1、大学 CET四快速阅读快速阅读变化题型(多项选择题)训练Is There a Perfectly Safe Place to Live In?Challenging the premise that sparsely settled outer suburbs are safer than cities, a University of Virginia professor has concluded that persons living in rural areas like Fayette County have a higher risk of dying in a traffic a
2、ccident or being murdered by a stranger than residents of a metropolitan area like Pittsburgh.William H. Lucy, professor of urban and environmental planning, studied eight urban areas, including greater Pittsburgh, for three to four years to test theories that dictate where people bye and how they d
3、ecide what is safe.While raw statistics supported the commonly held theory that the risk of dying by homicide is higher in cities than in rural areas, when Lucy factored in fatal traffic accidents, the statistics showed that life was actually more dangerous for rural residents.There, “people drive f
4、arther and faster and on narrow and curvy roads,” Lucy said last week. “Many people kill themselves in single vehicle traffic accidents.“Lucy said he was inspired to do the study by his dislike of sprawl. “We would like to see cities and suburbs revived,” Lucy said in a phone interview front Charlot
5、tesville, Va. “I am interested in questions about what influences where people live. They leave places that they view as unsafe and move to places that they consider to be safe.”Lucy gathered statistics from Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelph
6、ia and the suburbs and counties surrounding them. In total, he compared 68 counties and cities. Lucy found that Fayette County was 14th most dangerous, based on traffic fatalities and homicides by strangers. Butler County placed 27th, Westmoreland County was 33rd, Beaver arid Pittsburgh tied for 46t
7、h and Allegheny County, excluding Pittsburgh, was 64th, one of the safest.Contrary to commonly held assumptions, Lucy said, the statistics show that persons who live far out in suburbia or in low-density rural areas actually haw, a higher risk of dying a violent deathdefined as a fatal car crash or
8、homicide by someone other than a spouse, relative or friendthan persons who live in a city.Professor Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at Carnegie Mellon University, called the study “intriguing“ but said it did not convince him that urban residents should feel safer than those in rural areas. “In g
9、eneral, homicide rates are higher in the city than the suburbs and the suburbs are higher than rural areas,“ he said.From 1997 to 1999, Lucy found, the city of Pittsburghs homicide rate was 1.3 per 10,000 persons, compared with 0.3 per 10,000 persons in Beaver and Fayette counties and 0.2 in Washing
10、ton, Westmoreland, Butler and the rest of Allegheny County. lie then refined the numbers to isolate the homicides that were committed by persons who didnt know the victims. For the same time period, Lucy evaluated the risk of dying in a fatal car crashwhich he found was 2 per 10,000 persons in Fayet
11、te County, 1.4 per 10,000 in Butler, 1.2 in Washington and Westmoreland and 1 in Beaver. In Allegheny County outside Pittsburgh, the risk was 0.6 per 10,000; Pittsburghs rate was 0.7 per 10,000 persons.In each metropolitan area that he studied, Lucy found that the safest counties were those that bor
12、dered or rimmed the central cityBaltimore Count), Cook County in Chicago, Delaware and Montgomery counties bordering Philadelphia and Allegheny County surrounding Pittsburgh.His study supports the premise that people tend to overestimate the risks of crime while underestimating the risks of driving.
13、 Four years ago, the Post Gazette came to a similar conclusion in a study that found that residents of Fayette and Greene counties were more than twice as likely to die a violent death as residents of Allegheny County. That study was based on an analysis of nearly 25,000 deaths in Pennsylvania durin
14、g a 10-year period. It found that the single factor that increased the chance of violent deaths was cars.No place is perfectly safe, but some places are more dangerous than others. Whether we live on a floodplain or in “Tornado Alley,” near a nuclear facility or in a neighborhood poorly lit at night
15、, we all co-exist uneasily with natural and man-made hazards. As Mark Monmonier shows in his entertaining and immensely informative book Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America, maps can tell us a lot about where we can anticipate certain hazards, but they can also be dangerously mislead
16、ing.California, for example, takes earthquakes seriously, with a comprehensive program of seismic mapping, whereas Washington has been comparatively lax about earthquakes in Puget Sound. But as the Northridge earthquake in January 1994 demonstrated all too clearly to Californians, even reliable seis
