单选题 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 Automobile 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 bars. Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression 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. (227 words)

单选题 The passage mainly discusses______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题属于主旨大意题。第一段“cut highway crashes”(减少高速公路事故)，第二段最后一句话“drivers slow down”(司机放慢速度)以及文章最后一句“reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents”(降低汽车在高速上的速度，减少车祸的次数)，都告诉我们这篇文章的主旨就是介绍一种控制车速的方法，因此答案为A。

单选题 On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节判断题。线索在第二段最后一句中“…make drivers think they are driving faster than they really are，and thus drivers slow down”。意思是“……使司机觉得开得过快，于是放慢车速。”因此应该选C。其他选项，选项A“他们应该避免由速度带来的风险”；选项B“他们正行驶在错误的车道上”；选项D“他们正在接近最高时速限制”都不符合文意。

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

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节判断题。根据题干中的关键词“chevrons”找到文章最后一句话“The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents”(对于chevrons来说)，结果就是车速降低、车祸减少现象持续的时间要长一些。

单选题 The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节判断题。线索除了第三段的“repeat Japan’s success”之外，还有“…will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads to test…”。其中chevrons是日本的，而“other patterns of stripes”不一定全是日本的，所以选项D的说法错误。选项A中“try out”的意思相当于“test”，故选项A对。选项B的说法太过笼统；选项C“用人字形线条代替笔直的横线”太绝对，因为文章提到这个基金会要用“chevrons”和其他的图案来测试减少交通事故的效果，因此不正确。

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

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节判断题。根据题干的关键词“straight，horizontal bars”找到文中的描述句为“However，traffic often…to seeing the painted bars”，意思是几个月后人们又恢复到以全速开车，因为司机已习惯看到那些笔直的横线。由此可以选择选项B“人们很快就忽视了这种笔直的横线”。