1 . As reported in JAMA Surgery, the researchers discovered that e-scooter(电动摩托车) injury rates had increased dramatically in just four years, rising from 6 per 100,000 in the population to 19 per 100,000. Of the estimated 14,651 e-scooter-related injuries in 2018, 4,658, or 32%, involved the head. “While most people recover from head injuries, there is going to be a subset with long-term disability and life changes,” said Dr. Benjamin Breyer.
Dr. Benjamin Breyer of the University of California, Los Angeles, pointed to a 2019 analysis of the data from two hospitals in Southern California, which found just 4.8% of injured e-scooter riders were wearing helmets.
Dr. Joann Elmore, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, believed that most e-scooter users are probably unaware of the risks. To make the point, she described a photo taken by a colleague. “There were two riders on an e-scooter,” she said. “No one had shoes on. There were no helmets. And the woman in front had a baby in a baby carrier.”
The new report highlights the need for more research on new technologies, said Dr. Guohua Li, a professor of epidemiology(流行病学).
“Just as there is a global network of experts working on infectious diseases, there needs to be a similar program devoted to the surveillance(监视，监察) and prevention of injuries caused by merging technologies products and lifestyles, such as e-scooters, e-sports, etc.,” Li said in an email.
“The challenge for researchers and policymakers is to keep up with the ever-changing society and protect the public from unnecessary harm caused by new technologies and products without hindering innovation,” he added.
1. What can we know from the passage?| A．E-scooter injury rates had increased due to speeding. |
| B．32% of injured e-scooter riders weren’t wearing helmets. |
| C．There is a program devoted to the prevention of injuries caused by advanced technologies. |
| D．Protection and innovation are of equal importance. |
| A．She is an anti-scooter. |
| B．The woman in front was pregnant. |
| C．She is concerned about the e-scooter users. |
| D．Most e-scooter riders often drive at high speed. |
| A．Preventing. | B．Limiting. |
| C．Developing. | D．Making progress. |
| A．To arouse people’s awareness of the risks and self-protection. |
| B．To introduce a new way of transport — e-scooters. |
| C．To ask people not to ride e-scooters any more. |
| D．To urge policymakers to make laws as soon as possible. |
2 . On Christmas Day, 2003, a woman named Nancy Sue Brown took her daughter and grandchildren to see a movie at an AMC theater. When the movie was over, the crowd made for the exits. A theater employee had just finished mopping the hallway and dutifully placed the “wet floor” sign in the slippery area. No one slipped due to the wet conditions, but someone did manage to knock over the sign. And by the time Ms. Brown got to the area, the sign was lying on the floor. And shortly thereafter, so was she. Her foot got caught in the sign, in a bad way, and she fell. Unfortunately Ms. Brown had undergone a back operation, and the fall caused more damage than it otherwise would have. So she and her husband accused AMC.
AMC argued that the entire point of the “wet floor” sign above was to warn of danger, and therefore, courts should encourage the use by not allowing Brown’s case to proceed(继续进行). AMC referred to a case about a December,1998 incident where a “wet floor” sign, not in use, fell to the floor causing another trip-and-fall. In that case, Georgia’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the store, but didn’t go so far as to say that “wet floor” signs couldn’t give rise to legal responsibility in trip-and-fall accidents. In the Brown case, the Supreme Court therefore rejected AMC’s argument that the former case applied.
But the Browns argued something surprising that the “wet floor” sign was, itself. dangerous, because “using this type of sign in areas passed by lots of customers creates an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm to the public in the form of tripping risks.” That’s right- the safety sign, used in the way it was designed, was itself dangerous. The court thankfully didn’t accept that argument, at least not entirely. But it did conclude that Browns case could continue to a jury(陪审团)-“a merchant’s selection and use of equipment designed to warn customers of one danger that has the potential to expose them to a different one”.
1. According to the text, Ms. Brown___________.| A．slipped on the wet floor | B．tripped over a warning sign |
| C．knocked over warning sign | D．was knocked down by the crowd |
| A．accept its legal responsibility for Ms. Brown’s loss |
| B．prove Ms. Brown had some physical problems |
| C．stress that it had no legal responsibility for the accident |
| D．prove other customers were responsible for the accident |
| A．It would be judged by jury. |
| B．It would not be allowed to proceed. |
| C．The court would rule in favor of AMC. |
| D．The court accepted all the arguments of the Browns. |
| A．danger | B．customer |
| C．business owner | D．equipment in public places |
3 . Fire Capt. Kevin Lloyd arrived at the scene of a car accident in West Point, Utah, north of Salt Lake City. A pregnant woman and her screaming 2-year-old daughter were trapped in the car.
