Bethany Burke was packing for a family vacation when she glanced in the mirror and froze. She saw a small ugly red bump in the middle of her forehead. “That’s the worst,” she remembers thinking. She had no idea, however, how much worse it would get.
Bethany, a 15-year-old high school student tried to forget about the bump as she boarded a flight from her hometown of Austin, Texas, to Portland, Oregon. But during the flight the bump grew and grew.
After the plane landed, more bumps appeared, including one close to her eye. Her parents took her to the nearest emergency room. As it turns out, Bethany had been attacked by a superbug (超级病菌).
Superbugs were once a problem only in hospitals and nursing homes. In the past decade, though, they have been affecting healthy children and adults as well. In a few hours, they can cause life-threatening infections.
“Teens, especially student athletes, can be easily hurt because superbugs stay in warm, damp places where people come into close contact with each other, such as school locker rooms and gyms,” says Dr. Aaron Glatt, an infectious disease specialist. “If you get cut playing sports, and you come into contact with a superbug on a mat, you give it a way to get in,” he explains.
As for Bethany, she says the doctor didn’t seem too concerned. “He just handed me this pill, an antibiotic (抗生素),” Bethany says. “He gave us the impression that it was going to clear up very fast.”
It didn’t take long for Bethany to realize the antibiotics the doctor had given her weren’t working. One of the bumps grew so large that she could no longer open her eye, and her pain increased. Her parents rushed her to another hospital. The new medicines seemed to start working. Her fever dropped, and the bumps stopped growing.
Luckily for Bethany, there were still three powerful antibiotics that together were able to fight off her infection. But what happens when superbugs become resistant even to those drugs? For doctors, that’s the biggest worry.
8. Bethany discovered a bump on her forehead ________ .
A.after the plane for Portland landed | B.when she came back from a vacation |
C.when she was preparing for a vacation | D.after she boarded a flight from Austin |
9. Student athletes are likely to be attacked by superbugs partly because ________.
A.they sweat a lot | B.they are often tired |
C.they are healthy and strong | D.they often wear dirty clothes |
10. How did Bethany feel after taking the pills given by the doctor in the nearest emergency room?
A.Even worse. | B.Much better. |
C.A little better. | D.As terrible as before. |
11. Doctors are most worried that ________.
A.antibiotics are being overused |
B.teens are being attacked by superbugs |
C.superbugs may become resistant to all drugs |
D.more people will get infected with superbugs |