单选题
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The pollution of Hong Kong's beaches by oil from a damaged tanker last year recalls a similar incident which took place in Britain in 1967 when the Torrey Canyon, a huge oil tanker, split in two and caused disaster in coastal areas. Shoals of fishes were killed, sea birds hopelessly fouled with oil and coastal holiday resorts put out of business for several weeks. As a result of this particular incident scientists are becoming restless at the thought of Britain's inability to cope with national disasters on a large scale. The reason for their concern is that technology is rapidly outstripping(超越) man's ability to control it.
Oil tankers, for instance, have been allowed to get bigger and bigger without sufficient thought being given to emergency braking and manoeuvring arrangement. Collisions at sea continue, but little effect has been made to develop safety devices as effective as those used for aircraft.
Scientists were outspoken in expressing their concern during a recent meeting of the British Association. Unanimous approval was voiced when the leading speaker urged that a permanent national rescue services should be established, equipped for any emergency and ready to move off immediately.
Of all the possible disasters mentioned, the one promoting most discussion was a major release of radioactivity from a nuclear power station. One does not need a particularly vivid imagination to visualize the other possibilities discussed. What would be the effect of a jumbo-jet crashing on a large chemical plant handling destroying liquids? Could the tapping of natural gas lead to any form of collapse? Suppose a lorry full of a highly poisonous chemical crashed unseen into a large reservoir? Dams can burst, abnormal conditions can lead to massive electrical blackouts.
An intensive study of such possibilities could at least reduce the effects of future disasters. For example, it would mean that a number of technical alternatives (such as the choice between detergent or chalk for dispersing oil) could be examined and tested in advance so that specially trained expert would know exactly what action was needed in a given emergency.
单选题 The main idea of the second paragraph is that ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】根据文章第二段，油轮(oil tankers)曾经越造越大而没有充分考虑紧急制动及手工操作设备。海上碰撞仍有发生，它的安全设施不及飞机上的有效。其他各项内容均与第二段内容相反，所以只有D项可选。
单选题 In the fourth paragraph the writer states that ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】根据第四段the one promoting most discussion was…句中promoting一词可理解为“促进，促成”，句意为：一个最能引起人们讨论的问题是…，D项中could happen正好符合此意，因此D项最合题意。
单选题 The main idea of the final paragraph is that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据文章最后一段，对这些可能性的研究表明，采取措施可以减少未来的灾害。要做到这一点，提前检验或实验所要采取的措施是十分必要的。四项中只有C项，符合文意。
单选题 Of the following suggested titles the one most accurately sums up the passage is ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】通观全文，可以看出作者意图在于揭示现代科技将会带来的不良后果，而不是单指B项中的“油污染”，C项中的“几个事件”，也不是D项中的会议。
单选题 What is the author's attitude toward the rapid development of technology?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】cautious意为“警惕的，谨慎的”，用在这里最合适。在本文中作者先提出了现代科技发展可能带来的危害，然后分析了解决办法，对其并不是容忍、热心或仇恨的态度。