单选题     Train companies in Tokyo are taking action to reduce the number of people jumping in front of trains. They are fitting blue lights on station platforms to try and create a more calming atmosphere. The East Japan Railway Company has invested almost $170,000 to install the lights in all of the 29 stations on the capital's busy Yamanote Line. There has been an alarming rise in the number of people committing suicide at train stations. A total of 68 people threw themselves under trains in the year up to March. This compares with 42 suicides in the same period a year earlier. In 2008, Japan had nearly 2,000 suicides by jumping in front of a train; around six percent of all suicides nationwide. Suicides have risen sharply in the past decade due to poor economic conditions.
    No one knows if the blue lights will work. There is no evidence to show that blue light reduces suicidal feelings. Keihan Railway spokesman Osamu Okawa stated: 'We thought we had to do something to save lives. We know there is no scientific proof that blue lights deter suicides, but if blue has a soothing effect on the mind, we want to try it to save lives.' The Associated Press news agency reports on a Japanese therapist called Mizuki Takahashi. She explained her reasons why the blue lights might be a good idea: 'We associate the color with the sky and the sea. It has a calming effect on agitated people, or people obsessed with one particular thing, which in this case is committing suicide,' she said. Other companies are watching this experiment with interest.
单选题     Why blue lights are installed in many train stations?
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 本文讲的是许多日本火车站启用蓝色的灯以减少卧轨自杀人数。第一段提到,蓝色可以创造平静的氛围,想自杀的人会在这种气氛中平静下来,所以采用蓝色。
单选题     The use of blue lights to reduce suicides ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】 全文中多处提到,无论从科学的角度还是试验的角度,都还没有结果表明蓝色的灯是否会真的起作用。
单选题     A Japanese therapist explained that ______.
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】 第二段中说到,一位日本的理疗医师说,蓝色被认作是天空和海洋,有让心情焦躁的人或受到某个特殊事件刺激的人平静下来的作用。选项C中的only不合题意,太绝对了。
单选题     What is the writer's attitude toward the experiment? He is ______.
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】 作者通篇以陈述的口气说明了一个真实的试验。以客观的事实说明该事件,并没有以个人的看法为主导思想。