When DR. THOMAS E. DEIKER, 59, remembers　his life almost 30 years ago in　Pineville, La., he thinks about guns. Worried that more of his neighbors appeared to be　buying firearms, Deiker, a research psychologist at Central Louisiana State Hospital at the　time, wrote a My Turn in 1974 advocating stricter gun-control laws at a time when any　legislation that existed was loosely enforced.

　　Little progress on the issue of gun control has been made since his My Turn, Deiker　says. “My judgment would be that from 1974 to now, there has been no change in　gun-control laws at a national level”. What makes him angry is that even after the“longseries of copycat (模仿犯罪的 ) high-school shootings”and “a long series of dissatisfied　employees walking into their places of business and killing large numbers of people ”,there has still been little action taken. “There was some debate and discussion, but　nothing ultimately happened to improve the gun-control laws.

　　In fact, weapons today are more deadly. “We have shifted clearly to a far more　dangerous　and lethal form of firearms　in the United States, ” he says, “with the　widespread　use of automatic and semiautomatic　weapons, the Internet has proven a　perfect provider, offering information　on how to build these weapons and where to　purchase them.

　　Many of those buyers, Deiker worries, are hardly older than children. The amount of　graphic (图像的 ) violence youth are exposed to today desensitizes (使麻木 ) them to violence, he says.

　　“How many thousands of killings will the average child view, either in　cartoon form or in actual graphic form, on TV and in videogames?”he asks. “Children　grow up practicing. They’re desensitized to the experience of violence in graphic detail.

　　And they have skills in weaponry use from practicing videogames, in which you actually　have something you hold in your hand that you can point and shoot.”

　　In 1974, Deiker wrote that the vast majority of killings are committed by people known　intimately to each other. In 2002, “That is still the case, ”he says. And Deiker is not　optimistic about change: “If we impose total gun control from this day forward, social　scientists predict we would be years away from seeing any effect.”

　　1)

　　Why did Deiker feel angry?

　　A. Because there has been little progress on gun control since 1974.

　　B. Because there are long series of copycat high-school shootings.

　　C. Because dissatisfied employees have killed people in their company.

　　D. Because little action has been taken even after the crazy killings.

　　2)

　　Which of the following is NOT mentioned according to the passage?

　　A. In 1974 the legislation that existed was loosely enforced.

　　B. People get information about weapons through Internet.

　　C. The long series of shootings caused spirited discussion.

　　D. More dangerous weapons are used by American people.

　　3)

　　What is the meaning of“lethal ”in Paragraph 3?

　　A. dangerous

　　B. Fatal

　　C. Automatic

　　D. evil

　　4)

　　What do we know from the passage?

　　A. Not only adults have access to weapons.

　　B. Children can learn a lot of good things from playing videogames.

　　C. Cartoon is beneficial to the youth.

　　D. Many homicides are committed by those crazy people in 2002.

　　5)

　　What is the author ’s attitude toward gun control?

　　A. optimistic

　　B. Favorable

　　C. Indifferent

　　D. hostile

　　参考答案：

　　1) D 2) C 3) B 4) A 5) B

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