I hate driving. I hate the traffic, the confusing design of highways in my city and the long periods of sitting with nothing tc do but listen to the radio. Besides, I am a nervous, slow driver, fearful of other cars and distracted drivers.
But I live in a spacious Southwestern city with limited public transportation and intense heat that makes long-distance walking or biking tough for much of the year. So driving is a fact of life for me.
My fears, though, have only been further confirmed by a sad series in The New York Times called "Driven to Distraction" about the dangers of using cellphones and of texting while driving. One article cited a new study, by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which found that when truck drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.
Another article cited research that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers—and that driving while talking on a cell is akin(类似的)to being legally drunk. Hands-free devices, meanwhile, don't eliminate these risks, according to studies. In fact, they may worsen them by giving drivers a false sense of security.
Because I'm such a weak driver, I try not to talk or answer my phone on the road unless it's urgent or traffic is at a standstill(停止). But for many people, especially those with long commutes and important business to take care of, talking or texting while driving is common, and perhaps necessary. I am amazed by how man)interviews I've conducted for articles with subjects talking to me while driving: I can sometimes hear the sound of horns and the music of NPR(美国国家公共广播电台)turned down in the background.

单选题 Why does the author have to drive in life although he hates driving?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】第二段提到，作者居住在美国西南部的一个大城市里，那里的公共交通不发达，天气又极其炎热，在一年中的大部分时间里，远距离步行或骑自行车都会让人受不了，因此，开车成了他生活中的一部分。B)与原文意思相符，故为答案。

单选题 According to The New York Times, what is the most dangerous behaviour while driving?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】由题干中的丁he New York Times定位到第三段。在该段中，作者引用了《纽约时报》的文章来说明开车时打电话或发短信的危险，其中提到卡车司机边发短信边开车时，撞车的风险比不发短信的司机高出23倍。在接下来的一段中，还提到开车时打电话的司机撞车的几率是其他司机的4倍，并声称打电话开车相当于酒后驾车。通过以上分析可以得出结论，开车发短信是最危险的，故答案为A)。

单选题 The reason why the hands-free devices can't avoid risks is that______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】由题干中的hands-free devices定位到第四段倒数第二句。该句提到，与此同时，研究表明免提设备并不能消除这些风险。接下来的一句阐述了原因，事实上免提设备还加剧了风险，因为它们给了司机一种安全的错觉，故答案为D)。

单选题 In the interviews the author is surprised to realize that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】由题干中的the interviews定位到第五段最后一句。该句提到，许多次“我”进行采访时，采访对象都是一边开车一边通过电话跟“我”对答，对此“我”惊骇不已；有时“我”还能听到电话里传来对方那边的喇叭声和被调低音量的国家公共广播电台播放的音乐声，故C)为正确答案。注意原文中的subjects和C)中的interviewees都是“被采访者”的意思。