Learning to drive is important to the independence of teenagers, but it is also a great responsibility．Although having a law that keeps 16-year-old drivers from having more than one teenager in the car with them at first seems unfair, there are convincing reasons for this requirement．
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that teens are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile accident．It also reports that 16-and 17-year-old drivers are twice as likely to have an accident if they have two teenage friends in the car and four times as likely to have one if they have three or more teenage friends in the car with them．Fatal （ 致命的） crashes of 16-year-old drivers involve the highest percentage of speeding, driver error, and number of passengers．This information is enough to cause any reasonable person to wonder about the wisdom of allowing new teen drivers to take a carload of friends anywhere, even if the law permits it．
A study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that the part of the human brain that controls judgment and evaluates the consequences of our actions might not be fully formed until the age of 25．Until this study, researchers had placed the age at 18．If this is true, it could explain the reckless （鲁莽的） behavior of many teens, behavior that often extends into their twenties．It also could be a strong reason for being cautious about the driving circumstances of young people．
This is not the only study that indicates such caution is necessary．One study at Temple University in Philadelphia examines the results of peer（同龄人） pressure in risky driving situations．The study, which uses a driving game, has an individual guide a car through a course, both alone and in the presence of friends．Three different age groups participated in the study: 13-16, 18-22, and 24 and older．Members of the oldest group showed caution whether driving alone or with friends present, but the two younger groups took more chances when they were with their friends．Furthermore, because these drivers were accustomed to the noise and distraction of many passengers, they were unable to see their own mistakes．Once again, this is a good indication that a law restricting the number of teenagers in the car with a young driver is a good idea．
【小题1】What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?

Flight Distance
Any observant people have noticed that a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it escapes. “Flight distance” is the terms used for this interspecies spacing. As a general rule, there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance --- the larger the animal, the greater the distance it must keep between itself and the enemy. An antelope will escape when the enemy is as much as five hundred yards away. The wall lizard’s flight distance, on the other hand, is about six feet. Flight is the basic means of survival for mobile creatures.
Critical Distance
Critical distance apparently is present wherever and whenever there is a flight reaction. “Critical distance” includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance. A lion in a zoo will flee from an approaching man until it meets a barrier that it cannot overcome. If the man continues the approach, he soon penetrates（穿过，透过）the lion’s critical distance, at which point the cornered lion turns back and begins slowly stalk（逼近）the man.
Social Distance
Social animals need to stay in touch with each other. Loss of contact with the group can be fatal （致命的）for a variety of reasons including exposure to enemies. Social distance is not simply the distance at which an animal will lose contact with his group --- that is, the distance at which it can no longer see, hear, or smell the group --- it is rather a psychological distance, one at which the animal apparently begins to feel anxious when it goes beyond its limits. We can think of it as a hidden band that contains the group.
Social distance varies from species to species. It is quite short --- apparently only a few yards --- among some animals, and quite long among others.
Social distance is not always rigidly（刻板的）fixed but is determined in part by the situation. When the young of apes and humans are mobile but not yet under control of the mother’s voice, social distance may be the length of her reach. This is readily observed among baboons（狒狒）in a zoo. When the baby approaches a certain point, the mother reaches out to seize the end of its tail and pull it back to her. When added control is needed because of danger, social distance shortens. To show this in man, one has only to watch a family with a number of small children holding hands as they cross a busy street.
【小题1】Which of the following is the most suitable explanation to “Flight distance”?

Flight Distance

Any observant people have noticed that a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it escapes. “Flight distance” is the terms used for this interspecies spacing. As a general rule, there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance --- the larger the animal, the greater the distance it must keep between itself and the enemy. An antelope will escape when the enemy is as much as five hundred yards away. The wall lizard’s flight distance, on the other hand, is about six feet. Flight is the basic means of survival for mobile creatures.

Critical Distance

Critical distance apparently is present wherever and whenever there is a flight reaction. “Critical distance” includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance. A lion in a zoo will flee from an approaching man until it meets a barrier that it cannot overcome. If the man continues the approach, he soon penetrates（穿过，透过）the lion’s critical distance, at which point the cornered lion turns back and begins slowly stalk（逼近）the man.

Social Distance

Social animals need to stay in touch with each other. Loss of contact with the group can be fatal （致命的）for a variety of reasons including exposure to enemies. Social distance is not simply the distance at which an animal will lose contact with his group --- that is, the distance at which it can no longer see, hear, or smell the group --- it is rather a psychological distance, one at which the animal apparently begins to feel anxious when it goes beyond its limits. We can think of it as a hidden band that contains the group.

Social distance varies from species to species. It is quite short --- apparently only a few yards --- among some animals, and quite long among others.

Social distance is not always rigidly（刻板的）fixed but is determined in part by the situation. When the young of apes and humans are mobile but not yet under control of the mother’s voice, social distance may be the length of her reach. This is readily observed among baboons（狒狒）in a zoo. When the baby approaches a certain point, the mother reaches out to seize the end of its tail and pull it back to her. When added control is needed because of danger, social distance shortens. To show this in man, one has only to watch a family with a number of small children holding hands as they cross a busy street.

1.Which of the following is the most suitable explanation to “Flight distance”?

2.If a lion’s critical distance is penetrated, it will ________

3.The example of the children holding hands when crossing the street in the last paragraph           

shows that ________.

4.Which of the following one can be the best title of the passage?

Learning to drive is important to the independence of teenagers, but it is also a great responsibility．Although having a law that keeps 16-year-old drivers from having more than one teenager in the car with them at first seems unfair, there are convincing reasons for this requirement．

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that teens are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile accident．It also reports that 16-and 17-year-old drivers are twice as likely to have an accident if they have two teenage friends in the car and four times as likely to have one if they have three or more teenage friends in the car with them．Fatal （ 致命的） crashes of 16-year-old drivers involve the highest percentage of speeding, driver error, and number of passengers．This information is enough to cause any reasonable person to wonder about the wisdom of allowing new teen drivers to take a carload of friends anywhere, even if the law permits it．

A study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that the part of the human brain that controls judgment and evaluates the consequences of our actions might not be fully formed until the age of 25．Until this study, researchers had placed the age at 18．If this is true, it could explain the reckless （鲁莽的） behavior of many teens, behavior that often extends into their twenties．It also could be a strong reason for being cautious about the driving circumstances of young people．

This is not the only study that indicates such caution is necessary．One study at Temple University in Philadelphia examines the results of peer（同龄人） pressure in risky driving situations．The study, which uses a driving game, has an individual guide a car through a course, both alone and in the presence of friends．Three different age groups participated in the study: 13-16, 18-22, and 24 and older．Members of the oldest group showed caution whether driving alone or with friends present, but the two younger groups took more chances when they were with their friends．Furthermore, because these drivers were accustomed to the noise and distraction of many passengers, they were unable to see their own mistakes．Once again, this is a good indication that a law restricting the number of teenagers in the car with a young driver is a good idea．

1.What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?

A．Many deaths have occurred because of inexperience and overconfidence．

B．It' s reasonable to severely limit the passenger number of teen drivers．

C．New teen drivers have to ask permission before driving with friends．

D．There are many causes behind the teens' driving accidents．

2.From the two studies, the author probably suggests that ______．

A．different age groups have different peer pressure

B．teenagers often give wrong judgments above passengers' noise

C．underdeveloped brain makes teens ignore their mistakes

D．driving circumstances are bound up with（与…密切相关） the risk of accidents

3.We can infer that the law restriction can probably ______．

A．protect teens on the highway

B．raise teens' sense of responsibility

C．reduce the number of fatal crashes

D．force teens to drive with caution

4.With which statement would the author most likely disagree?

A．Some teenagers have risky behavior while driving．

B．Certain laws treat teenagers and adults differently．

C．We still need more studies on teen driving．

D．Driving is important to a teenager' s sense of independence．

By the logic（逻辑）of geography, the continent of Australia should have been populated with Asians. Instead, by an accident of history, Australia has been mainly populated with Westerners.

Sadly, no major Australian newspaper or expert commented. This made me aware that Australians are reluctant to face Australia's painful new geopolitical realities.

Against this background, the release of the Asian Century White Paper is timely. It should provide a sharp wake-up call to the Australian population that Australia's destiny（命运）is now firmly tied to Asia. Julia Gillard is right in saying, "The transformation of the Asian region into the economic powerhouse of the world is not only unstoppable, it is gathering pace."

One truly impressive part of the paper is the data it provides on Asia's rise. It notes, for example, that "in the past 20 years, China and India have almost tripled（增三倍）their share of the global economy and increased their economic size almost six times over. By 2025, the region as a whole will account for almost half the world's output."

In this Asian century, as Western power gets weak steadily, Australia will be left "beached" alone as the only Western country (together with New Zealand) in Asia. Twenty-two million Australians will have to learn to deal with 3.5 billion Asians with great care and sensitivity.

Ignorance（无知）about Asia could prove to be fatal（致命的）for Australia's long-term future. This is why the report is right in focusing on Australian misunderstanding of Asia.

Sadly, this kind of terrible ignorance may be a result of Australian education. The report says, “Only a small proportion of Year 12 students study anything about Asia in the subjects of history, literature, geography, economics, politics and the arts under existing state-based curriculums." Worse, only 5 per cent of each Australian groups study any kind of Asian language.

Learning Asian languages would open windows to Asian cultural and political sensitivities. The time for Australians to think deeply about their Asian destiny has arrived. The sooner Australia adjusts to its new Asian destiny, the less painful the adjustment will prove to be.