Cell Phones Increase Traffic, Pedestrian Fatalities
Cell phones are a danger on the road in more ways than one. Two new studies show that talking on the phone while traveling, whether you"re driving or on foot, is increasing both pedestrian deaths and those of drivers and passengers, and recommend crackdowns on cell1 use by both pedestrians and drivers.
The new studies, lead-authored by Rutgers University, Newark, Economics Professor Peter D. Loeb2, relate the impact of cell phones on accident fatalities to the number of cell phones in use, showing that the current increase in deaths resulting from cell phone use follows a period when cell phones actually helped to reduce pedestrian and traffic fatalities. However, this reduction in fatalities disappeared once the numbers of phones in use reached a “critical mass”3 of 100 million, the study found.
These studies looked at cell phone use and motor vehicle accidents from 1975 through 2002, and factored in4 a number of variables, including vehicle speed, alcohol consumption, seat belt use, and miles driven. The studies found the cell phone-fatality correlation to be true even when including factors such as speed, alcohol consumption, and seat belt use.
Loeb and his co-author determined that, at the current time, cell phone use has a “significant adverse effect on pedestrian safety” and that “cell phones and their usage above a critical threshold5 adds to motor vehicle fatalities.” In the late 1980s and part of the 1990s, before the numbers of phones exploded, cell phone use actually had a “life-saving effect” in pedestrian and traffic accidents, Loeb notes. “Cell-phone users’ were able to quickly call for medical assistance when involved in an accident. This quick medical response actually reduced the number of traffic deaths for a time,” Loeb hypothesizes.
However, this was not the case when cells were first used in the mid-1980s, when they caused a “life-taking effect” among pedestrians, drivers and passengers in vehicles. In those early days, when there were fewer than a million phones, fatalities increased, says Loeb, because drivers and pedestrians probably were still adjusting to the novelty of using them, and there weren"t enough cell phones in use to make a difference in summoning help following an accident, he explains.
The “life-saving effect” occurred as the volume of phones grew into the early 1990s, and increasing numbers of cells were used to call 911 following accidents, leading to a drop in fatalities, explains Loeb. But this life-saving effect was canceled out6 once the numbers of phones reached a “critical mass” of about 100 million and the “life-taking effect” - increased accidents and fatalities outweighed the benefits of quick access to 911 services, according to Loeb.
Loeb and his co-authors used econometric models to analyze data from a number of government and private studies. He and his co-authors recommend that governments consider more aggressive policies to reduce cell phone use by both drivers and pedestrians, to reduce the number of fatalities.
词汇：
crackdown n.制裁，严惩 econometric adj.计量经济的
outweigh v.超过 hypothesize v.假设，假定
fatality n.死亡者
注释：
1. cell：cell phone 的缩写。
2. The new studies, lead-authored by Rutgers University, Newark, Economics Professor Peter D. Loeb第一作者为罗格斯大学纽瓦克分校的经济学教授 Peter D. Loeb 的新研究成果…… lead-author：第一作者； lead-authored 为动词的过去分词形式，具有被动意义。罗格斯大学纽瓦克分校是美国新泽西州昀负盛名的文理学院。
3. critical mass：临界数量。
4. factored in：包括，把……计算在内。
5. a critical threshold：指的是前文所说的 critical mass。见注释 3。
6. was canceled out：被抵消。According to the second paragraph, when did cell phones actually help to reduce pedestrian and traffic fatalities?
A:Right after cell phones were invented. B:Before the number of cell phone users reached a critical mass C:When cell phone users totaled to a certain number. D:When the number of cell phones decreased to a certain number.
The Beginning of American Literature
American has always been a land of beginnings. After Europeans “ discovered” Americain the fifteenth century, the mysteriousNew Worldbecame for many people a genuine hope of a new life, an escape from poverty and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as nation,Americabegins with that hope. When, however, does American literature begin?
American literature begins with American experiences. Long before the first colonists arrived, before Christopher Columbus 1, before the Northmen who foundAmericaabout year 1,000, Native Americans lived here. Each tribe"s literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land 2. Another kind of experience, one filled with fear and excitement, found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers sent home inSpain, French and English. In addition, the journals of the people who lived and died in theNew Englandwilderness 3 tell unforgettable tales of hard end sometimes heartbreaking experiences of those early years.
Experience, then, is the key to early American literature. TheNew Worldprovided a great variety of experiences, and experiences demanded a wide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, who spent only two-and-a-half year: on the American, continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd，who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own. American Indians, explorers,
Puritan ministers, frontier wives, plantation owner一they are all the creators of the first American literature.
词汇：
colonist [ˈkɒlənɪst] n.殖民者
subject ["sʌbdʒɪkt] n.臣民
puritan [ˈpjʊərɪtən] n.清教徒的
注释：
1．Christopher Columbus:克里斯托弗·哥伦布，美洲新大陆的发现者
2. Each tribe"s literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land.每个部落的文学都紧密地交织到日常生活的架构中去，反映了和土地密切相连的确凿无疑的美洲生活经历。
3．New England wilderness:新英格兰的荒原，新英格兰指如今美国东北部的几个州，为来自欧洲的殖民者最早定居的地区。
When did American literature begin?
A:Before the American natives lived there. B:When Columbus and other explorers sent reports back home. C:When the Northmen found Americain about l,000. D:Long before the year l,000.
— When are the Shutes leaving for New York
—Pardon
—I asked（）.
A:when are the Shutes leaving for New York B:when the Shutes are leaving for New York C:when were the Shutes leaving for New York D:when the Shutes were leaving for New York
When should a project baseline be changed
A:When a major delay occurs. B:When an official change is made. C:When a cost increase occurs. D:Changes should never be made in the baseline.
(It is) (in) his spare time (when) Robert teaches (himself) English and Japanese.（ ）
A:It is B:in C:when D:himself
This is the place ______ I used to camp when I was younger.
A:what B:when C:where D:which
When will a company renew an existing model
A:When it sells well and brings in a good profit. B:When it needs improvement to meet the needs of users. C:When some of its features have to be deleted. D:When certain options have to be added.
单项选择题
