SECTION 1

Time—35 minutes

27 Questions

Directions: Each passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated for implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question However you jare to choose the best answer. that is, the response that most accurately¹ and completely answers the question. and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

　　　To many developers of technologies that affect public health or the 　environment. "risk communication" means persuading the public that the 　potential risks of such technologies are small and

(5) should be ignored. Those who communicate risks in this way seem to 　believe that lay people do not understand the actual nature of technological² 　risk. and they can cite studies asserting that. although people apparently³ 　ignore mundane⁴ hazards that pose

(10) significant danger, they get upset about exotic hazards that pose little 　chance of death or injury. Because some risk communicators take this 　persuasive⁵ stance, many lay people see "risk communication" as a 　euphemism⁶ for brainwashing done by experts

(15)Since however the goal of risk communication should be to enable people to 　make informed decisions about technological risks, a clear understanding 　about how the public perceives risk is needed. Lay people s definitions of 　"risk" are more likely to reflect

(20) subjective⁷ ethical⁸ concerns than are experts definitions Lay people for 　example tend to perceive a small risk to children as more significant than a 　large risk to consenting adults who benefit from the risk-creating technology. 　However, if asked to rank hazards

(25) by the number of annual fatalities⁹, without reference to ethical judgments¹⁰, 　lay people provide quite reasonalbe estimates, demonstrating that they have 　substantial knowledge about many risks. Although some studies claim to 　demonstrate that lay people have inappropriate

(30) concerns about exotic hazards. these studies often use questionable¹¹ 　methods, such as asking lay people to rank risks that are hard to compare, 　In contrast, a recent study showed that when lay people were given the 　necessary facts and time they understood the specific

(35) risks of electromagnetic fields produced by high-voltage power 　transmission well enough to make informed decisions

　　　Risk communication should therefore be based on the principle that 　people process new information in

(40) the context of their existing beliefs. If people know nothing about a topic 　they will find messages about that topic incomprehensible, If they have 　erroneous beliefs, they are likely to misconstrue the messages. Thus, 　communicators need to know the nature and

(45) extent of recipients¹² knowledge and beliefs in order to design messages 　that will not be dismissed or misinterpreted. This need was demonstrated in a 　research project concerning the public s level of knowledge about risks posed 　by the presence of radon

(50) in the home. Researchers used open-ended interviews and questionnaires 　to determine what information should be included in their brochure on radon. 　Subjects who read the researchers brochure performed significantly better in 　understanding radon risks than significantly better in understanding radon 　risks than

(55) did a control group who read a brochure that was written using a different 　approach by a government agency. Thus, careful preparation can help risk 　communicators to produce balanced material that tells people what they 　need to know to make decisions

上一篇：LSAT考试全真题三参考答案 下一篇：LSAT考试全真试题四SECTION1（2）