A recent study, published in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how dangerous it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a serious accident as a teenager driving alone.
The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 pm, and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic problem,” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for giving out licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is”.
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (缓解) the problem is to have states set up so-called graduated licensing systems(驾照考试体系), in which getting a license is a process with several stages. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself able to drive in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions(限制) before graduating to full driving rights.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies.
1. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
A. Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 pm.
B. A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.
C. Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.
D. A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.
2. According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to _______.
A. their lack of driving experience B. their frequent driving at night
C. their wrong way of driving D. their driving with passengers
3. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.
B. Teenagers should not learn any driving.
C. Laws should be made to punish those teenagers who want to take driving licenses.
D. The licensing department is partly responsible for teenager's driving accidents.
4. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that_________.
A. the licensing system should be improved
B. they should be forbidden to take on passengers
C. they should not be allowed to drive after 10 pm
D. driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule.