单选题 America has seen a drop in crime rates that in earlier years would have been universally viewed as impossible. The overall crime rate has plummeted by 45% since peaking in 1991 and by 13% just since 2007—counter intuitively continuing to drop through the recession and sharp spike in unemployment.
Since 1991, according to FBI data, the number of violent crimes has fallen 36% nationally and 64% in the nation's largest cities. And in New York and Los Angeles, the nation's two largest cities, it has fallen even further. Property crime has also become increasingly rare. Incredibly, in New York City, car thefts have plunged 94% in the past two decades.
How is this possible? In the mid-1990s, few saw this decline coming, and many warned that crime would surge once again as teens of that era grew into young adults. Today, criminologists still differ on what has caused the nationwide turnaround in crime rates and why those dire predictions never came to pass. But crime-fighting technology, better policing, aging societies, growing urban populations and declining usage of hard drugs are widely cited. For many Americans, the drop in crime has resulted not only in a much higher quality of life but in a reduced economic burden as well. Safer cities generally mean stronger urban economies.
In the same category of big surprises, teen-pregnancy rates have fallen to their lowest level in more than 30 years, according to the widely respected Guttmacher Institute. They have declined 51% from their 1990 peak, based on the latest available data, and the teenage birthrate is down 43% from that year's level. Today, fewer teens are becoming pregnant and becoming mothers than at any point since reliable data has been collected by the National Center for Health Statistics. This is also true for women in the 20-to-24 age group. To put it mildly, there were very few predictions to this effect a generation ago.
In addition, overall birth rates in the U.S. have turned up for the first time since 2007—including for children born to women in a college education—to just shy of 4 million.
单选题 What can we learn from the first paragraph?
  • A.The crime rates in America remained 13% since 2007.
  • B.The crime rates have declined in America and other countries.
  • C.The crime rates in America reached its highest level in the year 1991.
  • D.During the recession and the top level of unemployment crime rates rose.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：The overall crime rate has plummeted by 45% since peaking in 1991 and by 13% just since 2007.原文说的是自2007年起总体犯罪率降低了13%，而非选项中说的保持13%，故A错误。B上半句是正确的，错在下半句的and other countries，因为本文讨论的是美国的犯罪率，并未出现其他国家。C原文The overall crime rate has plummeted by 45% since peaking in 1991……其中peaking表示顶点，即1991年犯罪率达到顶点，该项是本句话的同义替换，故为答案。D原文：...drop through the recession and sharp spike in unemployment.原文提到的一个关键词是drop，而非该项的rose，故D错误。
单选题 We can conclude from the second paragraph that ______.
  • A.property crime has also been increasing like violent crime
  • B.the number of violent crimes has fallen 36% in the biggest cities
  • C.in New York City, car thefts have dropped to 94% in the past two decades
  • D.the violent crimes have become fewer in America, especially in big cities
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：Property crime has also become increasingly rare.文章说到property crime是increasingly rare(越来越少)而不是increasing(增加)，故A错误。B项Since 1991, according to FBI data, the number of violent crimes has fallen 36% nationally and 64% in the nation's largest cities.通过阅读该句我们知道，36%是全国的数据而非最大城市的数据，最大城市的降幅是64%。故B错误。C原文：Incredibly, in New York City, car thefts have plunged 94% in the past two decades.表面看该项和原文几乎是一样的同义替换，不一样的地方是drop to 94%和原文的plunged 94%，其中drop=plunge，plunge一词原意是“跳水”，引申为“缩水，缩小，减少”的意思，而该项设置的陷阱在于介词to，原文说plunged 94%(减少94%)，而该项说的却是dropped to 94%(减少至94%)，故C错误。D根据该段第一句话：Since 1991，according to FBI data，the number of violent crimes has fallen 36% nationally and 64% in the nation's largest cities.我们知道，全国暴力犯罪率降低，尤其是大城市，故D项是正确的。
单选题 According to Paragraph 2, which form of crime is not mentioned in the text?
  • A.Robbery.
  • B.Car theft.
  • C.Violent crime.
  • D.Property crime.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。该题很简单，只要细心就能做对。文章第二段第一句提到violent crime(暴力犯罪)，第三句提到property crime(财产犯罪)，最后一句提到car theft(汽车盗窃)，故没提到的是A项的robbery。
单选题 Which one is NOT the possible reason of the dropping crime rates?
  • A.Better policing.
  • B.Better education.
  • C.Aging societies.
  • D.Declining use of drugs.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。原文第三段：Today, criminologists still differ on what has caused the nationwide turnaround in crime rates and why those dire predictions never came to pass. But crime-fighting technology, better policing, aging societies, growing urban populations and declining usage of hard drugs are widely cited.(对于犯罪率降低的原因犯罪学家观点不一致，但是……)，要特别注意but一词后面的内容，but后面列出一系列短语，并说它们are widely cited(被广泛引述)，也就是说广泛认为这些是原因。而选项中只有B．Better education没有出现，故该项为答案。
单选题 What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
  • A.Birth rates, including for children born to college girls, are slipping all the time.
  • B.Few people have predicted the drop of teen-pregnancy rates a generation ago.
  • C.Based on the latest available data, teen-pregnancy rates have dropped 43%.
  • D.Fewer women above 24 become pregnant than a generation ago.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A最后一段：In addition, overall birth rates in the U.S. have turned up for the first time since 2007—including for children born to women in a college education—to just shy of 4 million.关键词turned up(变大)，即上升的意思，而非slipping(下滑)，故A错误。B第四段最后一句：To put it mildly, there were very few predictions to this effect a generation ago.其中this effect指代上文提到的下降的年轻女孩怀孕率和生育率，故B项是正确的。C注意：偷换概念。原文说的下降43%的是teenage birthrate(青少年生育率)，而非该项说的teen-pregnancy rates(青少年怀孕率)，故C错误。D文章提到：This is also true for women in the 20-to-24 age group.并未提到任何关于women above 24(24岁以上女性)的内容，故D项属于无中生有。