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Driven to Distraction
Joe Coyne slides into the driver’s eat, starts up the car and heads1 to town. The empty stretch of interstate gives way to urban congestion2, and Coyne hits the brakes as a pedestrian suddenly crosses the street in front of him.
But even if he hadn’t stopped in time, the woman would have been safe. She isn’t real. Neither is the town. And Coyne isn’t really driving. Coyne is demonstrating a computerized driving simulator that is helping researchers at Old Dominion University3 (ODU) examine how in-vehicle guidance systems affect the person behind the wheel4.
The researchers want to know if such systems, which give audible or written directions, are too distracting—or whether any distractions are offset5 by the benefits drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locations.6
“We’re looking at the performance and mental workload of drivers,” said Caryl Baldwin, the assistant psychology professor leading the research, which involves measuring drivers’ reaction time and brain activity as they respond to auditory and visual cues7.
The researchers just completed a study of the mental workload8 involved in driving through different kinds of environments and heavy vs. light traffic. Preliminary results show that as people “get into more challenging driving situations, they don’t have any extra mental energy to respond to something else in the environment,” Baldwin said.
But the tradeoffs could be worth it, she said. This next step is to test different ways of giving drivers navigational information and how those methods change the drivers’ mental workload.
“Is it best if they see a picture…that shows their position, a map kind of display?9” Baldwin said. “Is it best if they hear it?”
Navigational systems now on the market give point-by-point directions that follow a prescribed route. “They’re very unforgiving,” Baldwin said. “If you miss a turn, they can almost seem to get angry.”
That style of directions also can be frustrating for people who prefer more general instructions. But such broad directions can confuse drivers who prefer route directions, Baldwin said.
Perhaps manufacturers should allow drivers to choose the style of directions they want, or modify systems to present some information in a way that makes sense10 for people who prefer the survey style, she said.
Interestingly, other research has shown that about 60 percent of men prefer the survey style, while 60 percent women prefer the route style, Baldwin said. This explains the classic little thing of why men don’t like to stop and ask for directions and women do, Baldwin added.
词汇：
interstate / ˈɪntə’steɪt / n. 洲际公路
workload / ˈwɜ:kˌləʊd / n. 工作负担，工作量
congestion / kənˈdʒestʃən / n. 拥挤
tradeoff n. 交替使用；交替；换位
computerize / kəm"pju:təraɪz / v. 使计算机化；用计算机操作
unforgiving / ˌʌnfəˈgɪvɪŋ / adj.不原谅人的，无情的
注释：
1.head：意为“to go in a certain direction”（朝着一定方向前进）
2.The empty stretch of interstate gives way to urban congestion…：空荡荡的那段州际公路结束了，进入拥塞的城市……interstate：州际高速公路体系；give way to：让位于。
3.Old Dominion University：Old Dominion是美国吉尼亚州的别称。
4.the person behind the wheel：开车人
5.offset：意为“to counterbalance or compensate for”（平衡或补偿）
6.whether any distractions are offset by the benefits drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locaations：这个句子的大意是“驾驶员在陌生环境里从那些可读和可听的说明（audible or written directions）中所得到的的寻路指南的鞥益处是否抵消了这些东西引起的注意力不集中的问题”。
7.auditory and visual cues：听觉和视觉提示
8.mental workload：精神负荷
9.a map kind of display：有点像地图那样的显示图片。kind of：是一种非正式表达，意思是“rather；somewhat”（相当；有一些），如：I am kind of hot我有点热。
10.make sense：使有意义，意思清楚
What kind of directions do men and women prefer?
A:Women prefer more general directions and men prefer route directions. B:Men prefer more general directions and women prefer route direction. C:Both men and women prefer general directions. D:Both men and women prefer route directions.
Women Staying in Mini-Skirts for Longer
British women are happy nowadays to wear mini-skirts up until the age of 40, according to research by Debenhams.
Just 20 years ago, few women would dare to wear a mini-skirt after the age of 33, the store said. “It shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly,” it added in a statement. “If this trend continues, there’s no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid 40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential pan of their everyday wardrobe.”
The figures emerged when the store examined the latest age profile of women buying short, 36-cm skirts over the past six months. Their results show that it has jumped from an average age of 36-years-old at the start of millennium 1 to 40 today. Figures from 1980 showed that on average women stopped buying minis when they reached 33 years old -- a figure unchanged from the mid-1960s.
The store noted that experts believe that the popularity of intensive gym culture 2, providing women with well toned bodies 3 for longer may be the reason The increasing number of British women living on their own may also be a fac tor.
The Debenhams’ study showed that a modern woman’s love affair with a mini-skin begins at the age of 14 but that she doesn’t buy her first one until the age of 16 Instead, she flouts school roles by rolling up the waistband of the school uniform to give the impression of wearing a mini skirt.
Skirts get shorter between the ages of 16 and 19, reducing in size from 46 to 36 cm before reaching their shortest, a mere 32 cm, at the age of 23. Skirt .length increases slightly between the ages of 23 and 27, rising to 37 cm, possibly due to girls being in their first stable relationship, with no desire to attract attention, the store said.
