What impact can mobile phones have on their users‘ health? Many individuals are concerned about the supposed ill effects caused by radiation from handsets and base stations, 1 the lack of credible evidence of any harm. But evidence for the beneficial effects of mobile phones on health is rather more 2 。 Indeed, a systematic review 3 by Rifat Atun and his colleagues at Imperial College, rounds up 4 of the use of text-messaging in the 5 of health care. These uses 6 three categories: efficiency gains; public-health gains; and direct benefits to patients by 7 text-messaging into treatment regimes.
Using texting to 8 efficiency is not profound science, but big savings can be achieved. Several 9 carried out in England have found that the use of text-messaging reminders 10 the number of missed appointments with family doctors by 26-39%, and the number of missed hospital appointments by 33-50%. If such schemes were 11 nationally, this would translate 12 annual savings of £256-364 million.
Text messages can also be a good way to deliver public-health information, particularly to groups 13 are hard to reach by other means. Text messages have been used in India to 14 people about the World Health Organization’s strategy to control lung disease. In Iraq, text messages were used to support a 15 to immunize nearly 5 million children 16 paralysis.
17 , there are the uses of text-messaging as part of a treatment regime. These involve sending reminders to patients to 18 their medicine, or to encourage accordance with exercise regimes. However, Dr. Rifat notes that the evidence for the effectiveness of such schemes is generally 19 , and more quantitative research is 20 。
11. [A] called upon [B] switched to [C] rolled out [D] went through
12. [A] into [B] for [C] on [D] from
13. [A] what [B] whose [C] which [D] who
14. [A] ask [B] inform [C] adopt [D] contact
15. [A] campaign [B] event [C] decision [D] communication
16. [A] off [B] with [C] against [D] in
17. [A] Finally [B] However [C] Usually [D] Obviously
18. [A] buy [B] receive [C] get [D] take
19. [A] unscientific [B] real [C] anecdotal [D] legal
20. [A] gained [B] acquired [C] needed [D] given
Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A],[B],[C] or [D]。 Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
Prudent investors learned long ago that putting your eggs into lots of baskets reduces risk. Conservationists have now hit on a similar idea: a population of endangered animals will have a better chance of survival if it is divided into interconnected groups. The prospects of the species will be better because the chance that all the constituent subpopulations will die out at the same time is low. And, in the long term, it matters little if one or two groups do disappear, because immigrants from better-faring patches will eventually reestablish the species‘ old haunts.
One endangered species divided in just this way is the world’s rarest carnivore, the Ethiopian wolf, which lives high in the meadows of the Bale Mountains. Just 350 exist in three pockets of meadow connected by narrow‘ valleys in the Bale Mountains National Park, with a further 150 outside this area.
Two of the main threats to the Ethiopian wolf come from diseases carried by domestic dogs. One of these, rabies, is of particular concern because it is epidemic in the dog population. At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. It would be ambitious, because the prevailing thinking — that all individuals matter and therefore all outbreaks of disease should be completely halted — implies that a large proportion of wolves would need to be vaccinated.
Dan Haydon, of the University of Glasgow, and his colleagues believe that conservation biologists should think differently. With the exception of humans, species are important but individuals are not. Some outbreaks of disease can be tolerated. In a paper published this week in Nature, they recast the mathematics of vaccination with this in mind.
On epidemiologists’ standard assumption that every individual counts, vaccination programmes are intended to prevent epidemics by ensuring that each infected animal, on average, passes the disease on to less than one healthy animal. This implies that around two-thirds of all the wolves would need to be vaccinated. A programme that sought to save a species rather than individuals would allow each infected wolf to pass the disease on to more than one healthy animal and hence require fewer vaccinations. Dr Haydon and his colleagues have calculated, using data from a rabies outbreak in 2003, that vaccinating between 10% and 25% would suffice, provided veterinarians gave jabs to those wolves living in the narrow valleys that connect the subpopulations.
If the threat of rabies arose every five years, targeting all the wolves in the corridors would cut the risk of extinction over a 20-year period by fourfold. If this were backed up by vaccinating a mere 10% of the wolves in the three connected meadows, the chance of extinction would drop to less than one in 1,000. Saving a few seems to be an efficient way of protecting the many.
