Cities alarmed by deaths and injuries of pedestrians are taking efforts to make crosswalks safer for people on foot, especially seniors and children who need more time to cross streets.
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes；one is injured every nine minutes, according to official date. Crosswalk can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, pared with 21% of those younger than 70, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration（FHWA）advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provide for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more, children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006. But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says.
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the text?A．Among 100 pedestrian deaths there were 21 people younger than 70.B．Old people are more likely to meet with accidents in crosswalks.C．Traffic accidents killed more old people than young people.D．About seven traffic accidents happened per hour.【小题2】What is FHWA’s suggestion to states?A．Fixing more traffic lights.B．Providing more crosswalks.C．Giving pedestrians more time to cross streets.D．Increasing the time before the orange lights appear.【小题3】What’s the cause of the crosswalk safety problem according to the test?A．There’re many cars and buses on the road.B．Pedestrians are careless.C．Crosswalks are crowded.D．Drivers don’t give way.【小题4】The report from NHTSA suggests that A．fewer people were injured in crosswalksB．crosswalk safety has been greatly improvedC．much has been done to reduce traffic accidentsD．pedestrian deaths in crosswalk remain a serious problemB
网友回答
(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】事实判断题。根据第一段和第二段话可以知道正确的答案为B. 该题容易误选A。
【小题2】细节判断题，由第三段话中的next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provide for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .可以知道正确答案为C。
【小题3】细节判断题。由倒数第二段可以得出正确的答案。
【小题4】推理判断题由最后一段中的“But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says .”可以知道正确答案为:D。