单选题 Every year, the American Lung Association (ALA) releases its annual report card on smog, and every year it gives an "F" to over half the nation's counties and cities. When ALA's "State of the Air 2002" recently came out, dozens of credulous local journalists once again took the bait, ominously reporting that their corner of the nation received a failing grade. The national coverage was no better, repeating as fact ALA's statement that it is "gravely concerned" about air quality, and neglecting to solicit the views of even one scientist with a differing view. Too bad, because this report card says a lot less about actual air quality than it does about the tactics and motives of the ALA.
The very fact that 60 percent of counties were giver an "F" seems to be alarmist. This is particularly true given that smog levels have been trending downward for several decades. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics, ozone, the primary constituent of smog, progress will likely continue, even without the wave of new regulations ALA is now demanding.
ALA is correct that some areas still occasionally exceed the federal standard for ozone, but such spikes are far less frequent than in the past. Even Los Angeles, the undisputed smog capital of America, has cleaned up its act considerably. Los Angeles, which exceeded federal smog standards for 154 days in 1989, has had 75 percent fewer such spikes in recent years. But an ALA-assigned "F" misleadingly implies that air quality has not improved at all.
Most of the nation is currently in attainment with the current smog standard, and much of the rest is getting close. Nonetheless, ALA chose to assign an "F" to entire county based on just a few readings above a strict new EPA standard enacted in 1997 but not yet in force. In effect, ALA demanded a standard even more stringent than the federal government's, which allows some leeway for a few anomalously high readings in otherwise clean areas. ALA further exaggerated the public-health hazard by grossly overstating the risks of these relatively minor and sporadic increases above the standard.

单选题 The media's response to ALA's "State of the Air 2002" can best be described as
A. trusting B. suspicious C. critical D. hesitant

单选题 By citing figures from the EPA, the author seems to contend that ______.
A. the regulations about smog have proved effective
B. new regulations are necessary to deal with smog
C. smog problems have actually become less serious
D. the federal smog standard has been rather low

单选题 In Paragraph 3, the word "spikes" (in boldface) probably refers to ______.
A. the increase above the smog standard
B. the irregular readings about air quality in some areas
C. the occurrences of smog in Los Angeles
D. the current standards demanded by ALA

单选题 The author draws on Los Angeles to prove that the ALA ______.
A. is right to assign an "F" to that area
B. often bases its report on the past events
C. has a good reason to stress smog risks
D. has overstated smog problems

单选题 The author agrees with the ALA that ______.
A. present smog standards should be made stricter
B. the standard established by the EPA is effective
C. some areas fail to meet the federal standard at times
D. poor air quality is a major problem nationwide