17、mic hazard maps can deceive anyone who misinterprets “known fault-lines“ as the only places vulnerable to earthquakes.Important as it is to predict and prepare for catastrophic natural hazards, more subtle and persistent phenomena such as pollution and crime also pose serious dangers that we have to
18、 cope with on a daily basis. Hazard-zone maps highlight these more insidious hazards and raise awareness about them among planners, local officials, and the public.With the help of many maps illustrating examples from all corners of the United States, Monmonier demonstrates how hazard mapping reflec
19、ts not just scientific understanding of hazards but also perceptions of risk and how risk can be reduced. Whether you bye on a fault line or a coastline, near a toxic waste dump or an EMF-generating power line, you ignore this books plain language advice on geographic hazards and how to avoid them a
20、t your own peril.“No one should buy a home, rent an apartment, or even drink the local water without having read this fascinating cartographic alert on the dangers that lurk in our everyday lives. Who has not asked where it is safe to live? Cartographies of Danger provides the answer.”H. J. de Blij,
21、 NBC News“Even if youre not interested in maps, youre almost certainly interested in hazards. And this book is one of the best places Ive seen to learn about them in a highly entertaining and informative fashion.”John Casti, New Scientist1. William H. Lucy, a University of Virginia professor, is an
22、expert in the research ofA) financial development of citiesB) urban and environmental planningC) security of metropolitan citiesD) crime rotes of rural and urban areas2. According to Lucy, why do many people kill “themselves in single vehicle traffic accidents?A) Because lonely drivers are more like
23、ly to fall asleep.B) Because they drive faster on narrow and curvy roads.C) Because there are more traffic problems in urban areas.D) Because modem technology allows car to go much faster.3. In terms of traffic fatalities and homicides by strangers, Westmoreland County was ranked the_ most dangerous
24、.A) 14thB) 27thC) 33rdD) 46th4. What does Professor Alfred Blumstein believe?A) Urban residents should feel safer than those in rural areas.B) Killing in ear crashes should not be classified as homicide.C) Homicide is most closely related to gun possession.D) Homicide rates are higher in the city th
25、an rural areas.5. The Post-Gazette concluded that cars were the single factor that increased the chance of violent deathsA) four years agoB) in the past ten yearsC) in Allegheny CountyD) in both urban and rural areas6. What do we learn about California described in maps from the passage?A) It was a
26、floodplain.B) It was endangered by tornados.C) It was vulnerable to earthquakes.D) It was threatened by pollution.7. According to H. J. de Blij, Cartographies of Danger provides the answer for those whoA) suspect the usefulness of hazard-zone mapsB) have to deal with pollution on a daily basisC) are
27、 concerned about the environment of the earthD) want to know where it is safe to bye.答案与解析1 【B】 【定位】第 2段首句。【题眼】William HLucy，a University of Virginia professor, is an expert in the research of _【解析】根据题目中的人名定位原文后可以知道 Lucy是研究urban and environmental plannin9的教授，也就是说，他是这方面的专家，选项B 照搬原文内容，为本题答案。其他选项都是无中生有
28、。2 【8】 【定位】第 4段。【题眼】According to Lucy，why do many people kill themselves in single vehicle traffic accidents?【解析】原文该段两句引自 Lucy的语句构成隐藏的因果关系，前为因，后为果，由此看来，选项 B重复了第一个引用的语句，为本题答案。其他选项在原文没有提及。3 【C】 【定位】第 6段末句。【题眼】In terms of traffic fatalities and homicides by strangers, Westmoreland County was ranked the
29、 _most dangerous【解析】本题根据选项的数字可先将定位范围缩小至第 6段末句，再根据题眼 Westmoreland在其中寻找，不难找到选项 C提到的33rd为本题答案。4 【D】 【定位】第 8段。【题眼】What does Professor Alfred Blumstein believe?【解析】原文该段是唯一与题干的人名有关的段落，从该段末句的 city，suburbs 和 rural areas的比较可以推断选项 D的比较关系正确。答题时要注意选项 A它照抄了该段首句句末的宾语从句，但该句的主句 but it did not convince him表明 Alfred
30、Blumstein对选项 A的内容应持否定态度。因此此处要慎用“看到什么选什么”的方法，要小心这种出题的陷阱。5 【A】 【定位】The Post-Gazette concluded that ears were the single factor that increased the chance of violent deaths_【题眼】第 11段第 2句。【解析】本题的选项都很短，根据题眼定位了第 11段后，我们可以接着从选项人手，在原文查找与它们对应的信息,不难发现，选项 A出现在第 2句开头。再结合题干的内容可知选项 A就是本题答案。虽然选项 B和 C在原文也有提及。但它们与题干构
31、成的内容不符；而选项 D是无中生有在该段我们找不到这样的表达。6 【C】 【定位】倒数第 5段。【题眼】What do we learn about California described in maps from the passage?【解析】原文该段不断提到 earthquake和 seismic两个词，从中只能看到 California与选项 C的 earthquake有关，且从该段末可看到相同的表达。其他选项虽然在上下段有提及，但与题干中的California无关。 7 【D】 【定位】倒数第 2段。【题眼】According to HJde Blij, Cartographies of Danger provides the answer for those who_【解析】根据题干中的人名定位原文后，可发现题干出现在该段引用部分的末尾，选项 D出现在引用部分的倒数第 2句，根据“看到什么选什么”的思维，可判断选项 D为本题答案。选项 A和B中有片言只语来自上几段，但在原文该段找不到相
