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.

　　56.What is implied in the first sentence?

　　A. Americans are better prepared for death than other people.

　　B. Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.

　　C. Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.

　　D. Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.

　　57.The author uses the example of caner 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.

　　58.The author's attitude to ward Richard Lamm's remark is one of

　　A. strong disapproval.

　　B. reserved consent.

　　C. slight contempt.

　　D. enthusiastic support.

　　59.In contras to the U.S. ,Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care

　　A. more flexibly.

　　B. more extravagantly.

　　C .more cautiously.

　　D. more reasonably.

　　60.The text intends to express the idea that

　　A medicine will further prolong people's lives.

　　B. life beyond a certain limit is not worth living.

　　C. death should be accepted as a fact of life.

　　D. excessive demands increase the cost of health care.

　　Part B

　　Directions:

　　Read the following text carefully and the translate the underlines segmentssintosChinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.(10 points)

　　Human beings in all times and places think about their world and wonder at their place in it. Humans are thoughtful and creative, possessed of insatiable curiosity.(61)Furthermore, humans have the ability to modify the environment in which they live, thus subjecting all other life forms to their own peculiar ideas and fancies. Therefore, it is important to study humans in all their richness and diversity in a calm and systematic manner, with the hope that the knowledge resulting from such studies can lead humans to a more harmonious way of living with themselves and with all other life forms on this planet Earth.

　　“Anthropology”derives from the Greek words“anthropos”:“human”and logos“the study of.”By its very name, anthropology encompasses the study of all humankind.

　　Anthropology is one of the social sciences.(62)Social science is that branch of intellectual enquiry which seeks to study humans and their endeavors in the same reasoned, orderly, systematic, and dispassioned(原文如此) manner that natural scientists use for the study of natural phenomena.

　　Social science disciplines include geography, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each of these social sciences has a subfield or specialization which lies particularly close to anthropology.

　　All the social sciences focus upon the study of humanity. Anthropology is a field-study oriented discipline which makes extensive use of the comparative method in analysis.(63)The emphasis on data gathered first-hand, combined with a cross-cultural perspective brought to the analysis of cultures past and present, makes this study a unique and distinctly important social science.

　　Anthropological analyses rest heavily upon the concept of culture. Sir Edward Tylor‘s formulation of the concept of culture was one of the great intellectual achievements of 19th century science.(64)Tylor defined culture as“…that complex whole which includes belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”This insight, so profound in its simplicity, opened up an entirely new way of perceiving and understanding human life. Implicit within Tylor’s definition is the concept that culture is learned. shared, and patterned behavior.

　　(65)Thus, the anthropological concept of“culture,”like the concept of“set”in mathematics, is an abstract concept which makes possible immense amounts of concrete research and understanding.

　　Section IV Writing

　　66.Directions:

　　1) describe the set of drawings, Interpret its meaning, and

　　2) point out its implications in our life.

　　You should write about 200 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2.(20 points)

共5页: 上一页 [1] [2] [3] 4 [5] 下一页