21. By citing prudent investors‘ idea, the author wants to illustrate that___________.
[A] conservationists got inspirations from it.
[B] endangered animals can be protected in a similar way.
[C] the prospects of some species depend on conservation.
[D] the subpopulations will die without being put into different groups.
22. The Ethiopian wolf___________.
[A] is facing the risk of extinction as the rarest carnivore.
[B] is separated into three groups to achieve survival.
[C] lives in narrow valleys in the Bale Mountains.
[D] has altogether 350 alive in the world.
23. The idea that nearly all the wolves would need to be vaccinated___________.。
[A] is due to that rabies carried by dogs is epidemic.
[B] is very easy to be realized by local medical administration.
[C] is based on the thinking that every wolf is necessarily protected.
[D] is supported by Dan Haydon of the University of Glasgow.
24. From the last two paragraphs, we know that___________.
[A] if each individual counts, one-third of wolves have to be vaccinated.
[B] Dr. Haydon proved epidemiologists’ standard assumption is right.
[C] to vaccinate 10% to 25% of wolves living in the connected meadows is enough.
[D] it takes 20 years to reduce risk of extinction if all the wolves are targeted.
25. The main purpose of the text is to___________.
[A] show the dangers Ethiopian wolves are facing with.
[B] inform people of the prospects Ethiopian wolves.
[C] teach how to divide Ethiopian wolves into groups.
[D] tell how to protect Ethiopian wolves from rabies.
Text 2
It is no longer just dirty blue-collar jobs in manufacturing that are being sucked offshore but also white-collar service jobs, which used to be considered safe from foreign competition. Telecoms charges have tumbled, allowing workers in far-flung locations to be connected cheaply to customers in the developed world. This has made it possible to offshore services that were once non-tradable. Morgan Stanley‘s Mr. Roach has been drawing attention to the fact that the “global labor arbitrage” is moving rapidly to the better kinds of jobs. It is no longer just basic data processing and call centers that are being outsourced to low-wage countries, but also software programming, medical diagnostics, engineering design, law, accounting, finance and business consulting. These can now be delivered electronically from anywhere in the world, exposing skilled white-collar workers to greater competition.
The standard retort to such arguments is that outsourcing abroad is too small to matter much. So far fewer than lm American service-sector jobs have been lost to off-shoring. Forrester Research forecasts that by 2015 a total of 3.4m jobs in services will have moved abroad, but that is tiny compared with the 30m jobs destroyed and created in America every year. The trouble is that such studies allow only for the sorts of jobs that are already being off-shored, when in reality the proportion of jobs that can be moved will rise as IT advances and education improves in emerging economies.
Alan Blinder, an economist at Princeton University, believes that most economists are underestimating the disruptive effects of off-shoring, and that in future two to three times as many service jobs will be susceptible to off-shoring as in manufacturing. This would imply that at least 30% of all jobs might be at risk. In practice the number of jobs off-shored to China or India is likely to remain fairly modest. Even so, the mere threat that they could be shifted will depress wages:
Moreover, says Mr. Blinder, education offers no protection. Highly skilled accountants, radiologists or computer programmers now have to compete with electronically delivered competition from abroad, whereas humble taxi drivers, janitors and crane operators remain safe from off-shoring. This may help to explain why the real median wage of American graduates hat fallen by 6% since 2000, a bigger decline than in average wages.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the pay gap between low-paid, low-skilled workers and high-paid, high-skilled workers widened significantly. But since then, according to a study by David Autor, Lawrence Katz and Melissa Kearney, in America, Britain and Germany workers at the bottom as well as at the top have done better than those in the middle-income group. Office cleaning cannot be done by workers in India. It is the easily standardized skilled jobs in the middle, such as accounting, that are now being squeezed hardest. A study by Bradford Jensen and Lori Kletzer, at the Institute for International Economics in Washington D. C., confirms that workers in tradable services that are exposed to foreign competition tend to be more skilled than workers in non-tradable services and tradable manufacturing industries.
26. To off-shore services that were once non-tradable results from ___________.
[A] the blue-collar job market
[B] the geographic location of the Underdeveloped world
[C] the fierce competition among skilled workers
[D] the dive of telecoms fee
27. Which of the following statements is the typical reply concerning off-shoring?
[A] Service-sector has sustained a great loss.
