单选题 Driven to Distraction
Joe Coyne slides into the driver's seat, stars up the car and heads to town. The empty stretch of interstate gives way to urban congestion, and Coyne hits the brake as a pedestrian suddenly crosses the street in front of him.
But even if he hadn't stopped in time, the woman would have been safe. She isn't real. Neither is the town. And Coyne isn't really driving. Coyne is demonstrating a computerized driving simulator that is helping researchers at Old Dominion University (ODU) examine how in-vehicle guidance systems affect the person behind the wheel.
The researchers want to know if such systems, which give audible or written directions, are too distracting—or whether any distractions are offset by the benefits drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locations.
"We're looking at the performance and mental workload of drivers," said Caryl Baldwin, the assistant psychology professor leading the research, which involves measuring drives' reaction time and brain activity as they respond to auditory and visual cues.
The researchers just completed a study of the mental workload involved in driving through different kinds of environments and heavy vs. light traffic. Preliminary results show that as people "get into more challenging driving situations, they don't have any extra mental energy to respond to something else in the environment," Baldwin said.
But the tradeoffs could be worth it, she said. The next step is to test different ways of giving drivers navigational information and how those methods change the drivers' mental workload.
"Is it best if they see a picture '" that shows their position, a map kind of display?" Baldwin said. "Is it best if they hear it?"
Navigational systems now on the market give point-by-point directions that follow a prescribed route. "They're very unforgiving," Baldwin said. "If you miss a tarn, they can almost seem to get angry."
That style of directions also can be frustrating for people who prefer more general instructions. But such broad directions can confuse drivers who prefer route directions, Baldwin said.
Perhaps manufacturers should allow drivers to choose the style of directions they want, or modify systems to present some information in a way that makes sense for people who prefer the survey style, she said.
Interestingly, other research has shown that about 60 per cent of men prefer the survey style,
while 60 per cent women prefer the route style, Baldwin said. This explains the classic little thing of why men don't like to stop and ask for directions and women do, Baldwin added.

单选题 Which statement is TRUE of the description in the first two paragraphs?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 注意到备选项中都涉及到了Coyne和the woman,所以重点注意包含这些词的句子。 Joe Coyne slides into the driver's seat, stars up the car and heads to town. The empty stretch of interstate gives way to urban congestion, and Coyne hits the brake as a pedestrian suddenly crosses the street in front of him. But even if he hadn't stopped in time, the woman would have been safe. She isn't real. (即使他没有及时刹车,那位妇女也是安全的)。根据划线句的肉容可以直接判断C是答案。
单选题 What do researchers want to find out, according to the third and fourth paragraphs?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 备选项涉及到的具体信息较多,所以进行一一确认。分别利用备选项中的核心词/特征词作为答案线索(A: audible or written, distracting; B: how long, auditory and visual stimuli; C: mental load),晕样在文章中分别找到了对应的句子: The researchers want to know if such systems, which give audible or written directions, are too distracting (划线结构内容是“研究者们想知道是否这此发送声音或文字指令的系统会分散司机的注意力,这与A一致)—or whether any distractions are offset (抵消) by the benefits drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locations. "We're looking at the performance and mental workload(精神负荷)of drivers,(划线结构内容是“我们正在研究司机在开车中的状态表现和他们承受的精神负荷”,这与C对应一致)” said Cary1 Baldwin,the assistant psychology professor leading the research,which involves measuring drives' reaction time and brain activity as they respond to auditory and visual cues.(划线结构的内容是“这包括检测司机对声音和图象提示的反应时间和大脑的活动”,这与B对应一致),综合上面的分析判断D是答案。
单选题 What are the preliminary results given in the fifth paragraph?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 问题问“第5段中所给出的初步结果是什么?”利用题干中的核心词preliminary results作为答案线索,这样找到直接答案相关句:Preliminary results show that as people “get into more challenging driving situations, they don’t have any extra mental energy to respond to something else in the environment” Baldwin said.该划线句的内容是“初步的结果显示当人们进入具有挑战性的驾驶环境中时,他们没有额外的精力去对环境中的其他动心作出反应。”因此判断C是答案。
单选题 The sixth paragraph mainly state that the researchers __
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 该题问及第6段的大意。注意到在该段中出现了navigational information,而“方法”这个词义在该段中重复出现了两次。(But the tradeoffs(交替使用)could be worth it,she said.The next step is to test different ways of giving drives navigational information and how those methods change the drivers mental workload.)因此判断“方法”是该段的主题词,因此判断D是答案。
单选题 What kind of directions do men and women prefer?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 该题问及指令,根据问题句的句意分析,该题也是关于细节的题。文章的最后4段讨论驾车指南的两种类型:第9段使用的两个表达是:general instructions和route directions。route directions即是第8段中的point-by-Point directions that follow a prescribed route 第10段和第11段使用的表达是: survey style和route style。因此,general instructions或general directions指的是一种传递总体信息的驾车指南,point-by-point directions和route style是一种传递具体路线信息的驾车指南。根据最后…段的描述,大多数男士偏向于general directions,而女士则偏向于point-by-point directions,即route style。