The critical point here is causality. The alarmists say they have proved that violent media cause aggression. But the assumptions behind their observations need to be examined. When labeling games as violent or non-violent, should a hero eating a ghost really be counted as a violent event? And when experimenters record the time it takes game players to read …aggressive? or …non-aggressive?words from a list, can we be sure what they are actually measuring? The intent of the new Harvard Center on Media and Child Health to collect and standardize studies of media violence in order to compare their methodologies, assumptions and conclusions is an important step in the right direction.
Another appropriate step would be to tone down the criticism until we know more. Several researchers write, speak and testify quite a lot on the threat posed by violence in the media. That is, of course, their privilege. But when doing so, they often come out with statements that the matter has now been settled, drawing criticism from colleagues. In response, the alarmists accuse critics and news reporters of being deceived by the entertainment industry. Such clashes help neither science nor society.
21. Why is there so much violence shown in movies, TV and video games?
A) There is a lot of violence in the real world today.
B) Something has gone wrong with today?s society.
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C) Many people are fond of gunplay and bloodshed.
D) Showing violence is thought to be entertaining.
22. What is the skeptics (Line 3. Para. 3) view of media violence?
A) Violence on television is a fairly accurate reflection of real-world life.
B) Most studies exaggerate the effect of media violence on the viewers.
C) A causal relationship exists between media and real-world violence.
D) The influence of media violence on children has been underestimated.
23. The author uses the term “alarmists” (Line 1. Para. 5) to refer to those who
________.
A) use standardized measurements in the studies of media violence
B) initiated the debate over the influence of violent media on reality
C) assert a direct link between violent media and aggressive behavior
D) use appropriate methodology in examining aggressive behavior
24. In refuting the alarmists, the author advances his argument by first challenging
________.
A) the source and amount of their data
B) the targets of their observation
C) their system of measurement
D) their definition of violence
25. What does the author think of the debate concerning the relationship between the
media and violence?
A) More studies should be conducted before conclusions are drawn.
B) It should come to an end since the matter has now been settled.
C) The past studies in this field have proved to be misleading.
D) He more than agrees with the views held by the alarmists.
Passage T wo
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Y ou?re in trouble if you have to buy your own brand-name prescription drugs. Over the past decade, prices leaped by more than double the inflation rate. Treatments for chronic conditions can easily top $2,000 a month-no wonder that one in four Americans can?s afford to fill their prescriptions. The solution? A hearty chorus of “O Canada.” North of the border, where price controls reign, those same brand-name drugs cost 50% to 80% less.
The Canadian option is fast becoming a political wake-up call, “If our neighbors can 该文本由恒星英语学习网整理制作，欢迎到7b2d2f6a25c52cc58bd6be51下载四六级资料
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buy drugs at reasonable prices, why can?t we? Even to whisper that thought provokes anger. “Un-American!” And-the propagandists?trump card (王牌)—“Wreck our brilliant health-care system.” Supersize drug prices, they claim, fund the research that sparks the next generation of wonder drugs. No sky-high drug price today, no cure for cancer tomorrow. So shut up and pay up.
Common sense tells you that?s a false alternative. The reward for finding, say, a cancer cure is so huge that no one?s going to hang it up. Nevertheless, if Canada-level pricing came to the United States, the industry?s profit margins would drop and the pace of new-drug development would slow. Here lies the American dilemma. Who is all this splendid medicine for? Should our health-care system continue its drive toward the best of the best, even though rising numbers of patients can?t afford it? Or should we direct our wealth toward letting everyone in on today?s level of care? Measured by saved lives, the latter is almost certainly the better course.
To defend their profits, the drug companies have warned Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies (药房) not to sell to Americans by mail, and are cutting back supplies to those who dare.
Meanwhile, the administration is playing the fear card. Officials from the Food and Drug Administration will argue that Canadian drugs might be fake, mishandled, or even a potential threat to life.
Do bad drugs fly around the Internet? Sure-and the more we look, the more we?ll find, But I haven?t heard of any raging epidemics among the hundreds of thousands of people buying crossborder.
Most users of prescription drugs don?t worry about costs a lot. They?re sheltered by employee insurance, owing just a $20 co-pay. The financial blows rain, instead, on the uninsured, especially the chronically ill who need expensive drugs to live, This gro up will still include middle-income seniors on Medicare, who?ll have to dig deeply into their pockets before getting much from the new drug benefit that starts in 2006.
26. What is said about the consequence of the rocketing drug prices in the U.S.?
A) A quarter of Americans can?t afford their prescription drugs.
B) Many Americans can?t afford to see a doctor when they fall ill.
C) Many Americans have to go to Canada to get medical treatment.
D) The inflation rate has been more than doubled over the years.
27. It can be inferred that America can follow the Canadian model and curb its soaring
drug prices by ________.
A) encouraging people to buy prescription drugs online
B) extending medical insurance to all its citizens
C) importing low-price prescription drugs from Canada
D) exercising price control on brand-name drugs
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28. How do propagandists argue for the U.S. drug pricing policy?
A) Low prices will affect the quality of medicines in America.
B) High prices are essential to funding research on new drugs.
C) Low prices will bring about the anger of drug manufacturers.
D) High-price drugs are indispensable in curing chronic diseases.
29. What should be the priority of America?s health-care system according to the
author?
A) To resolve the dilemma in the health-care system.
B) To maintain America?s lead in the drug industry.
C) To allow the vast majority to enjoy its benefits.
D) To quicken the pace of new drug development.
30. What are American drug companies doing to protect their high profits?
A) Labeling drugs bought from Canada as being fakes.
B) Threatening to cut back funding for new drug research.
C) Reducing supplies to uncooperative Canadian pharmacies.
D) Attributing the raging epidemics to the ineffectiveness of Canadian drugs.
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Age has its privileges in America. And one of the more prominent of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age—in some cases as low as 55—is automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility is determined not by one?s need but by the date on one?s birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses—as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
