In some ways, the United States has made spectacular progress. Fires no longer destroy 18,000 buildings as they did in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, or kill half a town of 2,400 people, as they did the same night in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Other than the Beverly Hill Supper Club fire in Kentucky in 1977, it has been four decades since more than 100 Americans died in a fire. But even with such successes, the United States still has one of the worst fire death rates in the world. Safety experts say the problem is neither money nor technology, but the indifference of a country that just will not take fires seriously enough. American fire departments are some of the world's fastest and best-equipped. They have to be. The United States has twice Japan's population, and 40 times as many as fires. It spends far less on preventing fires than on fighting them. And American fire-safety lessons are aimed almost entirely at children, who die in disproportionately large numbers in fires but who, contrary to popular myth, start very few of then. Experts say the fatal error is an attitude that fires are not really anyone's fault. That is not so in other countries, where both public education and the law treat fires as either a personal failing or a crime. Japan has many wood houses; of the estimated 48 fires in world history that burned more than 10,000 buildings, Japan has had 27. Penalties for causing a severe fire by negligence can be as high as life imprisonment. In the United States, most education dollars are spent in elementary schools. But the lessons are aimed at too limited an audience; just 9 percent of all fire deaths are caused by children playing with matches. The United States continues to rely more on technology than laws or social pressure. There are some smoke detectors in 85 percent of all homes. Some local building codes now require home sprinklers. New heaters and irons shut themselves off if they are tipped.
单选题
The reason why so many Americans die in fires is that______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：文章第二段首先讲到：美国仍然是世界上火灾死亡率最高的国家之一。后面讲到安全专家提出的原因：“Safety experts say the problem is neither money nor technology， but the indifference of a country that just will not take fires seriously enough．”所以美国人在火灾中死亡的原因既不在于技术方面，也不在于资金方面，而在于他们对火灾的重视程度不够。B项符合文意，所以本题的正确答案应为B。
单选题
Although the fire death rate has declined, the United States______.
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：文章第三段中作者提到：美国的火灾安全课程几乎大多数都是针对儿童，但很少的火灾是由他们引起的。在第五段中作者主要讲了火灾的安全教育问题：“most education dollars are spent in elementary schools．But the lessons are aimed at too limited an audience；just 9 pet。cent of all fire deaths are caused by children playing with matches．”由上述第三段和第五段的内容可知，美国对火灾教育的对象和对教育的投入针对的范围太狭窄，火灾大部分是由成年人引起的，那么火灾教育也应该针对成年人，而不仅仅在小学里投人大量的火灾教育资金，仅仅针对儿童展开。A项符合文意，B项的内容与文意相悖。文章第三段指出：美国的消防部门是世界上行动最快、装备最好的部门，所以C项不对。D项不是文章中表述的内容，所以也不对。因此本题的正确答案应为A。
单选题
In what aspects should the United States learn from Japan?