2003年Text 4

It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death-and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.

Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient-too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.

In1950, the U.S. spent .7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age-----say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty todie and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.

I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former Surgeon General C.Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.

Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.

57. The author uses the example of cancer patients to show that
[A] medical resources are often wasted.
[B] doctors are helpless against fatal diseases.
[C] some treatments are too aggressive.
[D] medical costs are becoming unaffordable.

[答案] A

[解題思路]

the example of cancer patients出現在文章第二段第四句話"The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care"（最明顯的例子是晚期癌癥的治療），它用來具體例證前一句話的觀點，即"Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless"（由于醫療費用由第三方支付，我們常常要求用盡所有的醫療手段為我們治療，哪怕這些治療不起任何作用）。"useless"正是說明很都醫療資源都被浪費了，正好對應于A選項。D選項在該段中沒有提及，可以排除。B和C選項都是該段第三句話中的一些細節，并不是作者想通過例子說明的問題。

[題目譯文]

作者用癌癥患者的例子是想證明                      。
[A] 醫療資源經常被浪費
[B] 醫生對絕癥都無力回天
[C] 有些治療過于大膽
[D] 醫療費用變得越來越無法承受

59. In contrast to the U.S., Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care
[A]. more flexibly.
[B] more extravagantly.
[C].more cautiously.
[D] more reasonably.

[答案] D

[解題思路]

本題對應信息為最后一段的第三句話"I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have"（我也深知在醫療開銷少得多的日本和瑞典，人們不僅活得比我們久，而且還比我們健康）。此外，最后一句進一步指出"As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives"（作為一個國家，我們可能在尋求無法奏效的治療方法上花錢太多，而在研究能提高人們生活質量的簡單方法上投入太少），因此作者認為日本和瑞典人在醫療上的花費更加理性，更加合理，因此D選項為正確答案。

[題目譯文]

與美國相比，日本和瑞典在醫療方面的投入            。
[A] 更加靈活
[B] 更加奢侈
[C] 更加謹慎
[D] 更加合理

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