单选题
Scots are more likely to drink themselves to death than people from any other nation in Western Europe except Austria and Porugal. Everyday, six Scots die from alcohol-related conditions. Our hospitals and health services struggle with the wider damage. An estimated 51,600 Scots suffer from drink-related illness. Incidence of liver disease has shot up 40 per cent in the past seven years. Most knife attacks and most adult murders occur under the influence of alcohol.
As if all this were not bad enough, problems with alcohol abuse are now spreading to an ever-younger age group. The proportion of pupils aged 12-15 who had had an alcoholic drink in the previous week rose in the last decade from 14 per cent to 21 per cent. Today more than 40 per cent of all 15-year-olds admit to having had a drink in the past week. Much juvenile crime and vandalism is drink related.
To this credit, the Executive has focused his attention on alcohol abuse problem. Behind the scenes, the Executive is discussing how far it should go in trying to persuade Scots to drink in a more sensible fashion. The First Minister is known to be against an alcohol ban on the lines of prohibition on public smoking. He is correct that such a move would not be accepted by the electorate and, anyway, general prohibition tends to drive substance abuse underground rather than eliminate it.
Nevertheless, a debate is emerging on what controls to put on the easy availability of alcohol, especially to the young. As we report today, Donald Gorrie, the veteran Liberal Democrat MSP, is launching a campaign in the Scottish Parliament to prohibit supermarkets from offering cut-price promotions on alcoholic drinks, in line with a similar ban on such promotions to off-licenses and public houses introduced earlier this year.
It remains to be seen if it is technically feasible to define sales promotions of alcohol in a supermarket in such a way as to control them. There is also a reasonable argument that it is better to have people buy drinks at a supermarket, where the likelihood is they will consume the alcohol at home rather than binge in public. On the other hand, much of the alcohol consumed by underground drinkers is pilfered from the family supply. Perhaps the real solution is to question me cheapness of alcohol across the board.
Nevertheless, Mr. Gorrie has opened an important public discussion. He has a knack for making parliament confront awkward issues, and alcohol is one such issue.
单选题
The sentence "To this credit, the Executive has focused his attention on alcohol abuse problem" in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 含义题。题干：第三段中“To this credit, the Executive has focused his attention on alcohol abuse problem"的意思是______。to one"s credit意为“值得赞扬地”。此处是指the Executive已经开始关注酗酒的问题了，这件事是值得赞扬的，故选C。
单选题
To eliminate alcohol abuse, the author believes that ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干：为了根除酗酒，作者认为______。作者认为全面禁酒只能是人们秘密酗酒而不能根除，故可排除A；根据第四段最后一句话“… in line with a similar ban on such promotions to off-licenses and public houses introduced earlier this year”可知，作者认为禁止超市对酒进行减价促销跟今年年初实行的吊销驾照等一系列禁令一样不起作用，故可排除C；根据第六段中“… much of the alcohol consumed by underground drinkers is pilfered from the family supply”可知作者认为只允许人们在家喝酒这一做法也行不通，故D不正确。根据原文第二三段最后一句“tends to drive substance abuse underground”可知，全面禁酒只能导致人们秘密酗酒，B选项“全面酗酒只能导致秘密酗酒”，故选B。
单选题
In the author"s eyes, the feasible solution is ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干：作者眼里可行的措施是______。根据倒数第二段最后一句话“Perhaps the real solution is to question me cheapness of alcohol across the board”可知，作者在分析了一系列禁酒措施的不合理之后，得出了这样的结论：可能真正的解决方法是质疑所有的廉价酒，即应该提高酒的价格。A选项“提高酒价”符合题意，故选A。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干：根据这篇文章可以推断出______。A选项在原文并未提及，原文只提到吊销驾照是年初的一项禁酒措施，故排除A；国会并没有认为需要禁酒，故C项说法不对，可排除；根据第五段开头“It remains to be seen if it is technically feasible to define sales promotions…”可知，限制超市对酒进行减价促销这一措施是否可行，还不确定，故D项不正确。根据全文可知，禁酒已经受到了国会、各种领导以及公众的关注，甚至会影响首相的选举。B选项“饮酒引起了公众的热议”为正确答案，故选B。