3 . Bad drivers in the District could soon get a serious warning sent straight to their cellphones. The city is working to identify drivers with a history of traffic violations, such as speeding and red-light carnet tickets, to send messages alerting them of their history of infractions （违规） while warning of their risks of getting into a fatal crash.
City officials say they hope the pointed messages （定制信息） will deter dangerous road behaviors. "Wu know that there is a subset of drivers that are putting others at serious risk with excessive speeding and red-light running," said Jeff Marootian, director of the city's Department of Transportation, one of the agencies leading the effort. "We're hoping that this creative approach can ultimately reduce serious injury and fatality crashes.”
"This is a creative approach that we haven't tried before, and we think that it is worth the effort," Marootian said. The concept, which D.C. officials say is a first among cities nationwide, is the latest effort to target dangerous drivers in a city where serious and fatal crashes are on the rise. City leaders said evidence shows drivers with multiple traffic violations are more likely to be involved in crashes.
Researchers have studied the relationship between repeat traffic offenders and serious collisions （碰撞）,with some data suggesting a strong connection between the two. But some researchers also have pointed to other factors at play, such as the amount of time the driver spends on the road and exposure to traffic enforcement （强制性）systems.
A team from The Lab led by Muriel E. Bowser, is examining data from the District's automated traffic enforcement program to predict a driver's likelihood of being involved in a serious crash. It will create a campaign that could include text messages and mail sent to a sample of high-risk drivers. "We will evaluate whether drivers who receive these messages have fewer red-light violations, speeding violations, and Ultimately, clashes, compared to the group of high-risk drivers who do not receive the messages," according to The Lab.
The program is among the latest road-safety measures with the purpose of cutting the growing number of traffic injuries and fatalities. Although the new messages appear as a warning to higher-risk drivers city officials said the intent is to educate the recipient, Marootian said there is no violation or fine attached to the message and that the campaign is to use data to directly communicate with individual drivers. Some questioned whether the message will work.
1. What does the underlined word “deter” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．Prevent. | B．Change. |
| C．Control. | D．Handle. |
2. What do we know about the approach to sending pointed messages?
| A．It may put the drivers at serious risk of crashing. |
| B．It can identify drivers with records of traffic accidents. |
| C．It will completely reduce serious injury and fatality crashes. |
| D．It is the newest attempt in response to the rising crashes. |
3. What can we infer from the fourth paragraph?
| A．Traffic offenders always cause serious accidents. |
| B．New drivers bear less blame for serious collisions. |
| C．Different elements may contribute to serious accidents. |
| D．Traffic offenders should spend too much time on the road. |
4. How do the team from The Lab know whether the approach works?
| A．By sending messages to the drivers. |
| B．By comparing the impact of the approach on two groups. |
| C．By predicting the possibility of a driver's involvement in a crash. |
| D．By checking the response of the receivers who get the messages. |
5. What is the text mainly about?
| A．A traffic report. | B．A scientific method. |
| C．A professional survey. | D．A teaching program. |
