One of the biggest challenges in keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road is convincing them that it is time to turn over the key. “It’s a complete life-changer when someone stops—or is forced to stop—driving,” said former risk manager Anne M. Menke.
“The American Medical Association advises physicians that ‘in situation where clear evidence of substantial driving impairment implies a strong threat to patient and public safety, and where the physician’s advice to discontinue driving privileges is ignored, it is desirable and ethical to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles,’” Menke wrote. “Some states require physicians to report, others allow but do not mandate reports, while a few consider a report breach of confidentiality. There could be liability and penalties if a physician does not act in accordance with state laws on reporting and confidentiality,” she counseled.
Part of the problem in keeping older drivers safe is that the difficulties are addressed piecemeal by different professions with different focuses, including gerontologists, highway administration officials, automotive engineers and others, said gerontologist Elizabeth Dugan. “There’s not a National Institute of Older Driver Studies,” she said. “We need better evidence on what makes drivers unsafe and what can help,” said Dugan.
One thing that does seem to work is requiring drivers to report in person for license renewal. Mandatory in-person renewal was associated with a 31 percent reduction in fatal crashes involving drivers 85 or older, according to one study. Passing vision tests also produced a similar decline in fatal crashes for those drivers, although there appeared to be no benefit from combining the two.
Many old drivers don’t see eye doctors or can’t afford to. Primary care providers have their hands full and may not be able to follow through with patients who have trouble driving because they can’t turn their heads or remember where they are going—or have gotten shorter and haven’t changed their seat settings sufficiently to reach car pedals easily.
As long as there are other cars on the roads, self-driving cars won’t solve the problems of crashes, said Dugan. Avoiding dangers posed by all those human drivers would require too many algorithms, she said. But we need to do more to improve safety, said Dugan. “If we’re going to have 100-year lives, we need cars that a 90-year-old can drive comfortably.”
1.According to Paragraph1, keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road ______.
2.The American medical associations advice ______.
3.According to Dugan, efforts to keep older drivers safe _________.
4.Some older drivers have trouble driving because they tend to ___________.
5.Dugan thinks that the solution to the problems of crashes may lie in___________.
问题1选项
A.is a new safety measure
B.has become a disputed issue
C.can be a tough task to complete
D.will be beneficial to their health
问题2选项
A.has won support from drivers
B.is generally considered unrealistic
C.is wide dismissed as unnecessary
D.has met with different responses
问题3选项
A.have brought about big changes
B.need to be well coordinated
C.have gained public concern
D.call for relevant legal support
问题4选项
A.stick with bad driving habits
B.have a weakened memory
C.suffer from chronic pains
D.neglect car maintenance
问题5选项
A.upgrading self-driving vehicle
B.vehicles developing senior-friendly cars
C.renovating transport facilities
D.adjusting the age limit for drivers
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:B
第4题:B
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to Paragraph 1, keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road ________. 根据第一段，让不安全的老年司机远离马路________。
A. is a new safety measure A. 是一项新的安全措施
B. has become a disputed issue B. 已成为一个有争议的问题
C. can be a tough task to complete C. 可能是一项艰巨的任务
D. will be beneficial to their health D. 将有利于他们的健康
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road可以定位到文章第一段第一句One big challenge in keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road is convincing them that it is time to turn over the key.（让不安全的老年司机远离马路的一大挑战是说服他们是时候交出钥匙了。），说明让不安全的老年司机远离马路是一项具有挑战性的任务。因此C选项“可能是一项艰巨的任务”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“是一项新的安全措施”，B选项“已成为一个有争议的问题”和D选项“将有利于他们的健康”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The American medical associations advice ________. 美国医学协会的建议________。
