Questions 16-20
A blue sedan nearly sideswipes my car. The driver gives me a weird look. No wonder : I’m at the wheel of a Ford Taurus, with a tangle of wires taped to my face and neck, a respiration monitor strapped around my chest, and a bunch of other gizmos sending data about my vital signs to computers stacked on the front and back seats. I look like the star of A Commuter’s Clockwork Orange.
University of lower assistant professor of engineering Thomas Schnell is crammed into the seat behind me. Schnell created this lab-on –wheels to gauge how a motorist’s body reacts to driving . He wants carmakers to use his findings to design “smart ”cars that make driving less stressful. I’m taking his rolling research facility of a white-knuckle evening spin in Chicago—home to some of the nation’s worst rush-hour traffic-to learn what happens to the human body during a long, frustrating commute.
So at 5:15 on a Monday, with a storm whipping in off Lake Michigan. I pull out of a downtown parking lot and begin creeping along interstate 90, heading west behind a line of cars that stretches as far as the eye can see. Now and then, the pace picks up, just as quickly, it slows to a halt ,red brake lights glowing in the twilight.
If I had to do this every day, I’d grind my teeth to dust. After 45minutes, Schnell and I have gone just 10 miles. As the car crawls along. Schnell occasionally asks, “What is your level of fun?” He notes my responses, some of them unprintable, on a clipboard. Here’s what the computers I’m tethered to record:
I begin breathing harder and faster. My respiration rate leaps from 12 to 17 breaths per minute. My heat rate jumps from 74 to 80 beats per minute. The electrodes taped to the muscles in my forehead show increased activity (Translation : My brow furrows and I squint a lot)
While I was in no danger of keeling over, my heart rate and other symptoms offered clear evidence that I was under stress, says Robert Bonow, MD, president of the American Heart Association (AHA). Over time, that stress could take a heavy toll.
If you are among the roughly 113 million Americans who drive to work each day. You’re probably grimacing with recognition. With traffic congestion getting worse each year, anyone who travels by car to the office or plant, or who simply shuttles kids from school to violin lessons to slumber parties, may be exposing himself or herself to serious hidden health threats.
All that commuter combat is bound to produce casualties. “People are experiencing more congestion and we know that’s stressful, ”says Colorado State University psychologist Jerry Diefenbaker. Some results are predictable. Reckless driving –sometimes in the form of so-called road rage-is often spurred by traffic frustration. Consider 41-year –old Chris Heard. The mild-mannered engineer used to turn into Mad Max every day as he drove the nearly 50 miles of clogged roads between his home in Brookline, N. H. ,and his office near Boston. “it turned me into a very aggressive driver, ” he says, “taking risks, cutting people off, driving fast on back roads to make up for time I lost , “the result of his congestion-fueled fury ? A stack of speeding tickets and a number of near collisions. Finally he did something about it : He found a job closer to home.16. According to the passage, Professor Thomas Schnell has created his lab-on –wheels_________.
(A) to make heart jump from 74 to 80 beats per minute
(B) to make respiration rate leap from 12 to 17 breaths per minute
(C) to learn how to make driving enjoyable during rush-hour traffic
(D) to learn how a driver physically reacts to driving
17. Why was the author driving along interstate 90 on a Monday?
(A ) He was test-driving his smart cat.
(B) He liked to pick up his driving skill.
(C) He did not want to be caught in the storm.
(D) He was dong it a test.
18. The phrase ″take heavy″(para.6) is closest in meaning to ____.
(A) grind one’s teeth
(B) damage one’s health
(C) increase one’s activity
(D) pay more at the toll gate
19. Which of the following in NOT true about 41-year-old Chris Heard?
(A) He used to play a role in a movie.
(B) He got a stack of speeding tickets.
(C) He found a job closer to home.
(D) He had a number of near collisions.
20. What is the best title for the passage?
(A) Are You a Reckless Driver?
(B) How Do You Improve Your Driving Skill?
(C) Are you Driving Yourself Sick?
(D) How Do you Design Smart Cars? |