While his partner, Allen Hadley, was tending to the driver, Lloyd couldn't get the frightened girl to calm down. He saw she was holding several bottles of nail polish, and then he had a better idea. He asked her if she wanted to paint his nails. Soon she entirely lit up. At the same time, Hadley showed up to check on the scene.
Lloyd had calmed her down and was in the process of getting his fingers painted. Then Hadley just put his hand in there. The girl began to color his nails pink. By this time, she was not only calm, but she was also happy.
The girl's mother was not injured. She thanked them for helping her daughter feel better, and they all chuckled, looking at the firefighters' nails, and took some photos.
The firefighters brought the photos back to headquarters and showed them around. The department put them up on Facebook, and thousands of people responded, with many thanking the firefighters for going out of their way to calm down a frightened girl.
Fire Chief Mark Becraft said he had been surprised at all the attention. He said he was proud of his firefighters, and added that he had known members of the department who had done many things that weren't part of the job.
After the fact, Lloyd and Hadley had a small matter to tend to： the layers of polish on their nails. They bought a bottle of nail polish remover, and used almost all of it.
1. Why was the 2-year-old girl frightened?| A．She was caught in an accident. | B．Her mother was badly injured. |
| C．Her nails were hurt by the bottles. | D．She was afraid of seeing firefighters. |
| A．Sighed. | B．Shouted. | C．Laughed. | D．Hugged. |
| A．Knowledgeable. | B．Comforting. | C．Humorous. | D．Courageous. |
| A．To ask us to learn to calm down in time of danger. |
| B．To speak highly of the warm-hearted firefighters. |
| C．To introduce the little girl who likes polishing nails. |
| D．To praise the two firefighters who learn to decorate nails. |
4 . Most people agree that being a good driver means being safe and not aggressive on the road. One debate some people still argue, however, is who drives better: men or women? Although it’s impossible to say that one gender drives better than another definitively, there are some noteworthy trends.
Male drivers tend to have more accidents
Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that male drivers tend to have more total accidents than females. The IIHS, an independent non-profit devoted to reducing car accidents, also found that 71 percent of all motor vehicle crash deaths in 2017 were males. Although the gap has narrowed, almost every year from 1975 to 2017, the number of male crash deaths was more than twice the number of female crash deaths, per the IIHS.
Women might be less-confident behind the wheel
Although male drivers have more accidents, other research shows women aren’t “perfect” drivers, either. Researchers from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute studied traffic accidents over 20 years and found that female drivers are more likely to run into a car driven by another woman than a man. The study, however, doesn’t explain possible reasons for this pattern.
One that they might consider testing in the future is that some research also shows women are less-confident behind the wheel than men. A study from UCLA exploring the relationship between new drivers’ skills and different variables, including gender(性别), shows female students were less confident drivers than men.
So are men better drivers than women?
Gender is just one factor when it comes to safe driving, along with others such as age, and even the time of day people drive. One study shows that both genders have a greater accident risk when driving at night, but males still have a higher risk at all times of the day. Driving quality also changes based on location, too, as some states are more dangerous than others. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that Wyoming, Mississippi, and Montana have high accident death rates, without regards to gender. It goes to show that everyone should learn and practice safe driving habits instead of worrying about who drives better.
1. According to the data from the IIHS, what is the percentage of males among car accident victims before 2017?| A．Bigger than 71% | B．Smaller than 71% | C．Exactly 71% | D．Not clear. |
| A．In recent years, the number of car accidents caused by males is twice as much as that that by females. |
| B．Researchers have found out why there's higher possibility for women drivers to run into each other. |
| C．While driving in the daytime, male drivers have a greater accident risk than female drivers. |
| D．Many studies have shown that females are better and safer drivers than males. |
| A．factors | B．varieties | C．phenomena | D．consequences |
| A．Science | B．News | C．Culture | D．Traffic |