[B] White-collar workers will not have a narrow escape.
[C] Most economists underestimated the effects of off-shoring.
[D] Outsourcing abroad has no significant impact.
28. According to the text, Forrester Research Prediction might be different if ___________.
[A] outsourcing abroad is large enough to matter much
[B] the proportion of jobs that can be moved will rise
[C] more comprehensive factors are taken into account
[D] education improvement in emerging economies plays a role
29. The narrative of the text in the last three paragraphs concentrates on ___________.
[A] the standard retort to the arguments
[B] off-shoring and the resulting income
[C] the future off-shoring
[D] the counter-measures at hand
30. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
[A] Business consulting.
[B] Blue-collar jobs.
[C] Non-tradable services.
[D] White-collar blues.
Text 3
The mythology of a culture can provide some vital insights into the beliefs and values of that culture. By using fantastic and sometimes incredible stories to create an oral tradition by which to explain the wonders of the natural world and teach lessons to younger generations, a society exposes those ideas and concepts held most important. Just as important as the final lesson to be gathered from the stories, however, are the characters and the roles they play in conveying that message.
Perhaps the epitome of mythology and its use as a tool to pass on cultural values can be found in Aesop’s Fables, told and retold during the era of the Greek Empire. Aesop, a slave who won the favor of the court through his imaginative and descriptive tales, almost exclusively used animals to fill the roles in his short stories. Humans, when at all present, almost always played the part of bumbling fools struggling to learn the lesson being presented. This choice of characterization allows us to see that the Greeks placed wisdom on a level slightly beyond humans, implying that deep wisdom and understanding is a universal quality sought by, rather than steanning from, human beings.
Aesop‘s fables illustrated the central themes of humility and self-reliance, reflecting the importance of those traits in early Greek society. The folly of humans was used to contrast against the ultimate goal of attaining a higher level of understanding and awareness of truths about nature and humanity. For example, one notable fable features a fox repeatedly trying to reach a bunch of grapes on a very high vine. After failing at several attempts, the fox gives up, making up its mind that the grapes were probably sour anyway. The fable’s lesson, that we often play down that which we can‘t achieve so as to make ourselves feel better, teaches the reader or listener in an entertaining way about one of the weaknesses of the human psyche.
The mythology of other cultures and societies reveal the underlying traits of their respective cultures just as Aesop’s fables did. The stories of Roman gods, Aztec ghosts and European elves all served to train ancient generations those lessons considered most important to their community, and today they offer a powerful looking glass by which to evaluate and consider the contextual environment in which those culture existed.
31. The author appears to view fables as ______.
[A] the most interesting and valuable form of mythology
[B] entertaining yet serious subjects of study
[C] a remnant tool of past civilizations, but not often used in the modern age
[D] the primary method by which ancient values and ideas were transmitted between generations
32. The way that fables were used in the past is most similar to today‘s ______.
[A] fairy tales that entertain children at home
[B] stories in children’s school textbooks that reinforce the lesson
[C] science documentaries that explain how nature works
[D] movies that depict animals as having human characteristics
33. The main purpose of paragraph 3 is to ______.
[A] examine how one of Aesop‘s fables sheds light on certain facets of Greek belief
[B] dissect one of Aesop’s fables in order to study the elements that make up Greek mythology
[C] learn from the lesson presented in one of Aesop‘s most well-known fables
[D] illustrate a fable typical of Aesop’s style, so as to examine how one goes about studying the meaning behind it
34. The author names the Roman, Aztec and European cultures in order to ______.
[A] identify other cultures in which fables were the primary method by which to pass on traditions and values
[B] explicitly name the various types of characters in those culture‘s fables
[C] stress that mythology was used by cultures other than the Greeks to convey societal morals
[D] establish them, in addition to the Greeks, as the societies most notable for their mythology
