{{B}}Pushbike
Peril{{/B}} Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure — or even
kill — children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars so a team of
engineers is redesigning the humble handlebar in a bid to make it
safer. Kristy Arbogast, a bioengineer at the Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, began the project with her colleagues after a
study of serious abdominal injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that
more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents. "the task was to identify
how the injuries occurred and come up with some countermeasures." she
says. By interviewing the children and their parents, Arbogast
and her team were able to reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a
common mechanism responsible for serious injures. They discovered that most
occur when children hit an obstacle at a slow speed, causing them to topple
over. To maintain their balance they turn the handlebars through 90 degrees —
but their momentum forces them into the end of the handlebars. The bike then
falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground, ramming it into
their abdomen. The solution the group came up with is a handgrip
fitted with a spring and damping system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of
the forces transmitted through the handlebars in an impact. The group hopes to
commercialize the device, which should add only a few dollars to the cost of a
bike. "But our task has been one of education because up until now, bicycle
manufacturer were unaware of the problem," says Arbogast. The
team has also approached the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to try to
persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design a decision is expected later this
year. handlebar n (常用复数)(自行车等的)车把 abdominal
adj腹部的 bioengineer n.生物工程师 countermeasure
n.对策 abdomen n.膜，腹部 momentum
n.冲力 handgrip n.握柄 damping
adj.制动的，减速的，缓冲的 commercialize
vt.使商品化
单选题
According to the passage, some engineers are trying to improve the handlebars because ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 借助常识判断A不是答案：利用题干山的核心词engineers和handlebars作为答案线索，这样找到答案相关句：Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure—or even kill—children if they fall onto the ends of the handle bars．So a team of engineers iS redesigning handlebar in a bid to make it safer．划线句说“车把手不安今会严重地伤害孩子，甚至杀死孩子，所以工程师们参加了竞标，对车把进行重新设计，以使其更加安全”。所以B是答案。
单选题
In paragraph 2, the author mentions a study of serious abdominal injuries ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 利用题干中的核心结构serious abdominal injuries作为答案线索，问题问及目的，所以注意段落中表示目的的句子/结构，这样找到答案相关句：Kristy Arobogast，a bioengineer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania began the project with her colleagues after a study of serious abdominal injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents．“The task was to identify how the injurie soccurred and come up with some countermeasures．该划线结构表示目的，其含义是“辨别受伤是怎样产生的，并想出一些应对措施”因此判断A和C错误。在前面的划线结构的主要内容是“Kristy Arobogast开始做这个项目是在一项研究有了结果以后，这项研究的结果表明在过去的30年里，超过1/3的儿童腹部受重伤的情况起源于自行车事故。”因此判断D是答案 (告诉我们为什么Kristy Arobogast开始这个项目)。
单选题
Paragraph 3 mainly discusses ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 因为上段中提到了研究的目的是“辨别受伤是怎样产牛的，并想㈩一些应对措施”，因此推断C和D可能是答案。而该段的第1句(观点句)概述了全段的大意：By interviewing the children and their parems，Arbogast and her team were able to reconstruct many of the accidents and identified a common mechanism responsible for serious injuries．(与D呼应)而接下来的句子也是在具体说他们如何进行的实验： They discovered that…To maintain their balance they turn the handlebars through 90 degree…The bike then falls over and…因此D是答案。
单选题
The passage implies that ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 该题问从文章中能够推断出什么来，在论述文中往往在文章的开头和/或结尾处传递出文章的中心/观点，因此注意文章结尾(文章开头的语句与备选项都没有关系，所以注意文章的结尾句)： The team has also approached the US consumer Product Safety Commission to try to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design．(该句表明B错误)A decision is expected later this year．该划线句说“试图说服制造商”，因此推测出“说服制造商”不是一件容易的事情。
单选题
The new handgrip works in which of the following ways?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据解答前面问题获取的信息：伤害孩子的是把手的末端，因此推断B和D可能是答案。利用题十中的核心词handgfip作为答案线索，这样找到答案相关句：The solution the grou pcame up with is a handgrip fitted with a spring and damping system．The spnng absorbs up to 50 percent of the forces transmitted through the handlebars in an impact．这两个句子说“手柄的弹簧能吸收在碰撞中通过把手而传递过来的50％的伤害力”，因此判断B是答案。