2. 职称英语
  3. There is extraordinary exposure in the United States to the risks of injury

There is extraordinary exposure in the United States to the risks of injury

游客2025-04-23  49
问题     There is extraordinary exposure in the United States to the risks of injury and death from motor vehicle accidents. More than 80 percent of all households own passenger cars or light trucks and each of these is driven an average of more than 11,000 miles each year. Almost one-half of fatally injured drivers have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.1 percent or higher. For the average adult, over five ounces of 80 proof spirits would have to be consumed over a short period of time attain these levels. One third of drivers who have been drinking, but fewer than 4 percent of all drivers, demonstrate levels. Although less than 1 percent of drivers with BACs of 0.1 percent or more are involved in fatal crashes, the probability of their involvement is 27 times higher than for those without alcohol in their blood.
   There are a number of different approaches to reducing injuries in which intoxication plays a role. Based on the observation that excessive consumption correlates with the total alcohol consumption of a country’s population, it has been suggested that higher taxes on alcohol would reduce both. While the heavier drinkers would be taxed the most, anyone who drinks at all would be penalized by this approach.
   To make drinking and driving a criminal offense is an approach directed only at intoxicated drivers. In some states, the law empowers police to request breath tests of drivers cited for any traffic offense and elevated BAC can be the basis for arrest. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates, however, that even with increased arrests, there are about 700 violations for every arrest. At this level there is little evidence that laws serve as deterrents to drinking while intoxicated. In Britain, motor vehicle fatalities fell 25 percent immediately following implementation of the Road Safety Act in 1967. As the British increasingly recognized that they could drink and not be stopped, the effectiveness declined, although in the ensuing three years the fatality rate seldom reached that observed in the seven years prior to the Act.
   Whether penalties for driving with a high BAC or excessive taxation on consumption of alcoholic beverages will deter the excessive drinkers responsible for most fatalities is unclear. In part, the answer depends on the extent to which those with high BACs involved in crashes are capable of controlling their intake in response to economic or penal threat. Therapeutic programs which range from individual and group counseling and psychotherapy to chemotherapy constitute another approach, but they have not diminished the proportion of accidents in which alcohol was a factor. In the few controlled trials that have been reported there is little evidence that rehabilitation programs for those repeatedly arrested for drunken behavior have reduced either the recidivism or crash rates. Thus far, there is no firm evidence that Alcohol Safety Action Project supported programs, in which rehabilitation measures are requested by the court, have decreased recidivism or crash involvement for clients exposed to them, although knowledge and attitudes have improved. One thing is clear, however: unless we deal with automobile and highway safety and reduce accidents in which alcoholic intoxication plays a role, many will continue to die. [br] The author is primarily concerned with ______
选项 A、interpreting the results of surveys on traffic fatalities
B、reviewing the effectiveness of attempts to curb drunk driving
C、suggesting reasons for the prevalence of drunk driving in the United States
D、analyzing the causes of the large number of annual traffic fatalities
答案 B
解析 根据文章可知，作者着重评论控制酒后开车的办法到底有没有效果。第一段指 出：许多交通事故是由酒后开车的司机造成的。第二段：有人建议采用两种办法来遏制这一 问题：征税和针对酒后开车的法律。第三四段阐明所采用的这些措施都没有明显的效果。据 此判断，答案是B。
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