Many countries have made it illegal to talk into a hand-held mobile phone while driving. But the latest research provides further confirmation that the danger lies less in what a motorist’s hands do when he takes a call then in what the conversation does to his brain. Even using a “hands-free” device can impair a driver’s attention to an alarming extent.
Melina Kunar of the University of Warwick and Todd Horowitz of the Harvard Medical School ran a series of experiments in which two groups of volunteers had to pay attention and respond to a series of moving tasks on a computer screen that were reckoned equivalent in difficulty to driving. One group was left undistracted while the other had to engage in a conversation about their hobbies using a speakerphone. As Dr. Kunar and Dr. Horowitz report in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, those who were making the equivalent of a hands-free call had an average reaction time 212 milliseconds slower than those who were not. That, they calculate, would add 5.7 meters to the braking distance of a car traveling at 100 kph. They found that the group using the hands-free kit made 83 percent more errors in their tasks than those who were not talking.
They also explored the effect of simply listening to something—such as a radio program. For this they played a recording of the first chapter of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. Even though the test subjects were told to pay attention because they would be asked questions about the story afterwards, it had little effect on their reaction time. Dr. Kunar reckons that having to think about responses during a phone conversation competes for the brain’s resources in a way that listening to a monologue does not. The research led by Frank Drews of the University of Utah suggests the same thing is true of the idle chatter of a passenger.
Punishing people for using hand-held gadgets while driving is difficult enough, even though they can be seen from outside the car. Stopping people making hands-free calls would probably be impossible—especially because more and more vehicles are now being fitted with the necessary equipment as standard. Persuading people to switch their phones off altogether when they get behind the wheel might be the only answer. Who knows, they might even come to enjoy not having to take calls. And they’ll be more likely to arrive in one piece.
1. Which body part is most affected by talking into a cell phone when driving?
2. In Kunar and Horowitz’s experiment, the subjects who perform tasks while talking ____.
3. According to Frank Drews, listening to a passenger talking ____.
4. The law forbidding the use of hand-held phones when driving ____.
5. The best hope of stopping people using hands-free phones lies with ____.
6. The purpose of the passage is to ____.
问题1选项
A.Hands.
B.Feet.
C.Eyes.
D.The brain.
问题2选项
A.reacted more quickly and made fewer mistakes
B.reacted more quickly and made more mistakes
C.reacted more slowly and made fewer mistakes
D.reacted more slowly and made more mistakes
问题3选项
A.affects drivers more than a phone conversation
B.affects drivers more than listening to a story
C.has less effect on the drivers than a phone conversation
D.has less effect on the drivers than listening to a story
问题4选项
A.is necessary and feasible
B.has been frequently broken
C.will arouse heated debate
D.has been widely observed
问题5选项
A.the lawmakers
B.car manufacturers
C.drivers themselves
D.new technology6. The purpose of the passage is to ____.
