阅读理解。
In the past industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as
they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed.
They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often
new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very
bad effects on the health of the workers.
Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of governments and which
showed need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of workers sometimes
produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, there were inquiries into the
causes of the disaster or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries;
however,the new rules came too late to protect the people who had died or become seriously ill.
Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers. In the U.S.,
for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems.
It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs
that companies sell. A third department looks at the places where people work, and then reports any
companies that are breaking laws which protect the health and safety of workers.
1. According to Paragraph 1, compared with today, industries in the past _____. [ ]
A. were controlled less strictly
B. were worse off
C. affected more people's health
D. put out more unhealthy products.
2. It is implied in Paragraph 2 that years ago governments _____. [ ]
A. paid much attention to the results of scientific discoveries
B. seldom introduced safety laws before disasters occurred
C. hardly ever looked into the causes of tragedies
D. imposed safety rules as soon as disasters occurred
3. The main topic of the passage is _____.[ ]
A. industries in the past and at present
B. changes in the development of industries
C. the protection of industrial workers and customers
D. the freedom of industries
4. The purpose of this passage is to _____. [ ]
A. inform
B. criticize
C. entertain
D. persuade