35. The main point of this text is ______.
[A] Aesop’s fables provide a valuable glimpse into early Greek thought and beliefs
[B] the most efficient and reliable way to study the values system of an ancient culture is through study of its mythology
[C] without a thorough examination of a society‘s fables and other mythology, a cultural study on that society would be only partial
[D] through the study of a culture’s mythological tradition, one can discern some of the underlying beliefs that shaped those stories
Text 4
Much has been written about poverty but none of the accounts seem to get at the root of the problem. It must be noted that the debilitating effects of poverty are not only the result of lack of money but are also the result of powerlessness.The poor are subject to their social situation instead of being able to affect it through action,that is,through behavior that flows from an individual‘s decisions and plans. In other words,when social scientists have reported on the psychological consequences of poverty,it seems reasonable to believe that they have described the psychological consequences of powerlessness. The solution to poverty most frequently suggested is to help the poor secure more money without otherwise changing the present power relationships. This appears to implement the idea of equality while avoiding any unnecessary threat to the established centers of power. But since the consequences of poverty are related to powerlessness,not to the absolute supply of money available to the poor,and since the amount of power purchasable with a given supply of money decreases as a society acquires a large supply of goods and services,the solution of raising the incomes of the poor is likely,unless accompanied by other measures,to be ineffective in a wealthy society.
In order to reduce poverty — related psychological and social problems in the United States,the major community will have to change its relationship to neighborhoods of poverty in such fashion that families in the neighborhoods have a greater interest in the broader society and can more successfully participate in the decision-making process of the surrounding community. Social action to help the poor should have the following characteristics:the poor should see themselves as the source of the action;the action should effect in major ways the preconceptions of institutions and persons who define the poor;the action should demand much in effect or skill;the action should be successful and the successful self-originated important action should increase the feeling of potential worth and individual power of individuals who are poor.
The only initial resource which a community should provide to neighborhoods of poverty should be on a temporary basis and should consist of organizers who will enable the neighborhoods quickly to create powerful,independent,democratic organizations of the poor. Through such organizations,the poor will then negotiate with the outsiders for resources and opportunities without having to submit to concurrent control from outside.
36. By“powerless”(sentence 2,Para 1),the author most probably means that the poor__________.
[A] have no right to make individual decisions and plans
[B] can not exercise control over other groups of people
[C] are not in a condition to change their present situation
[D] are too weak to resist any social situation imposed on them
37. The author expresses his opinion in the first paragraph that _________.
[A] the hopeless condition of the poor is caused by their powerlessness rather than lack of money
[B] great efforts should be made to help poor to secure more money without changing present power relationships
[C] it is no use raising the incomes of the poor while not improve their state of powerlessness
[D] in helping the poor attention should be paid to avoiding any unnecessary threat to the established centers of power
38. According to the author,the primary role of the major community in helping the neighborhoods of poverty is _______.
[A] to provide long-term assistance from outside
[B] to offer necessary opportunities of securing more money
[C] to carry out more social programs in the neighborhoods
[D] to lend experienced advice in the formation of democratic self-help organizations
39. What does the word“concurrent”(Para. 3)most probably mean?
[A] Following.
[B] Subsequent.
[C] Previous.
[D] Simultaneous.
40. The main purpose of the author in writing the passage is _______.
[A] to criticize the present methods employed to help the poor
[B] to analyze the social and psychological aspects of poverty
[C] to propose a way in which the poor can be more effectively helped
[D] to describe the attitude of the community towards the poor
Part B
Sample One
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A – G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Should doctor-assisted suicide ever be a legal option? It involves the extreme measure of taking the life of a terminally ill patient when the patient is in extreme pain and the chances for recovery appear to be hopeless. Those who argue against assisted suicide do so by considering the roles of the patient, the doctor, and nature in these situations.
Should the patient take an active role in assisted suicide? When a patient is terminally ill and in great pain, those who oppose assisted suicide say that it should not be up to that patient to decide what his or her fate will be.(41)___________________________________________.
What role should the doctor have? Doctors, when taking the Hippocratic oath, swear to preserve life at all costs, and it is their ethical and legal duty to follow both the spirit and the letter of this oath. It is their responsibilities to heal the sick, and in the cases when healing is not possible, then the doctor is obliged to make the dying person comfortable. Doctors are trained never to hasten death. (42)___________________________________________. Doctors are also, by virtue of their humanness, capable of making mistakes. Doctors could quite possibly say, for instance, that a cancer patient was terminal, and then the illness could later turn out not to be so serious. There is always an element of doubt concerning the future outcome of human affairs.