问题6选项
A.inform people of the danger of using phones while driving
B.call on lawmakers to make new laws on the use of cell phones
C.offer suggestions for drivers who use cell phone while driving
D.weigh the benefits and harms of using phones while driving
第1题:D
第2题:D
第3题:C
第4题:B
第5题:C
第6题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which body part is most affected by talking into a cell phone when driving? 身体的哪个部位受开车时对着手机说话的影响最大？
A. Hands. A. 手。
B. Feet. B. 脚。
C. Eyes. C. 眼睛。
D. The brain. D. 大脑。
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词talking into a cell phone when driving定位到原文第一段第二句，这句话讲到“最新的研究（the latest research）进一步证实，危险不在于司机打电话时手的动作，而在于谈话对大脑（his brain）的影响”，由此可知，开车时打电话对大脑的影响最大，D选项“大脑”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“手”，原文虽然提到了手的影响，但是对大脑的影响更大，该选项属于本末倒置；
B选项“脚”，原文并未提及，属于无中生有；
C选项“眼睛”，原文并未提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In Kunar and Horowitz’s experiment, the subjects who perform tasks while talking ________. 在Kunar和Horowitz的实验中，做任务时说话的实验对象________。
A. reacted more quickly and made fewer mistakes A. 反应更快，犯的错误更少
B. reacted more quickly and made more mistakes B. 反应更快，犯的错误更多
C. reacted more slowly and made fewer mistakes C. 反应更慢，犯的错误更少
D. reacted more slowly and made more mistakes D. 反应更慢，犯的错误更多
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Kunar and Horowitz’s experiment定位到原文第2段。本段介绍两人的实验，第3句说到“那些拨打相当于免提电话的人的平均反应时间比没有接听电话的人慢212毫秒（212 milliseconds slower than those who were not）”，由此可知，做任务时说话的人反应更慢；本段最后一句说到：“他们发现使用免提工具的小组比不说话的小组多出83%的错误（made 83 percent more errors）”，由此可知，做任务时说话的人犯的错误更多，综上所述，D选项“反应更慢，犯的错误更多”表述正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项均与原文不符，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to Frank Drews, listening to a passenger talking ________. 根据Frank Drews的观点，听乘客讲话________。
A. affects drivers more than a phone conversation A. 比电话交谈对司机的影响更大
B. affects drivers more than listening to a story B. 比听故事对司机的影响更大
C. has less effect on the drivers than a phone conversation C. 比电话交谈对司机的影响更小
D. has less effect on the drivers than listening to a story D. 比听故事对司机的影响更小
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Frank Drews定位到原文第3段最后一句，这句话说“Frank Drews的研究表明，乘客的闲聊也是如此（the same）。”据此，往前定位文中介绍的前一个实验的实验结论。前一句说到“Kunar博士认为，电话交谈时，思考对方的反应会竞争大脑资源（competes for the brain’s resources），而听一段独白则不会（listening to a monologue does not）”，由此可知，该实验的结论是，听一段独白对大脑的影响比电话交谈小。而Frank Drews认为乘客的闲聊也是如此，即乘客的闲聊对司机的影响也比电话交谈小，C选项“对司机的影响比电话交谈小”表述正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“对司机的影响比电话交谈更大”，与原文意思相反，属于反向干扰；
B选项“比听故事对司机的影响更大”，原文并未有“听故事”和“与乘客闲聊”两者之间的比较，该选项属于无中生有；
D选项“比听故事对司机的影响更小”，原文并未有“听故事”和“与乘客闲聊”两者之间的比较，该选项属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The law forbidding the use of hand-held phones when driving ________. 法律禁止在开车时使用手持电话________。
A. is necessary and feasible A. 是必要和可行的
B. has been frequently broken B. 经常被违反
