单选题 With oil prices and interest rates low, more and more Americans are buying boats—and as traffic on the waterways increases, so does the number of accidents from drinking and driving on water. A National Transportation Safety Board study concludes that drinking may be a factor in 80 percent of the 1 000 or so deaths in boating accidents that occur every year. Yet anyone can drive a boat without a license (执照), drinking on board is almost universally legal. Experts say drunken boating may be even more dangerous than drunken driving. Boating on a crowded waterway can be in complete disorder: there are no stop signs, traffic lights or lane markers. Speed restrictions are nonexistent outside harbors. Some boats have terrible power and top speeds—and no boat has brakes. Combined with the effects of all the sun, wind, waves and happy tiredness that go with boating, even moderate amounts of alcohol can be dangerous. According to one recent study, a boater"s judgement and behavior can be worsened by only about a third as much alcohol as it would take on land. Only recently have many states begun to take action against drunken boating. The key is passing laws to set a medical standard for blood alcohol level and to allow police to test blood-alcohol levels on the spot. Increasingly, speed restrictions are also being set on crowded waterways. Some experts also suggest granting licenses for boat operators. The license requirement could be used to strengthen safety training and to keep repeat offenders off the water. It would also make it harder for beginners and children to go joyriding in highperformance boats.

单选题 What is the main cause of the increase of traffic on water?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】这是一道推断题。文中第一句说：“随着石油价格的下降和利率的降低，越来越多的美国人开始买船，水路交通事故随之增加，因醉酒驾船而导致的交通事故也同样在增加。”由此我们可以看出，水上交通事故增加的主要原因是买船的人多了，之所以会出现买船的人多，原因就是石油价格的下降和利率的降低导致了驾船费用的降低。所以选项C正确。

单选题 In the passage, it is implied that ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】这是一道推断题。文中第三、四句说：“……在船上喝酒一般说来几乎是合法的。专家们说醉酒驾船也许比醉酒开车更危险。”文中接着说明了原因，即水上交通的完全无秩序、港口外对船速的无限制、水面波涛等因素的诱发作用。我们由此可以得出结论，既然醉酒驾船这么危险，就应当对此进行严格的限制。所以选项A正确。

单选题 Why is drunken boating more dangerous than drunken driving?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】文中第五句说：“在一条拥挤的水道上驾船会处在一种完全无秩序的状况下：没有停止信号、交通灯或通路标志。”由此我们可以得出醉酒驾船比醉酒开车更危险的原因是：水上缺乏交通规则，而陆上有交通规则。选项A“原因是驾船享受”与文章内容不符；选项B“原因是令人可怕的动力和高速度”，文中说一些船有令人可怕的动力和高速度，而且船都没有制动器，这一点只是水上驾船危险的原因之一，不是同醉酒开车相比醉酒驾船更危险的原因；选项C“原因是拥挤的水道”同样不符合题意。

单选题 The most effective means to reduce boating accidents is ______.

单选题 Another effective measure suggested against accidents is ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】文中倒数第三句说：“一些专家也建议为驾船者颁发执照。”所以选项A正确。选项B“防止初学者驾船”和选项C“使惯犯远离水面”都是颁发执照能产生的预期效果，而不是采取的有效手段；选项D“防止人们在恶劣的天气驾船”在文中没有提及。