【正文】 the things y our mother teaches you when you grow up is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he told the crowd. But he pointed out that a string of guncontrol measures had been stalled in congress for more than a year by the opposition of the gun lobby. Violent crime has been falling in the US for eight years, but the impact of firearms remains far high than in other modern industrialized countries. Every year 32,000 Americans— including 12 children and teenagers each day— die from gunfire through murders, accidents and suicides. Among the speakers at the guncontrol rally in Washington were three women whose daughters died in the Dunblane massacre. Those murders triggered the Snowdrop Campaign, which eventually led to a ban on handguns in Britain. Before the rally one of the Dunblane mothers, Allison Crozier, said she believed that the Million Mom campaign campaign could ultimately outweigh the entrenched power of the gun lobby. “ There are more mums who want something done. We did it in Scotland, they can do it here if they just stand up and do something about it, ” she told the BBC. The counterrally may have been tiny by parison, but the progun demonstrat ors represent a powerful constituency. According to a survey published yesterday, 45% of us households own a gun, and one in four Americans has been threatened with a gun. The guncontrol lobbyists want childproof trigger locks to be made pulsory, and a 72 hour “ cooling off periods” for would be buyers at weekend gun shows. Their opponents say those restrictions are only the first step to wards a total ban. One of the Armed Informed Mothers coordinators, Debra Collins, said her life was saved 16 years ago when she used a gun to defend herself against her violent exhusband. “ Thank God, my firearm was unencumbered by a trigger lock,” she said. Organisers of the Million Mom March hoped that the turnout nationally would top a million. The final figure was unclear yesterday afternoon, but May Leigh Bleak, one of the movement’s founders, said enough people had shown up to put gun control on the legislative agenda in congress. She said: “ I hope when legislators see so many mothers, it will give them the courage to do the right thing.” 6. In the sentence “ President Clinton threw his weight behind the Million Mom March” (Para. 3), the expression “ threw his weight behind...” can be replaced by ________. (A) paid attention to (B) took part in (C) laid emphasis on (D) gave support to 點點英語 —— 專業(yè)致力于四六級、考研和口譯口語 7 7. It can be learned from the passage that the Armed Informed Mothers ________. (A) are part of the Million Mom March (B) are demonstrating against gun control (C) are another great national movement (D) are supported by women soldiers 8. According to the passage, the Million Mom March _______. (A) was a nationwide demonstration held in many cities in America (B) was held only in the capital Washington (C) was only joined by young and middleaged mothers (D) was first started in Britain and spread to America 9. The argument over child proof trigger locks introduced in the passage ________. (A) is overlooked by the Armed Informed Mothers (B) bees the focus of the Million Mom March (C) shows the major concern of guncontrol supporters (D) serves as the first step towards a total ban 10. According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT that _____. (A) the Million Mom March is one of the few biggest demonstrations over the past decades (B) the opposition of the gun lobby is quite strong in the congress (C) the progun demonstration represents a large proportion of the American population (D) the increase of violent crime in the US is related to firearms Questions 11～ 15 When the folks at the Mars Society asked Jammed Cameron to speak at their annual convention this year, they probably expected him to be polite. Instead, the “ Titanic” director stood before them and asked, “ Why the hell do you whacks want to go to Mars?” He was just kidding: in truth, Cameron is as evangelical as any one about Mars, and he figures politicians won’t lead the call for funding. “ We don’t have the same conditions as when John Kennedy declared a race to the moon,” he told NEWSWEEK. “ Then we were racing the Soviet Union. Today, it’s going to have to e from grass roots— from the public clamoring to get it done.”Cameron has vowed to stir up “ Mars fever.” It seems the wackos at the Mars Society have found some powerful allies: the wackos in Hollywood. So many projects are in the works that soon we’ll all have either Mars fever or Mars flu. The studios are clearly responding to the public’s fascination with 1997’s Sojourner mission— and the success of movies like “ Apollo 13” and “ Armageddon.” So Brian De Palma’s “ Mission to Mars,” with Gary Sinise, will land in theaters in March, and an other would be blockbuster, “ Red, pla,” starring Val Kilmer, is set for summer 2 000. As for Cameron, he’ll produce two missions in 2020, one a TV miniseries, the other a short 3DIMAX movie, which he’ll direct. Most filmmakers insist their movies will be realistic. Cameron believes that extravaganzas like “ Star Wars” and “ Star Trek” have actually hurt NASA’s reallife adventures. “ Hollywood has done a disservice to the true adventure of space travel by making it 點點英語 —— 專業(yè)致力于四六級、考研和口譯口語 8 look too easy,” he says. Both of Cameron’s projects are set in 2020, and center on the first manned mission to Mars— and a subsequent rescue mission. NASA has helped the director draw up rigorously realistic vehicles. “ What we want to show,” says Cameron, “ is something that is plausible and defendable.” De Palma’s movie amps up the drama slightly. The year is 2020. A mysterious explosion kills three American ast