These general concerns of those who oppose assisted suicide are valid in certain contexts of the assisted-suicide question. For instance, patients cannot always be certain of their medical conditions. Pain clouds judgment, and so the patient should not be the sole arbiter of her or his own destiny. Patients do not usually choose the course of their medical treatment, so they shouldn’t be held completely responsible for decisions related to it. Doctors are also fallible, and it is understandable that they would not want to make the final decision about when death should occur. (44)__________________________________________________________________.
I believe that blindly opposing assisted suicide does no one a service. If someone is dying of cancer and begging to be put out of his or her misery, and someone gives that person a deadly dose of morphine that seems merciful rather than criminal. If we can agree to this, then I think we could also agree that having a doctor close by measuring the dosage and advising the family and friends is a reasonable request. (45)__________________________________________________.
Life is indeed precious, but an inevitable part of life is death, and it should be precious, too. If life has become an intolerable pain and intense suffering, then it seems that in order to preserve dignity and beauty, one should have the right to end her or his suffering quietly, surely, and with family and friends nearby.
[A] If one simply withholds treatment, it may take the patient longer to die, and so he may suffer more than he would if more direct action were taken and a lethal injection given.
[B] The third perspective to consider when thinking about assisted suicide is the role of nature. Life is precious. Many people believe that it is not up to human beings to decide when to end their own or another‘s life. Only nature determines when it is the right time for a person to die. To assist someone in suicide is not only to break criminal laws, but to break divine laws as well.
[C] Since doctors are trained to prolong life, they usually do not elect to take it by prescribing assisted suicide.
[D] There are greater powers at work that determine when a person dies, for example, nature. Neither science nor personal preference should take precedence over these larger forces.
[E] Without the doctor’s previous treatment, the person would surely be dead already. Doctors have intervened for months or even years, so why not sanction this final, merciful intervention?
[F] There is no single, objectively correct answer for everyone as to when, if at all, one’s life becomes all things considered a burden and unwanted. If self-determination is a fundamental value, then the great variability among people on this question makes it especially important that individuals control the manner, circumstances, and timing of their death and dying.
[G] Those who oppose assisted suicide believe that doctors who do help terminally ill patients die are committing a crime, and they should be dealt with accordingly.
Part B
Sample Two
Directions:
The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For questions 41 – 45, you are requirec to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A – G to fill in each numbered box. Two paragraphs have been placed for you in Boxes. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1(10 points)
[A] This work, though, were relatively small-scale. Now, a much larger study has found that discrimination plays a role in the pay gap between male and female scientists at British universities.
[B] Besides pay, her study also looked at the “glass-ceiling” effect -- namely that at all stages of a woman’s career she is less likely than her male colleagues to be promoted. Between postdoctoral and lecturer level, men are more likely to be promoted than women are, by a factor of between 1.04 and 2.45. Such differences are bigger at higher grades, with the hardest move of all being for a woman‘ to settle into a professorial chair.
[C] Seven years ago, a group of female scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology produced a piece of research showing that senior women professors in the institute’s school of science had lower salaries and received fewer resources for research than their male counterparts did. Discrimination against female scientists has cropped up elsewhere. One study—conducted in Sweden, of all places—showed that female medical-research scientists had to be twice as good as men to win research grants.
[D] Sara Connolly, a researcher at the University of East Anglia‘s school of economics, has been analyzing the results of a survey of over 7,000 scientists and she has just presented her findings at this year’s meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Norwich. She found that the average pay gap between male and female academics working in science, engineering and technology is around £ 1,500 ($ 2,850) a year.
[E] To prove the point beyond doubt, Dr Connolly worked out how much of the overall pay differential was explained by differences such as seniority, experience and age, and how much was unexplained, and therefore suggestive of discrimination. Explicable differences amounted to 77% of the overall pay gap between the sexes. That still left a substantial 23% gap in pay, which Dr Connolly attributes to discrimination.
[F] That is not, of course, irrefutable proof of discrimination. An alternative hypothesis is that the courses of men‘s and women’s lives mean the gap is caused by something else; women taking “career breaks” to have children, for example, and thus rising more slowly through the hierarchy. Unfortunately for that idea, Dr Connolly found that men are also likely to earn more within any given grade of the hierarchy. Male professors, for example, earn over £ 4,000 a year more than female ones.