However, it found short skirt suddenly zoom in popularity between the ages of 27 and 34, as those early relationships break down, and new relationships are formed. The move into longer skins begins irreversibly at 40 years old, when 46-cm skins, still slightly above the knee are the norm. From then on, skirt length increases dramatically, falling below the knee for the very first time since school days at the age of 42.
词汇：
millennium [mɪ"lenɪəm] n. 千禧年
gym [dʒɪm] n. 健身房
注释：
1.这里指公元2000年。
2.gym culture:指英国现在流行的去健身房健身的趋势。
3.well toned bodies:指结实而线条良好的体形。
According to the passage,British women are happy to wear mini-skirts up until an older agebecause of the following reasons EXCEPT:
A:Women are more and more confident in their bodies B:Women nowadays pay much more attention to body building,and this provides them withwell toned bodies to wear mini-skirts C:The Climate of Great Britainare getting warmer in recent years,thus women can wear minisfor a longer time D:More and more women are now living on their own
Pop Music in Africa
Young musicians in African countries are creating a new kind of pop music. The tunes and the rhythms of their music combine African traditions with various forms of music popular today, such as hip-hop, rap, rock, jazz, or reggae. The result is music that may sound familiar to listeners anywhere in the world, but at the same time is distinctly African. It is different also in another way: Many of the songs are very serious and they deal with important social or political issues inAfricatoday.
Eric Wainaina is one of these African musicians. He grew up inNairobi,Kenya, in a family of musicians. As a teenager, he listened to pop music from theUnited States, and later he moved toBostonto study at the Berklee College of Music. Now he has produced a CD inKenya. Eric"s most popular song, "Land of ‘A Little Something’” is aboutKenya"s problem of bribery, or paying others for illegal favors. He wants people to listen to his songs and think about how to makeKenyaa better place to live.
Another musician who writes serious songs is Witness Mwaijaga fromTanzania. Her own experiences have helped her understand the suffering of many African women. At the age of fifteen she lost her home, but she was luckier than other homeless young people. She could make a living by writing songs and singing on the street. By the time she was eighteen years old, she had become a star. Her songs are written in rap or hip-hop style about the problems that she sees inTanzania, especially AIDS and the lack of rights for women 1.
Baaba Maal, fromSenegal, also feels that pop music must go beyond entertainment. He says that inSenegal, storytellers have always been important people. In the past, they were the ones who kept the history of their people alive. Baaba believes that songwriters now have a similar responsibility. They must write about the world around them and help people understand how it could be better. The words of his songs are important, in fact. They speak of peace and cooperation among Africans, as well as the rights of women, love for one" s family, and saving the environment 2.
One ofSouth Africa"s most popular musicians is Brenda Fassie. She is sometimes compared to Madonna, the American pop star, because she likes to shock people in her shows. But she also likes to make people think. She became famous in the 1980s for her simple pop songs against apartheid. Now that apartheid has ended, her songs are about other issues in South African culture and life. To sing about these, she uses local African languages and a new pop style called kwaito.
In recent years, people outside ofAfricahave also begun to listen to these young musicians. Through music, the younger generation of Africans are connecting with the rest of the world and, at the same time, influencing the rest of the world.
词汇：
reggae /"regei/ n. 瑞格舞（西印度群岛的舞曲）
bribery ["braɪbərɪ] n. 行贿，贿赂
apartheid [əˈpɑ:tˌhaɪt, -ˌheɪt] n. 种族隔离
注释：
1. Her songs are written in rap or hip-hop style about the problems that she sees in Tanzania,especially AIDS and the lack of rights for women.她用嘻哈和说唱的风格写歌，歌曲的内容是坦桑尼亚的各种问题，特别是艾滋和女性权利的缺失。
2. They speak of peace and cooperation among Africans, as well as the rights of women, love forone"s family, and saving the environment.他倡导在非洲要和平与协作，同时也包括妇女权利、热爱家庭和保护环境。
Witness Mwaijaga writes about the problems of women partly because____.
A:she has had a difficult life herself B:there are many problems in Tanzania C:she has had an easy life herself D:there are no other women smgers
Why does the author say that beauty and women are twins（ ）
A:Women try to maintain their beauty by dressing up. B:Women like to show off their beauty. C:Women are born to be beauties. D:Women are proud of their beauty.
People who disagree with women's opinions believe ______.
A:women can't do what men can B:men can earn money more easily than women C:men's responsibilities are different from women's D:men have to work much harder than women
The women who disagree say that ______.
A:if women are given equal pay, their opportunities will be greater. B:women are no longer interested in taking care of their homes C:women want more freedom in deciding the kind of life they live D:women need opportunites to go out of the house more often
What does the author suggest that the government should do for women workers
A:To ensure equal pay for women. B:No solution is clearly suggested. C:To explain why women are paid less. D:To force employers to hire more women.
What does the author suggest that the government should do for women workers
A:To ensure equal pay for women. B:No solution is clearly suggested. C:To explain why women are paid less. D:To force employers to hire more women.
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