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  3. The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural r

The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural r

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问题    The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2, 500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7, 000 should drown or 55, 000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year.
   A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the western world have remained oddly static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an intriguing theory called "risk homeostasis". According to this theory, people instinctively live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to reassert the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers. Other studies have shown that where an intersection is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises to a compensating level elsewhere along the same stretch of road. It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger.
   In all events, it is becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and complex than had been previously thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isn’t simply a matter of adhering to certain precautions ..., eating the right foods, not smoking, driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15-year study of 500 persons personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span.
By saying "... statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers"(Para. 2), the author means______.
选项 A、wearing seat belts does not have any benefits from the statistic point of view
B、deaths from wearing seat belts are the same as those from not wearing them
C、deaths from other reasons counterbalance the benefits of wearing seat belts
D、wearing seat belts does not necessarily reduce deaths from traffic accidents
答案C
解析 细节题。由题干可找到定位句If, for instance，they are required to wear seat belts，they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly，thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers．意为当司机被要求系上安全带后，他们就会感到安全了，从而驾驶速度会快一些，也更鲁莽一些。这就造成其他方面的危险增大，抵消了安全带带来的安全。故选项C正确。
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大学英语四级

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