阅读理解。
No one knows exactly how many disabled people there are in the world, but estimates suggest the figure
is over 450 million. The number of disabled people in India alone is probably more than double the total
population of Canada.
In the United Kingdom, about one in ten people have some disability. Disability is not just something that
happens to other people: as we get older, many of us will become less mobile, hard of hearing or have falling
eyesight.
Disablement can take many forms and occur at any time of life. Some people are born with disabilities.
Many others become disabled as they get older. There are many progressive disabling diseases. The longer
time goes on, the worse they become. Some people are disabled in accidents. Many others may have a period
of disability in the form of a mental illness. All are affected by people's attitude towards them.
Disabled people face many physical barriers. Next time you go shopping or to work or to visit friends,
imagine how you would manage if you could not get up steps, or onto buses and trains. How would you cope
if you could not see where you were going or could not hear the traffic? But there are other barriers: prejudice
(偏见) can be even harder to break down and ignorance (无知) inevitably represents by far the greatest barrier
of all. It is almost impossible for the able-bodied to fully appreciate what the severely disabled go through, so it
is important to draw attention to these barriers and show that it is the individual person and their ability, not their
disability, that counts.
1. The key word in Paragraph 4 is _____.
A. disability
B. ignorance
C. prejudice
D. barriers
2. The last word of the passage "counts" most probably means _____.
A. being most important
B. being considered
C. being included
D. being numbered
3. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Even the able-bodied may lose some of their body functions when they get older.
B. There are about 10 percent disabled persons in the UK.
C. The whole society should pay due attention to the barriers faced by the disabled people.
D. There no longer exists prejudice against the disabled.
4. It can be concluded from the passage that _____.
A. we should try our best to prevent disablement
B. both physical and mental barriers are hard to break down
C. we must take a proper attitude towards the disabled
D. the able-bodied people will never fully understand the disabled
