wide range of new compact （緊湊的） vehicles, and decrease production of large, body-on-frame SUVs.

That’s leading to new concerns about “green safety”, a term for managing the balance between reducing vehicle size for efficiency and adding safety and protection features that tend to make vehicles heavier and less efficient. Undoubtedly, further work has to be done before Americans make the choice.

1.The U.S. government requires to improve the fuel efficiency in order to ________.

A．push Americans to drive smaller cars

B．reduce the output of greenhouse gases

C．drive auto makers to produce fewer SUVs

D．cause Americans to make an argument

2.According to Paragraph 2, engineers and analysts’ idea ________.

A．fails to relieve people of their worry about safety

B．persuades people to purchase smaller cars instead of SUVs

C．is based on research and therefore persuasive enough

D．makes people think of their safety as well as others’

3.About the Obama government’s new moves, the auto makers are ________ and average Americans are ________.

A．uncertain; positive B．doubtful; uncertain

C．supportive; positive D．positive; uncertain

4.The best title for the text should be ________.

A．New Law Reduces Greenhouse Gases Output

B．Can Small Cars Overcome Accident Fears?

C．New Compact Cars Gets Popular in the U.S.

D．Do We Have to Follow the Government?

Answer 1

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要講了，政府為了減少溫室氣體的排放，開始推廣小型高效的汽車。這引起了普通民眾的質(zhì)疑。盡管專家已經(jīng)指出小型車更安全，但美國民眾并不買賬。汽車制造商開始生產(chǎn)小型車，但被普通民眾普遍接受還需要十年左右。

1.細節(jié)理解題。第一自然段第一句“The U.S. government’s push to decrease the nation’s output of greenhouse gases by increasing the fuel efficiency”美國政府提出通過提高燃油效率來減少溫室氣體的排放。故選擇B。

2.第二自然段第二句“But most of us care less about the “overall” risk than we do about ourselves. ” 但是大多數(shù)人很少關心“整體”危險，更多的是關心自己的安全�？芍�工程師和數(shù)據(jù)分析師的說明并沒有效果，故選擇A。

3.推理判斷題。第四自然段說汽車制造商開始積極生產(chǎn)緊湊型的汽車；后一自然段最后一句“Undoubtedly, further work has to be done before Americans make the choice.”意思是毫無疑問，進一步的工作必須在美國人做出選擇之前被做，可知美國民眾還是搖擺不定。故選擇D。

4.文介紹了，政府為了減少溫室氣體的排放，開始推廣小型高效的汽車。這引起了普通民眾的質(zhì)疑。盡管專家已經(jīng)指出小型車更安全，但美國民眾并不買賬。故選擇B。

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