第31篇：(Unit 8, Passage 3)

For four lonely years, Evelyn Jones of Rockford, Illinois, lived friendless and forgotten in one room of a cheap hotel. “I wasn’t sick, but I was acting sick,” the 78-year-old widow says. “Every day was the same—I would just lie on my bed and maybe cook up some soup.” Then, six months ago, she was invited to “The Brighter Side”—Rockford’s day care center for the elderly. Every weekday morning since then, she has left her home to meet nine other old people in a church for a rich program of charity work, trips, games, and—most important of all—friendly companionship.

Just a few years ago, there were few choices for the elderly between a normal life in their own homes and being totally confined in nursing homes. Many of them were sent to rest homes long before they needed full-time care. Others like Mrs. Jones, were left to take care of themselves. But in 1971, the White House Conference on Aging called for the development of alternatives to care in nursing homes for old people, and since then, government-supported day-care programs like The Brighter Side have been developed in most big American cities.

“This represents a real alternative to the feared institution and makes old people believe they have not left the world of living,” says Alice Brophy, 64, director of New York City’s Office for the Aging. “They do well at the centers, and I hate it when people describe us as elderly playpens.” New York’s 138 centers encourage continuing contact for the aged with the community’s life. The centers serve more than 15,000 members, and volunteer workers are always looking for new ones. If someone doesn’t show up at the center for several days in a row, a worker at the center calls to make sure all is well. And although participation in the center is free, those who want to can pay for their lunches.

No normal studies have been made of these centers for the elderly, but government officials are enthusiastic. In the future, the Public Health Service will do a study to decide if the programs can receive federal Medicare money. And the old people themselves are very happy with the programs. “There is no way,” says Evelyn Jones, smiling at her new companions at the Brighter Side, “that I will ever go back to spending my day with all those loses at the hotel.”

1.What is the main idea of the article?

A.Day care centers may be able to receive federal Medicare money.
B.Day care centers can make life better for elderly people.
C.Many old people in the United States are lonely.
D.Old people have no place in their society.

2.According to Para 2, why did many old people have to go to nursing homes?

A.They need full-time care.
B.They wanted to go there.
C.They were sent there.
D.They were volunteers there.

3.According to Alice Brophy (in Paragraph 3)___.

A.the centers are like elderly playpens.
B.the old people do well at the day care centers.
C.old people like nursing institutions.
D.outside the Brighter side they don’t work for the old.

4.“This represents a real alternative to the feared institution.” (in Paragraph 3) In the sentence “this” means ___.

A.most big American cities.
B.rest homes.
C.day care programs.
D.the White House Conference on aging.

5.How does the writer of the article seem to feel about day care centers for the elderly?

A.The writer approves of them.
B.The writer disapproves of them.
C.The writer thinks nursing homes are better.
D.He doesn’t say anything about it.

第31篇答案：BCBCA

第32篇：(Unit 8, Passage 4)

Drunken driving--sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.

A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.

Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.

Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop “responsible attitudes” about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who “obviously intoxicated” and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.

As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the “ noble experiment.” They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution.

1.Drunken driving had become a major problem in America because ___.

A.most Americans are heavy drinkers.
B.Americans are now less shocked by road accidents.
C.accidents attract so much publicity.
D.drinking is a socially accepted habit in America.

2.Why has public opinion regarding drunken driving changed?

A.Because detailed statistics are now available.
B.Because the news media have highlighted the problem.
C.Because judges are giving more severe sentences.
D.Because drivers are more conscious of their image.

3.Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that ___.

A.many drivers were not of legal age.
B.young drivers were often bad drivers.
C.the level of drinking increased in the 1960s.
D.the legal drinking age should be raised.

4.Laws recently introduced in some states have ___.

A.reduced the number of convictions.
B.resulted in fewer serious accidents.
C.prevented bars from serving drunken customers.
D.specified the amount drivers can drink.

5.Why is the problem of drinking and driving difficult to solve?

A.Because alcohol is easily obtained.
B.Because drinking is linked to organized crime.
C.Because legal prohibition has already failed.
D.Because legislation alone is not sufficient.

第三十二篇答案：DBDBD