2. 外语
  3. Nearly 5,000 people below the age of 21 die because of excessive alcohol consumption each year. Oddly, this has triggered a new

Nearly 5,000 people below the age of 21 die because of excessive alcohol consumption each year. Oddly, this has triggered a new

admin2013-09-14  53
问题     Nearly 5,000 people below the age of 21 die because of excessive alcohol consumption each year. Oddly, this has triggered a new movement to lower the drinking age. In America, young people can vote, drive, marry, divorce, hunt and go to war before alcohol is legally allowed to touch their lips. Many states once set their minimum drinking-age at 18. But in 1984 Ronald Reagan oversaw the passage of the "21 law", which requires states to set 21 as the minimum drinking-age or risk losing 10% of their highway funds. Now campaigners want to move it back.
    In the past, states have been too financially timid(胆怯的)to challenge the 21 law. But calls for change are growing louder. Two local judges in South Carolina recently ruled that banning 18- to 20-year-olds from drinking or possessing alcohol is unconstitutional. Public officials, including the former attorney general of South Dakota, have called the 21 law a failure. The about-face of Morris Chafetz, a doctor who served on the commission that recommended increasing the drinking age to 21, has also raised eyebrows. This week he called it the most regrettable decision of his career.
    Supporters of existing status, including the organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving, say that the law has helped avoid thousands of deaths. But doubters point out that other countries, like Canada, have seen similar declines, even though their drinking-age is 18. They also argue that barring young people from drinking does not stop them from consuming alcohol: it just makes them drink more quickly.
    John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, is part of the Amethyst Initiative, a group of educators who are pushing for 18-year-olds to be allowed to drink. "Those who have graduated from high school, have a clean record and completed an alcohol-education programme should qualify for a drinking licence," he says, "in the same way that people who go to driving school receive a licence to operate a vehicle."
    This is not the first time that Americans have desired a change in alcohol policy during a period of economic distress. Franklin Roosevelt lifted prohibition in 1933 amid the trouble of a depression.
It can be inferred from the passage that the change of alcohol policy mainly depends on
选项 A、presidential preference
B、political powers
C、economic situation
D、public opinion
答案C
解析 根据题干中的the change of alcohol policy将本题出处定位于末段。该段首先提到，美国人在经济低迷时期更想改饮酒政策，这并非第一次，接着举了1933年富兰克林·罗斯福在经济萧条的困境中废除禁酒令的例子进行说明，再结合前面提到的各州因为财政囊中羞涩，不敢挑战《21岁饮酒法》可推断出，禁酒政策的改变主要取决于经济状况，故答案为C)。A)和B)是针对文中提到的总统的例子设的干扰项。D)在文中未提及。
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