Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
Opinion polls have shown that Americans view the widespread use of illegal drugs as the No.1 problem in the United States. Every year, the United States spends 15 billion dollars on its war on drugs, mostly on the cost of law enforcement and prohibition. Most illegal drugs are expensive. Black market prices for heroin and cocaine, for example, are estimated to be 100 times greater than the cost of production. With such prices, drug pushers can earn billions of dollars each year by pushing their wares in even the poorest neighborhoods.
Most people agree that the so-called drug war is far from being won in the United States. They find some solution to the drug problem. One repeated proposal is to fight the problem by making drugs legal. This proposal has in fact been the cause of a lengthy and unresolved debate.
Ever since the 1970s the Americans have argued whether taking the extreme measure of legalizing drugs would in fact decrease drug use. People who support this proposal believe that the current policies of prosecution and punishment are a waste of money. They feel that more money should be spent on education and treatment, arguing that the black market drives the prices of drugs too high, providing an incentive to get into the drug business. They point to the gangsters of the 1920s and the 1930s who disappeared with the end of prohibition of alcohol and America. As it is now, they say, anyone who is caught using drugs is treated as criminal not as an addict who needs help.
This proposal for legalization has been supported by a variety of leaders from the most conservative to the most liberal, from Secretary of the State to federal district judges who advocated the sale of drugs as prices resembling their costs.
The proposal to legalize drugs has not being accepted easily by all Americans, however. In fact, it has taken a lot of flag over the years. Those who oppose the legalization of drugs feel that decriminalizing drugs would be a surrender in a drug war that has not really even begun. For them, the solution is not to decriminalize drug crime but to make law more severe. They point out that legalization would lead to greater drug use, explaining that with drugs such as crack being so common in our cities. There would be an increase in cases of violent crime and child abuse and an even greater spreader of AIDS. Opponents of legalization also point to China. When opium was made legal there in the mid-19th century, the selling of opium increased and funded the drug trade rather than spoiled it down.
Those who were opposed the legalization also raised an important question such as which drugs would be legalized with the black market really disappear with the legalization of drugs? So is it time to recognize that the current war on drugs is not working and accept that the legalization maybe the only solution? Every few years voters are asked to cast their votes for politicians who claimed to have answers to this question. But as of yet, Americans have not chosen legalization as a solution to their country’s drug problems.
16. Which of the following best describes the drug problem in the U.S.?
17. How much is spent each year in fighting against the use of illegal drugs in the U.S.?
18. Which of the following is cited as evidence in support of the proposal to make drugs legal?
19. There are several arguments against legalizing drugs, which of the following is not one of these arguments?
20. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
（责任编辑:秩名）
