1997年Passage 1

It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: "We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history."

The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia - where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part - other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.

Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death - probably by a deadly injection or pill - to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally III law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I'm not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.

54. The author's attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of _____.
[A] opposition
[B] suspicion
[C] approval
[D] indifference

[答案] C

[解題思路]

從全文總體看來，作者雖然一直沒有直接表示自己的態度，但三段中他引用的例子，如第一段中"John Hofsess"的話和最后一段中"Lloyd Nickson"的例子都是贊成安樂死的。第二段中雖然指出存在反對的聲音，但該段中間作者"But the tide is unlikely to turn back"（但是安樂死這一潮流已無法逆轉）一句話筆鋒一轉，指出這種潮流已經不可逆轉，因此可見作者自己也是持支持態度的，正確答案為C。

[題目譯文]

作者對于安樂死的態度看起來是               。
[A]反對
[B]懷疑
[C]贊成
[D]漠不關心