[G] Of course, it might be that, at each grade, men do more work than women, to make themselves more eligible for promotion. But that explanation, too, seems to be wrong. Unlike the previous studies, Dr Connolly‘s compared the experience of scientists in universities with that of those in other sorts of laboratory. It turns out that female academic researchers face more barriers to promotion, and have a wider gap between their pay and that of their male counterparts, than do their sisters in industry or research institutes independent of universities. Private enterprise, in other words, delivers more equality than the supposedly egalitarian world of academia does.
Sample Three
Directions:
You are going to read a text about the introduction on how to pay in the future, followed by a list of examples. Choose the best example from the list A – F for each numbered subheading (41 - 45)。 There is one extra example which you do use. Mark your answer on ANSWER SHEET 1 (10 points)
Smart cards and mobile phones are quickly emerging as ways to pay with electronic cash.
41. A cash call.
42. Sending money home
43. Energising money
44. How to pay in Tokyo
45. Flashing the plastic
[A] The various “contactless” payment systems rely on a technology called “near-field communication” (NFC)。 But mobile phones can be much smarter. They can be de-activated remotely; they have a screen which can show information, like a credit balance and product information; they have a keyboard to enter information and they can communicate. This means they can also be used to authorise larger payments by entering PIN codes directly on the handset or topped up with stored credit from an online bank account without having to go to an ATM.
[B] A decade ago some observers predicted that internet banking would render retail banking from high-street branches obsolete. But JPMorgan, Bank of America and others are adamant that people are nowadays using bank branches more than ever. Even if the phone and the smart card replace cash, who gets to collect the fees remains open to contention.
[C] More banking services are also being offered on mobiles. On February 12th, 19 telephone operators with networks in over 100 countries said that people would be able to use their handsets to send money abroad. MasterCard will operate the system in which remittances will be sent as text messages. Sir John Bond, formerly chairman of the HSBC banking group and now chairman of Vodafone, has long been convinced that payments and mobiles would somehow converge. “Mobile phones have the ability to make a dramatic change to village life in Africa,” he says.
[D] Unlike the Japanese, Americans prefer to use plastic for their purchases. Cards account for more than half of all transactions, up from 29% a decade ago, according to Nilson Report. More than 1.5 billion credit cards are stuffed into Americans’ wallets. The average household has more than ten. Banks and credit-card firms hope to convert more cash and cheque payments to plastic with new smart cards. Some versions are already very successful. Many Americans use EasyPass, in which drivers pay for highway tolls wirelessly.
[E] Nowadays, some of the hottest nightclubs have a new trick for checking the identity of their VIP guests: they send an entry pass in the form of a super bar code to their mobile phones. Mobile phones are becoming an increasingly popular way to make all sorts of payments. In America fans of the Atlanta Hawks have been testing specially adapted Nokia handsets linked to their Visa cards to enter their local stadium and to buy refreshments. It reckons worldwide payments using mobile phones will climb from just $ 3.2 billion in 2003 to more than $ 37 billion by 2008.
[F]To see the potential of mobile-phone money, start in Japan. Most Japanese have at least one credit card, but they tend to stay in their owners‘ pockets. Housewives routinely peel off crisp YI0 000 ($ 82) notes to pay for their shopping. Utility bills and other invoices are dutifully taken to the bank and paid in cash, or more likely these days at the local convenience store. Yet despite the popularity of cash, the mobile phone is starting to change even Japan’s traditional habits.“
Sample Four
Directions:
You are going to read a list of headings and a text about AIDS. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each numbered paragraph (41-45)。 There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
[A] What route does HIV take after it enters the body to destroy the immune system?
[B] How and when did the long-standing belief concerning AIDS and HIV crop up?
[C] What is the most effective anti-HIV therapy?
[D] How does HIV subvert the immune system?
[E] In the absence of a vaccine, how can HIV be stopped?
[F] Why does AIDS predispose infected persons to certain types of cancer and infections?
In the 20 years since the first cases of AIDS were detected, scientists say they have learned more about this viral disease than any other.
Yet Peter Piot, who directs the United Nations AIDS program, and Stefano Vella of Rome, president of the International AIDS Society, and other experts say reviewing unanswered questions could prove useful as a measure of progress for AIDS and other diseases.
