单选题

Passage 2

Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes.
Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形)painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.
Now the American Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D. C. is planning to repeat Japan's success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.
Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest-curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges. Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bar.
Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impress ion that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

单选题 The passage mainly discusses ______.

A. a new way of highway speed control
B. a new pattern for painting highways
C. a new approach to training drivers
D. a new type of optical illusion

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 分析文章的语篇，特别是文章的开头句以及文章最后两行，可以判断A项正是文章的主题。

单选题 On roads painted with chevrons drivers tend to feel that ______.

A. they should avoid speed-related hazards
B. they are driving in the wrong lane
C. they should slow down their speed
D. they are approaching the speed limit

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 参见文章第二段第2行。

单选题 The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former ______.

A. can keep drivers awake
B. can cut road accidents in half
C. will have a longer effect on drivers
D. will look more attractive

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 该题问及chevrons与straight，horizontal bars之间的效果比较。依据文章第五段中内容，说明该方法有效果，但持续时间较短；再依据文章最后一句，可一目了然两者效果的比较结果。

单选题 The American Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to ______.

A. try out the Japanese method in certain areas
B. change the road signs across the country
C. replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons
D. repeat the Japanese road patterns

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 依据文章第三段第2行内容可知尝试日本方式是在某些公路上，而不是在全国。

单选题 What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?

A. They are falling out of use in the United States.
B. They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.
C. They are applicable only on broad roads.
D. They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 该问题和48题极为相关。依据同样在第五段。