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Pushbike Peril
Low speed bicycle crashes can badly injure-or even kill-children if they fall onto the ends of the handlebars (车把) so a team of engineers is redesigning the humble handlebar in a bid to make it safer.
Kristy Arbogast, a bioengineer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, began the project with her colleagues after a study of serious abdominal (腹部的) injuries in children in the past 30 years showed that more than a third were caused by bicycle accidents.” the task was to identify how the injuries occurred and come up with some countermeasures (对策).” she says.
By interviewing the children and their parents, Arbogast and her team were able to reconstruct(重建;重构) many of the accidents and identified a common mechanism responsible for serious injuries. They discovered that most occur when children hit an obstacle at a slow speed, causing them to topple over. To maintain their balance they turn the handlebars through 90 degrees - but their momentum (冲力) forces them into the end of the handlebars The bike then falls over and the other end of the handlebars hits the ground, ramming it into their abdomen.
The solution the group came up with is a handgrip (握柄) fitted with a spring and damping (制动的;减速的，缓冲的) system. The spring absorbs up to 50 per cent of the forces transmitted through the handlebars in an impact，The group hopes to commercialize (使商品化) the device，which should add only a few dollars to the cost of a bike. “But our task has been one of education because up until now, bicycle manufacturer were unaware of the problem,” says Arbogast.
The team has also approached the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to try to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design. A decision is expected later this year.
1、According to the passage, some engineers are trying to improve the handlebars because ______.
A、they are not noble enough.
B、they may kill children.
C、they are likely to crash.
D、they make the bike move at a low speed.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】 文章在开始处就讲，儿童骑慢车跌倒时，如果撞在车把两端，会受重伤甚至丧命。因此，一些工程师才会重新设计这种欠合理的车把，以使其更安全。
2、In paragraph 2, the author mentions a study of serious abdominal injuries ______.
A、to discuss how abdominal injuries in children occur
B、to show that more than a third injuries were caused by bicycle accidents
C、to point out what the countermeasures can be
D、to tell us why Kristy Arbogast began the project
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 在文章第二段提到了：…began the project with her colleagues after a study of serious abdominal injuries…这也就是告诉我们他为什么要开始这个研究项目。
3、Paragraph 3 mainly discusses ______.
A、why the children and their parents were interviewed
B、when the children tom the handlebars through 90 degrees
C、what causes the children to topple over
D、how serious injuries occur
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 第三段的第一个句子是这一段的主题句，它指出了这一段的中心：受重伤的机理。
4、The passage implies that ______.
A、it is not easy to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design.
B、the team of engineers has not found any countermeasures.
C、children like to ride bicycles at a very low speed.
D、a lot of children were killed in bicycle accidents in the past 30 years.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】 在文章倒数第二段中说到制造商并没有意识到这个危险的问题，以致最后approached the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to try to persuade manufacturers to adopt the new design动员消费产品安全委员会去进行劝说。可以得出这并不是一个容易的事情。
5、The new handgrip works in which of the following ways?
A、It call be commercialized.
B、It reduces the dangerous forces in bicycle accidents.
C、It adds a few dollars to the cost of a bike.
D、It changes the direction of the handlebars in all impact.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】 文章第四段第二个句子讲到：在撞击过程中，把柄上的弹簧会吸收掉百分之五十沿车把传递的冲撞力，所以答案为B。