Among the important broader scientific questions that remain:
A long-standing belief is that cancer cells constantly develop and are held in check by a healthy immune system. But AIDS has challenged that belief. People with AIDS are much more prone to certain cancers like non-Hodgkins lymphomas and Kaposi‘s sarcoms, but not to breast, colon and lung, the most common cancers in the United States. This pattern suggests that an impaired immune system, at least the type that occurs in AIDS, does not allow common cancers to develop.
When HIV is transmitted sexually, the virus must cross a tissue barrier to enter the body. How that happens is still unclear. The virus might invade directly or be carried by a series of different kinds of cells.
Eventually HIV travels through lymph vessels to lymph nodes and the rest of the lymph system. But what is not known is how the virus proceeds to destroy the body’s CD-4 cells that are needed to combat invading infectious agents.
Although HIV kills the immune ceils sent to kill the virus, there is widespread variation in the rate at which HIV infected people become ill with AIDS. So scientists ask: Can the elements of the immune system responsible for that variability be identified? If so, can they be used to stop progression to AIDS in infected individuals and possibly prevent infection in the first place?
In theory, early treatment should offer the best chance of preserving immune function. But the new drugs do not completely eliminate HIV from the body so the medicines, which can have dangerous side effects, will have to be taken for a lifetime and perhaps changed to combat resistance. The new policy is expected to recommend that treatment be deferred until there are signs the immune system is weakening.
Is a vaccine possible?
There is little question that an effective vaccine is crucial to controlling the epidemic. Yet only one has reached the stage of full testing, and there is wide controversy over the degree of protection it will provide. HIV strains that are transmitted in various areas of the world differ genetically. It is not known whether a vaccine derived from one type of HIV will confer protection against other types.
Without more incisive, focused behavioral research, prevention messages alone will not put an end to the global epidemic.
Part C
Directions:
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlines segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.
One of the most fashionable treatments for disease, gene therapy, has so far made little headway in tackling one of the most modish of illnesses, AIDS and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes it. (46)The idea of gene-therapy treatment for HIV/AIDS would be to create a gene that, when placed in an infected person, would make all of the offspring of the cell into which it was inserted resistant to the virus. Even if the virus continued to destroy the patient‘s immune cells, new ones that could not be infected would replace them. Eventually, the disease would no longer threaten the health of the patient.
A first step towards this has been achieved by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and VIRxSYS, a biotechnology firm based near Baltimore. (47)Rather than inserting a gene directly, they removed the immune cells from people and replaced them with versions that had been modified to resist the virus. The results were published in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The team treated five infected patients who had not responded to at least two different programmes of treatment using conventional anti-retroviral drugs. They removed from each patient‘s blood the cells called “helper T-cells” that would normally mobilise the immune response to the virus. (48)These were purified and stuffed with a form of HIV that had been altered to carry a mirror image or “antisense” version of a molecule that enables it to multiply. This genetic fiddling disrupted the reproduction of the virus inside infected cells.
Such a small experiment was designed merely to establish whether the approach was safe. But the researchers were pleasantly surprised to find that the number of viruses in each patient dropped. This suggests that the treatment was tackling the disease effectively in difficult patients for whom conventional drugs had failed. (49)According to Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania, their immune systems responded “as if they were on a vaccine” and it appeared as though their bodies were “vaccinating themselves” against HIV.
The researchers are now moving to the next phase of study, which will involve more patients, including those whose disease is in its early stages. (50)If later trials confirm the early positive results, this approach could prove a useful complement to existing drugs or a future vaccine—and may even replace them.
Part C
Second III Writing
Part A
51. Directions:
You have just learned that your friend Joe had his ankles injured and was in hospital now. Write a letter to him to convey your concern about his injury.
You should write about 100 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter, using ”Li Ming“ instead. (10 points)
Part B
52. Directions:
Study the following cartoon carefully and write an essay in which you should
1) Describe the cartoon,
2) deduce the purpose of the drawer of the picture, and
3) give your comments.
