B
(2014·扬州中学模拟)Aggressive pedestrians are in fact as dangerous as careless drivers. They cause traffic accidents, injury and death.
These dangerous walkers can be seen in any big city all over the world. About 69% of last year's pedestrian deaths in the US occurred in urban areas. They cross
streets ignoring “DON'T WALK” signals, suddenly appear without warning from behind parked vehicles, walk slowly at crossroads with cell phones attached to heads, blocking traffic.
These pedestrians and drivers share a common disregard for the rules of the road, both for selfish reasons. The drivers believe in the power of their machines. If their machines can go faster, they believe they have the right to go faster. If their machines are bigger, they believe they have the right to push smaller vehicles aside. Aggressive pedestrians, on the other hand, believe in the primacy (首位) of the individual, the idea that they are first in any environment, under any circumstances, even when they are on foot in a roaring tide of steel and rubber.
Last year, an estimated 5,220 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. Some 69,000 pedestrians were injured. On average, that worked out to one pedestrian killed in a traffic crash every 101 minutes, and one injured every eight minutes.
The good news is that the accident rate is dropping. For example, the number of pedestrians killed last year was 24 percent less than the number killed in traffic accidents a decade earlier. The bad news is that the basic causes of pedestrian deaths remain pretty much the same — disregard for traffic signals, inattention and crossing roads under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol, in fact, was involved in 46 percent of the traffic accidents that resulted in pedestrian deaths. Of those, 31 percent of the pedestrians were found to be drunk.
The bottom line is that the pedestrians must do more to protect their lives as well as the lives of other road users. They can start by obeying traffic signals, using marked crosswalks and calling a cab when they've had too much to drink.
5.The passage is mainly about ________.
A.how aggressive pedestrians cause traffic accidents
B.why so many Americans were killed on roads last year
C.what the traffic rules of the road about pedestrians were
D.who are to blame for pedestrian deaths, drunk drivers or the aggressive pedestrians
6.What is the pedestrians' selfish reason for traffic jams?
A.They know all drivers are skilled and with great care.
B.They believe individuals are always first.
C.They think traffic rules have nothing to do with them.
D.They guess all vehicles will slow down at crossroads.
7.What was NOT the basic cause of pedestrian deaths in the US a decade ago?
A.Disregard for traffic signals.
B.Paying no attention to surroundings.
C.Crossing roads drunk.
D.Overspeeding driving.
8.What word can best describe the author's attitude to the traffic accidents caused by pedestrians?
A.Excited. B.Cold.
C.Concerned. D.Unconnected.
Growing pains 单元检测(B卷——自主选做)
Ⅰ.完形填空
(2014 ·江苏名校适应性测试)I was doing well as a department head in a Mumbai firm, but my relationship with the boss had become strained (紧张的). Not wanting to __1__ this, I resigned rather impulsively (冲动地). But with no other job offer in hand, I soon became __2__.
Then, one morning, a Situations Vacant ad I spotted __3__ a person like me. So, carrying my __4__ typed CV (简历) in an envelope on which I had written both “To and From” __5__， I took a train on a Monday morning to get to the post office, where I could have it weighed, stamped and __6__. Getting off the train, I __7__ the crowd of officegoers out of the station and on to the street. Suddenly, I noticed my envelope was __8__!
I rushed back to the __9__. The train was still there. A __10__ of the compartment in which I travelled ended up with nothing. I waited __11__ for the train to pull away. It hadn't fallen on the tracks either.
The __12__ thing to do was to go home, sit at my typewriter, make a new CV and covering letter and mail it. But losing the envelope was like a bad __13__， so I gave up.
Three weeks passed. I __14__ a letter that referred to my “lost” job application and inviting me for a __15__ with the company's managing director. I was __16__.
I soon got the job, and __17__ there as deputy general manager until I took voluntary retirement in 2002.
I still think about my application __18__ its addressee (收信人). I imagine someone found it. He or she might have asked others on the train. Realizing it would be __19__ to a fellow citizen, the finder took it to a post office, stuck the stamps and mailed it. To that __20__ friend, I want to say: Thank you for a little act that proved to be so big for me.
1.A.look up B.take up
C.put up with D.come up with
2.A.anxious B.proud
C.hopeless D.curious
3.A.dismissed B.hired
C.missed D.sought
4.A.finally B.neatly
C.completely D.exactly
5.A.addresses B.instructions
C.directions D.courses
6.A.sorted B.loaded
C.posted D.corrected
7.A.avoided B.left
C.lost D.joined
8.A.falling B.missing
C.broken D.mistaken
9.A.platform B.yard
C.office D.street
10.A.memory B.look
C.search D.cleaning
11.A.aimlessly B.excitedly
C.angrily D.impatiently
12.A.meaningless B.logical
C.valuable D.difficult
13.A.sign B.fortune
C.result D.mark
14.A.expected B.mailed
C.received D.wrote
15.A.dinner B.walk
C.party D.meeting
16.A.surprised B.disappointed
C.encouraged D.worried
17.A.arrived B.moved
C.worked D.helped
18.A.pointing B.reaching
C.touching D.persuading
19.A.important B.hard
C.realistic D.friendly
20.A.imagined B.responsible
C.hidden D.unknown