C. will arouse heated debate C. 将引起激烈的争论
D. has been widely observed D. 已经被广泛遵守
【答案】B
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词forbidding the use of hand-held phones when driving定位到原文最后一段。本段第一句说到“惩罚那些在开车时使用手持设备的人已经够困难的了（difficult enough），即使他们可以从车外看到。”由此可知，即使警察看到开车的司机用手持设备打电话，惩罚他们也很困难，说明这种现象很常见。本文第一句说到“许多国家已经规定开车时对着手持手机打电话是违法的（illegal）。”综上，B选项“禁止在开车时使用手持电话的法律经常被违反”表述正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“是必要和可行的”，原文说惩罚那些违反该法律的人很困难，说明这个法律实行很困难，并不可行，选项表述错误，属于曲解原文；
C选项“将引起激烈的争论”，原文并没有相关表述，该选项属于无中生有；
D选项“已经被广泛遵守”，与原文表述相反，属于反向干扰。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The best hope of stopping people using hands-free phones lies with ________. 阻止人们使用免提电话的最大希望在于________。
A. the lawmakers A. 法律制定者
B. car manufacturers B. 汽车工厂
C. drivers themselves C. 司机自己
D. new technology D. 新的技术
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词stopping people using hands-free phones定位到原文最后一段。本段倒数第2句说到“唯一的解决办法（the only answer）可能是说服人们在开车时关掉手机（Persuading people to switch their phones off）。”由此可知，阻止人们使用免提电话的最大希望在于说服司机自己关掉手机，C选项“司机自己”表述正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“法律制定者”，关于禁止使用手持电话的法律都很难实行，靠法律制定者制定法律阻止使用免提电话也不可行；
B选项“汽车工厂”，原文最后一段第二句说到“现在越来越多的车辆配备了使用免提电话必要的设备（fitted with the necessary equipment）”，因此，汽车工厂是支持使用免提设备的；
D选项“新的技术”，原文并未提及，属于无中生有。
第6题:
【选项释义】
The purpose of the passage is to ________. 本文的目的是为了________。
A. inform people of the danger of using phones while driving A. 告知人们开车时使用手机的危险
B. call on lawmakers to make new laws on the use of cell phones B. 呼吁立法者制定关于使用手机的新法律
C. offer suggestions for drivers who use cell phone while driving C. 为开车时使用手机的司机提供建议
D. weigh the benefits and harms of using phones while driving D. 权衡开车时使用手机的好处和坏处
【答案】A
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】本文一共4段，第一段提出观点“打电话影响司机的大脑，开车时打电话，即使是免提电话也很危险”；第2-3段分别介绍两个实验证明打电话对司机大脑的影响；第4段说让司机开车时不打电话只能靠司机自己。本文主体1-3段都在说开车时打电话很危险，因此，本文的目的是A选项“告知人们开车时使用手机的危险”。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“呼吁立法者制定关于使用手机的新法律”，最后一段提到用法律解决这个问题很困难，几乎不可能，所以作者的目的不会是呼吁立法者制定相关法律，属于曲解原文；
C选项“为开车时使用手机的司机提供建议”，本文并未涉及提建议的内容，该选项不是本文的目的，属于无中生有；
D选项“权衡开车时使用手机的好处和坏处”，本文只提到了坏处，没有提到好处，所以本文的目的不是权衡利弊，该选项属于曲解原文。
【文章来源】2009年英语六级真题
【参考译文】
许多国家已经将开车时打电话定为违法行为。但最新的研究进一步证实，危险不在于司机接电话时手的动作，而在于通话对大脑的影响。即使使用“免提”设备也会对司机的注意力造成惊人的损害。
华威大学的梅丽娜•库纳尔和哈佛医学院的托德•霍洛维茨进行了一系列实验，在实验中，两组志愿者必须对电脑屏幕上一系列移动的任务集中注意力并做出反应，这些任务的难度被认为与开车相当。一组人不受干扰，而另一组人则要用免提谈论自己的爱好。正如库纳尔博士和霍洛维茨博士在《心理规律通报与评论》上所报告的那样，那些打免提电话的人的平均反应时间比不打免提电话的人慢212毫秒。他们计算，这将使以每小时100公里的速度行驶的汽车的制动距离增加5.7米。他们发现，使用免提工具的小组在完成任务时比不说话的小组多犯83%的错误。
他们还探索了单纯听一些东西的影响，比如广播节目。为此，他们播放了布莱姆•斯托克的《德古拉》第一章的录音。尽管测试对象被告知要集中注意力，因为他们之后会被问到关于故事的问题，但这对他们的反应时间几乎没有影响。库纳尔博士认为，与听独白相比，在电话交谈中思考如何回应会占用大脑的资源。由犹他大学的弗兰克•德鲁斯领导的研究表明，乘客的闲聊也是如此。
惩罚开车时使用手持设备的人已经足够困难了，即使他们在车外都能看到。阻止人们拨打免提电话是不可能的——特别是因为越来越多的车辆现在已经标配了必要的设备。说服人们在开车时完全关掉手机可能是唯一的答案。谁知道呢，他们甚至可能会喜欢上不接电话的感觉。而且他们更有可能毫发无损地到达。