You should write about 160-200 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)
[解析]在這個條件狀語從句中需要補充完整的是such schemes的動作,[C]rolled out的意思是to make a new product available for people to buy or use=launch“推出,推開,發行,啟動”,符合題意。[A]called upon的意思是“號召,呼吁”,號召的對象通常是人,而不是such schemes,故不入選。 [B]switched to“轉向”和[D]went through“經歷,仔細檢查”均不符合題意。
格拉斯哥大學(University of Glasgow)的丹·何頓(Dan Haydon)及其同事認為,保育生物學家(conservation biologist)們的想法應該不同。除人類以外,種群比個體來得重要。疾病在某些個體中爆發是可以接受的。本周刊登于《自然(Nature)》雜志的一篇論文稱,他們基于上述想法,重新提出了計算疫苗接種數的數學方法。
[解析] 詞義題。題干中的信號詞“powerlessness”,出自于文章第一段第二句話中。文章第一段指出:必須認識到,人們之所以貧窮,不只是因為缺少錢,還因為沒有權勢;窮人容易受他們所處的社會狀況的影響,而不能通過行動來影響社會狀況,也就是說不能通過產生于個人的決定和計劃中的行動來影響社會狀況。這說明:作者最可能的意思是說“窮人不能通過行動來影響社會狀況”。[C]項中說“ are not in a condition to change their present situation”, 這與文章的意思相符。
37. [答案] C
[解析] 細節題。作者在第一段中指出:人們之所以貧窮,不只是因為缺少錢,還因為沒有權勢;窮人容易受他們所處的社會狀況的影響,而不能通過行動來影響社會狀況;解決貧窮建議最多的方法就是幫助窮人確保掙更多的錢而不改變目前的權力關系;但是,因為貧窮的結果與沒有權勢有關,并不是與窮人可用的錢的實際供給有關,所以,在一個富裕社會,如果不伴有其他措施,增加窮人收入的解決方法可能不會產生效果。這說明,作者認為,“幫助窮人確保掙更多的錢而不改變目前的權力關系”這種方法可能不會產生效果。[C]項中說“it is no use raising the incomes of the poor while not improve their state of powerlessness”,這與作者的觀點相符。
38. [答案] D
[解析] 細節題。文章第二段指出:為了減少貧窮,較大的社團將不得不改變其同貧窮的鄰居之間的關系;文章第三段指出:一個社團應該給貧窮的鄰居提供早期的物質支持,這些活動應該包括一些組織的組織者,那些組織者能夠使鄰居迅速創建窮人的有影響、獨立、民主的組織。這說明,作者認為,較大社團的主要作用是在創建窮人的民主組織方面提供幫助。[D]項中說“to lend experienced advice in the formation of democratic self-help organizations”,這與作者的觀點相符。
[解析]主旨題。作者在第一段提到了對解決貧窮的方法的看法,認為這些方法可能沒有效果;在第二段,作者提出了自己的扶貧方法;第三段講的是較大的社團在幫助貧窮的鄰居時應該采取的方法。這說明:作者寫本文的主要目的是探討如何扶貧。[C]項中說“to propose a way in which the poor can be more effectively helped”,這與作者的目的相符
I feel so awfully worried that your legs were injured in accident. I learned that your right ankle was seriously swollen so you can’t put your weight on your feet. I hope you‘ll be feeling a great deal better by the time this letter reaches you. Anyway, you’ve been robust and healthy and you will recover soon. I am enclosing a funny comic in the letter so that it can help kill your time and you‘ll forget your pains momentarily, I hope you will like it. I will come to see you when I am free.
With best wishes for your swift return to be healthy.
Yours faithfully
Li Ming
Part B
52.
This cartoon presents in front of us a sharp contrast between two types of neighbors. The two lonely human neighbors seek to hold onto an attitude of indifference towards each other, while the two pet neighbors offer polite and amiable greetings.
When we take a walk in any big cities in the modern society, we may often notice such a sad scene in which social etiquettes of great necessity have been dramatically diminishing. Since most people in most communities are urged to live on an on-the-move lifestyle, they are probably denied opportunities to share their feelings with their friends and relatives and it is inevitable that their pets serve as their good companions. Where there are so many dishonesties going around, they prefer to stay with a dog, which is likely to be faithful to them, particularly in dark situations. An individual appears to be acting ridiculous if he starts conversations with his neighbors, so he often has no alternative but to enjoy the company of his pet dog. That’s why the scene depicted in the cartoon is not uncommon in our daily life.
Our life would be, of course, enjoyable if we have pets. But we would enjoy much more meaningful life in a more harmonious world if the two human neighbors started a talk to each other in a friendly way, just like the two dogs.