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1、英语阅读练习四（001）In some ways, the United States has made some progress. Fires no longer destroy 18,000 buildings as they did in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, or kill half a town of 2,400 people, as they did the same night in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Other than the Beverly Hill Supper Club fire in Kentucky
2、 in 1977, it has been four decades since more than 100 Americans died in a fire. But even with such successes, the United States still has one of the worst fire death rates in the world. Safety experts say the problem is neither money nor technology, but the indifference(无所谓) of a country that just
3、will not take fires seriously enough. American fire departments are some of the worlds fastest and best-equipped. They have to be. The United States has twice Japans population, and 40 times as many fires. It spends far less on preventing fires than on fighting them. And American fire -safety lesson
4、s are aimed almost entirely at children, who die in large numbers in fires but who, against popular beliefs, start very few of them. Experts say the error is an opinion that fires are not really anyones fault. That is not so in other countries, where both public education and the law treat fires as
5、either a personal failing or a crime(罪行). Japan has many wood houses; of the 48 fires in world history that burned more than 10,000 buildings, Japan has had 27. Punishment for causing a big fire can be as severe as life imprisonment. In the United States, most education dollars are spent in elementa
6、ry schools. But, the lessons are aimed at too limited a number of people; just 9 percent of all fire deaths are caused by children playing with matches. The United States continues to depend more on technology than laws or social pressure. There are smoke detectors in 85 percent of all homes. Some l
7、ocal building laws now require home sprinklers (喷水装置). New heaters and irons shut themselves off if they are tipped. 1. The reason why so many Americans die in fires is that _. A. they took no interest in new technology B. they did not pay great attention to preventing fires C. they showed indiffere
8、nce to fighting fires D. they did not spend enough money on fire equipment 2. It can be inferred from the passage that_. A. fire safety lessons should not be aimed only at American children B. American children have not received enough education of fire safety lessons C. Japan is better equipped wit
9、h fire equipment than the United States D. Americas large population leads to more fires 3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage? A. There has been no great fire in the USA in recent 40 years that leads to high death rate. B. There have been several great fires in the U
10、SA in recent 40 years that lead to high death rate. C. There has been only one great fire in the USA in recent 40 years that led to high death rate. D. The fire in Kentucky in 1977 made only a few people killed. （002）Nuclear powers(核能的) danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be described
11、 in one word; radiation(辐射). Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected (探测) by human senses. It cant be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us
12、but we cant detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we cant sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things. At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human bei
13、ng outright by killing masses of cells (细胞) in important organs (器官). But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells
14、are hit, and if they are killed outright. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in an unusual way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up f
15、or many years. This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the knowledge of the person at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(放射治疗) and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result.
16、 Or a child can be born weak or easy to get serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents. Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth. 1. According to the passage, the danger of nuclear power lies in _. A. nuclear mystery B. radiation detection C. radiation level D. nuclea
17、r radiation 2. Radiation can lead to serious results even at the lowest level _. A. when it kills few cells B. if it damages few cells C. though the damaged cells can repair themselves D. unless the damaged cells can reproduce themselves 3. Radiation can hurt us in the way that it can _. A. kill lar
18、ge numbers of cells in main organs so as to cause death immediately B. damage cells which may grow into cancer years later C. affect the healthy growth of our younger generation D. lead to all of the above results 4. Which of the following can be best inferred from the passage? A. The importance of protection from radiation cannot be overemphasized (过分强调). B. The mystery about radiation remains unsolved. C. Cancer is mainly caused by radiation. D. Radiation can hurt those who do not know about its danger.