Believe it or not, optical illusion can cut highway crashes. Japan is a case in

Believeit or not, optical illusion(错觉) can cut highwaycrashes.

Japanis a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly75 percent using a simple optical illusion. But stripes, called chevrons(人字形),which are painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving fasterthan they really are, and thus drivers slow down.

Nowthe American Automobile Association Foundation(基金会)for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan’s success.Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns ofstripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patternsreduce highway crashes.

Excessive(too great) speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all serioustraffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents,the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related danger arethe greatest curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.

Somestudies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can cut the average speed of drivers in half at the beginning. However, trafficoften returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing thepainted bars.

Chevrons,scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are drivingfaster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. Theresult is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of trafficaccidents.

1.On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that ______.

A.they should avoid speed-related hazards

B.they are driving in the wrong lane

C.they should slow down their speed

D.they are coming near to the speed limit

2.The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former______.

A.can keep drivers awake    

B.can cut road accidents in half

C.will look more attractive  

D.will have a longer effect on drivers

3.The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to________.

A.try out the Japanese method in certain areas

B.change the road signs across the country

C.replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons

D.repeat the Japanese road patterns

4.The passage mainly discusses ________.

A.a new way of highway speed control

B.a new pattern for painting highways

C.a new way of training drivers

D.a new type of optical illusion

试题答案

【答案】

 C

 D

 A

 A

【解析】