A. has won support from drivers A. 赢得了司机的支持
B. is generally considered unrealistic B. 被普遍认为不现实
C. is wide dismissed as unnecessary C. 被广泛认为没有必要
D. has met with different responses D. 得到了不同的回应
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词The American medical associations advice可以定位到文章第二段第一句The American Medical Association advises physicians that in situation where clear evidence of substantial driving impairment implies a strong threat to patient and public safety, and where the physician’s advice to discontinue driving privileges is ignored, it is desirable and ethical to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles（美国医学协会建议医生，如果有明确证据表明驾驶能力严重受损，意味着对病人和公共安全构成严重威胁，而且医生提出的停止驾驶的建议被置若罔闻，那么通知机动车辆管理局是可取的，也是合乎道德的），接着说到各个州的反应Some states require physicians to report, others allow but do not mandate reports, while a few consider a report breach of confidentiality.（一些州要求医生报告，另一些州允许但不强制报告，还有一些州认为报告违反保密规定。），说明各州对美国医学协会的建议回应不同。因此D选项“得到了不同的回应”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“赢得了司机的支持”，B选项“被普遍认为不现实”和C选项“被广泛认为没有必要”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to Dugan, efforts to keep older drivers safe ________. 杜根认为，为保证老年司机的安全而做出的努力________。
A. have brought about big changes A. 带来了巨大的变化
B. need to be well coordinated B. 需要很好地协调
C. have gained public concern C. 得到了公众的关注
D. call for relevant legal support D. 需要相关的法律支持
【答案】B
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词efforts to keep older drivers safe可以定位到文章第三段第一句Part of the problem in keeping older drivers safe is that the difficulties are addressed piecemeal by different professions with different focuses, including gerontologists, highway administration officials, automotive engineers and others, said gerontologist Elizabeth Dugan.（老年学专家伊丽莎白·杜根说，保证老年驾驶者安全的部分问题在于，不同专业的人员，包括老年学专家、高速公路管理官员、汽车工程师和其他人员，以不同的侧重点零敲碎打地解决困难。），说明杜根认为保持老年驾驶员安全的努力是在零散地进行，需要整体协调。因此B选项“需要很好地协调”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“带来了巨大的变化”，C选项“得到了公众的关注”和D选项“需要相关的法律支持”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Some older drivers have trouble driving because they tend to ________. 一些年长的司机驾驶起来有困难，因为他们往往________。
A. stick with bad driving habits A. 坚持不良的驾驶习惯
B. have a weakened memory B. 记忆力减退
C. suffer from chronic pains C. 长期疼痛
D. neglect car maintenance D. 忽视汽车保养
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词have trouble driving可以定位到文章第五段第二句have trouble driving because they can’t turn their heads or remember where they are going（因无法转头或记不住方向而驾驶困难），说明一些年长的司机驾驶困难的原因之一是记不住方向。因此B选项“记忆力减退”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“坚持不良的驾驶习惯”，C选项“长期疼痛”和D选项“忽视汽车保养”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Dugan thinks that the solution to the problems of crashes may lie in ________. 杜根认为，解决车祸问题的办法可能在于________。
A. upgrading self-driving vehicle A. 升级自动驾驶汽车
B. developing senior-friendly cars B. 开发老年友好型汽车
C. renovating transport facilities C. 翻新交通设施
D. adjusting the age limit for drivers D. 调整司机年龄限制
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词the solution to the problems of crashes可以定位到文章最后一段倒数第一、二句But we need to do more to improve safety, said Dugan. “If we’re going to have 100-year lives, we need cars that a 90-year-old can drive comfortably.”（但我们需要做更多的工作来提高安全性，杜根说。“如果我们要拥有100年的寿命，我们就需要90岁的老人也能舒适驾驶的汽车。”），说明杜根认为解决问题的办法可能在于需要设计一些适合90岁老人驾驶的汽车。因此B选项“开发老年友好型汽车”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“升级自动驾驶汽车”，文章说到只要路上还有其他汽车，自动驾驶汽车就无法解决车祸问题，属于反向干扰；
C选项“翻新交通设施”和D选项“调整司机年龄限制”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
【参考译文】
让不安全的老年司机远离道路的一大挑战是说服他们是时候交出钥匙了。前风险经理安妮·M·门克说，当一个人停止驾驶或被迫停止驾驶时，他的生命将彻底改变。
门克写道，美国医学协会建议医生，如果有明确证据表明驾驶能力严重受损，意味着对病人和公共安全构成严重威胁，而且医生提出的停止驾驶的建议被置若罔闻，那么通知机动车辆管理局是可取的，也是合乎道德的。“一些州要求医生报告，另一些州允许但不强制报告，还有一些州认为报告违反保密规定。”她建议说：“如果医生不按照各州有关报告和保密的法律行事，可能会承担责任并受到处罚。”
老年学专家伊丽莎白·杜根说，保证老年驾驶者安全的部分问题在于，不同专业的人员，包括老年学专家、高速公路管理官员、汽车工程师和其他人员，以不同的侧重点零敲碎打地解决困难。她说：“没有一个国家老年驾驶员研究所。”杜根说：“我们需要更好的证据来证明是什么导致了驾驶员的不安全，以及什么可以提供帮助。”
有一点似乎确实有效，那就是要求驾驶员亲自去办理驾照更新手续。一项研究表明，强制要求驾驶员亲自换证与85岁或以上驾驶员的致命车祸减少31%有关。通过视力测试也使这些驾驶员的致命车祸减少了类似的比例，不过将两者结合起来似乎并没有什么好处。
许多老司机不看眼科医生或看不起眼科医生。初级保健提供者忙得不可开交，可能无法跟进因无法转头或记不住方向而驾驶困难的患者，或者因身高变矮而没有充分改变座位设置以方便够到汽车踏板的患者。
杜根说，只要路上还有其他汽车，自动驾驶汽车就无法解决车祸问题。她说，要避免所有这些人类驾驶员带来的危险，需要太多的算法。但我们需要做更多的工作来提高安全性，杜根说。“如果我们要拥有100年的寿命，我们就需要90岁的老人也能舒适驾驶的汽车。”
【出处】《华盛顿邮报》2022.4.24
