单选题 Hundreds of thousands of American mothers descended on Washington and about 60 other U.S. cities yesterday to voice their support for stricter gun laws, making one of the country's biggest demonstrations for many years.
The Million Morn March was focused on the capital, where a huge crowd of women, along with large numbers of men and children, gathered to mark Mothers' Day on the Mall, the green strip which leads to the Capitol building housing Congress. At the other end, below the Washington Monument, about 2,000 people calling themselves the Armed Informed Mothers staged a counter-protest against gun control.
President Clinton threw his weight behind the Million Mom March, holding a morning reception on the lawn of the White House for the rally's leaders and the mothers of children killed by guns. "One of the things your mother teaches you when you grow up is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," he told the crowd. But he pointed out that a string of gun-control measures had been stalled in congress for more than a year by the opposition of the gun lobby.
Violent crime has been falling in the U.S. for eight years, but the impact of firearms remains far higher than in other modern industralised countries. Every year 32,000 Americans—including 12 children and teenagers each day—die from gunfire through murders, accidents and suicides. Among the speakers at the gun-control rally in Washington were three women whose daughters died in the Dunblane massacre. Those murders triggered the Snowdrop Campaign, which eventually led to a ban on handguns in Britain.
Before the rally one of the Dunblane mothers, Allison Crozier, said she believed that the Million Morn campaign could ultimately outweigh the entrenched power of the gun lobby. "There are more mums who want something done. We did it in Scotland, they can do it here if they just stand up and do something about it," she told the BBC.
The counter-rally may have been tiny by comparison, but the progun demonstrators represent a powerful constituency. According to a survey published yesterday, 45% of U.S. households own a gun, and one in four Americans has been threatened with a gun. The gun-control lobbyists want child-proof trigger locks to be mad compulsory, and a 72-hour "cooling-off periods" for would-be buyers at weekend gun shows. Their opponents say those restrictions are only the first step towards a total ban.
One of the Armed Informed Mothers coordinators, Debra Collins, said her life was saved 16 years ago when she used a gun to defend herself against her violent ex-husband. "Thank God, my firearm was unencumbered by a trigger lock," she said. Organisers of the Million Morn March hoped that the turnout nationally would top a million. The final figure was unclear yesterday afternoon, but May Leigh Blek, one of the movement's founders, said enough people had shown up to put gun control on the legislative agenda in congress. She said: "I hope when legislators see so many mothers, it will give them the courage to do the right thing."
单选题 In the sentence "President Clinton threw his weight behind the Million Morn March" (para. 3), the expression "threw his weight behind" can be replaced by ______.
  • A. paid attention to
  • B. took part in
  • C. laid emphasis on
  • D. gave support to
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据上下文正确理解句子的能力。throw one's weight behind意为“全力支持(某人/某项活动)”，可由第三段中该短语下文推测。总统对游行者代表的接待及其讲话均表明，总统是站在游行母亲一方，选项D表示“支持”，为正确答案。
单选题 It can be learned from the passage that the Armed Informed Mothers ______.
  • A. are part of the Million Morn March
  • B. are demonstrating against gun control
  • C. are another great national movement
  • D. are supported by women soldiers
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。通读全文可知，Armed Informed Mothers与“百万母亲大游行”的目的截然不同，是要反对进行枪支管制，第二段staged a counter-protest against gun control即明示这些人的立场，选项B正确，并排除选项A。第六段首句中的tiny by comparison说明这一团体规模较小，文中也并未提及该团体的活动是在全国范围内展开的，排除选项C。选项D文中并未提及，可排除。
单选题 According to the passage, the Million Morn March ______.
  • A. was a nationwide demonstration held in many cities in America
  • B. was held only in the capital Washington
  • C. was only joined by young and middle-aged mothers
  • D. was first started in Britain and spread to America
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。根据第一段descended on Washington and about 60 other U.S. cities可知，此次Million Mom March在美国多座城市同时展开，为全国性示威游行，选项A正确，同时排除选项B。第二段首句指出参加游行的除女性外，还有large numbers of men and children，选项C错。文中未提及该游行兴起于英国，排除选项D。
单选题 The argument over child-proof trigger locks introduced in the passage ______.
  • A. is overlooked by the Armed Informed Mothers
  • B. becomes the focus of the Million Mom March
  • C. shows the major concern of gun-control supporters
  • D. serves as the first step towards a total ban
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。相关内容主要见第六段。游说通过枪支管制立法者希望对child-proof trigger locks采取强制政策，而反对者则认为这只是迈向全面禁止的第一步。从游行母亲的身份角度出发，不难理解保护儿童是首要目的，从其反对者的角度出发也不难看出这是母亲们的基本要求，故选项C比B要恰当。选项A文中并未提及，选项D只是反对者单方面的看法。
单选题 According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT that ______.
  • A. the Million Mom March is one of the few biggest demonstrations over the past decades
  • B. the opposition of the gun lobby is quite strong in the congress
  • C. the pro-gun demonstration represents a large proportion of the American population
  • D. the increase of violent crime in the U.S. is related to firearms
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。由第一段one of the country's biggest demonstrations for many years可排除选项A。由第三段末句可知，正是由于受到gun lobby的反对，国会才未能通过枪支管制措施，至今已拖延一年多，可见gun lobby对国会的决策影响甚大，排除选项B。根据第六段the pro-gun demonstrators represent a powerful constituency，及45% of U.S. households own a gun，排除选项C。第四段指出，美国的暴力犯罪八年以来一直在减少，选项D符合题意。