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

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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.
The Amethyst Initiative member John McCardell suggests that______.

选项 A、young people should qualify to drink as long as they reach 18
B、18-year-olds should learn for a license before they can drink
C、schools should make programmes on drinking compulsory for students
D、drinking licences should be issued to stop excessive alcohol consumption

答案B

解析 根据题干中的John McCardell将本题出处定位于第4段末句。该句提到,麦卡德尔说,“那些没有饮酒前科且修完酒精危害教育课程的高中毕业生,理应获发饮酒执照.这和在驾校考了驾照就可以开汽车一样。”由此可知,麦卡德尔认为18岁的年轻人获得饮酒执照的条件之一就是学习有关酒的知识,故答案为B)。18岁只是可以喝酒的一个条件,还需要没有饮酒前科等条件,故排除A);C)是针对alcohol-education programme设的干扰项;D)在文中未提及。
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