1 . We’re on the edge of a new age of interconnectedness, when the daily lives of people across the planet will be more closely connected than ever. Advances in technology will lead in the age of fifth generation, or 5G, telecommunications. And this technological evolution will lead to dramatic changes.
The first generation of mobile communications, with brick-sized phones, brought just a handful of users expensive and often unreliable voice calling. The second generation introduced digital voice service that was less likely to be dropped, available to many more people and finally cheaper to use. 3G led to a revolution in the mobile Internet, mobile computing, and the increase of apps. 4G made it possible that all we have come to expect of mobile broadband. We take all this connectivity for granted, but the engineering inside the device in your bag or pocket today would have seemed impossible less than 20 years ago.
So, where will 5G take us? Think about a world in which not just people but all things are connected: cars to the roads they are on; doctors to the personal medical devices of their patients; augmented reality (AR) available to help people shop and learn and explore wherever they are. This requires a massive increase in the level of connectivity. 5G is the technological answer, making possible billions of new connections, and making those connections secure. 5G will impact every industry — autos, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, emergency services, just to name a few. And 5G is purposely designed so that these industries can take advantage of cellular connectivity in ways that wouldn’t have been possible before, and to scale upwards as use of 5G expands.
But generational change in mobile communications doesn’t just appear overnight. It requires significant effort in research and development and the resources necessary to support that effort. Work on 4G took nearly a decade and the challenges were not easy. There is promise yet in what we’re capable of achieving.
1. What can we infer from the first four generations?| A．1G is big, expensive and stable. | B．2G is not expensive for the poor. |
| C．3G allows the mobile to connect to the Internet. | D．4G is beyond all that we expect. |
| A．5G brings a revolutionary reform. | B．5G benefits lots of industries. |
| C．5G expands too fast to follow. | D．5G requires high connectivity. |
| A．Early birds catch the worms. | B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．Knowledge starts with practice. | D．Birds of a feather flock together. |
| A．Significant and effective. | B．Difficult and worthless. |
| C．Challenging but promising. | D．Necessary but impossible. |
2 . _____________________
The future of surgery is looking “remote.” Doctors in China have directed the heart surgery(外科手术) of a patient hundreds of kilometers away, using a 5G mobile Internet connection. This follows on from a surgeon who recently used the same technology to remotely control a surgical robot for an operation.
What makes long-distance surgery attractive is that leading specialists can help with operations without being present in the operating room. All they need is a fast Internet connection that can be trusted. Up till now, this was what they lacked.
On April 3, heart specialist Dr Guo directed surgery on a 41-year-old woman. She had a hole in her heart since birth. Guo and his expert team were in a hospital in Guangzhou, while the woman was almost 400 kilometres away in a hospital in Gaozhou.
To prepare for the operation, Guo and his team studied a 3D model of the patient’s heart, put together by artificial intelligence using medical images. Then they worked out a surgical plan.
Guo and his team used a live video conference link to instruct the operating team on where to make cuts and where to sew up. They could see the operation clearly. They also observed the operation from a camera placed inside the woman’s chest.
“Advanced Internet technology can save our doctors a lot of time because they don’t have to travel as much. They can use that time to save more lives,” said Dr Zhang from a hospital in Guangzhou.
Following its success, this technique has been repeated several times all over China. Doctors far apart have had the chance to work together.
The 5G network used in these operations is many times faster than the 4G mobile Internet that we currently use. It can provide a more stable connection by greatly reducing signal delay. With 4G, delays can be between 20 and 80 milliseconds(毫秒). With 5G, they drop to about 1 milliseconds.
This reduction isn’t too important when there are human doctors at both ends of a connection. But it makes a huge difference during telesurgery when a doctor operates remotely with a robot. Recently, neurosurgeon(神经外科医师) Dr Ling used a surgical robot to insert a medical device into the brain of someone with Parkinson’s disease. At the time, the surgeon was located in Hainan while the patient was in Beijing. Ling could not fly to Beijing immediately when his patient needed surgery. However, he was there “remotely”, directing the robot to be his hands.
This is what the future of healthcare will look like.
1. What does the author mean by “The future of surgery is looking ‘remote’.’’?| A．Surgeons can perform long-distance surgery quietly. |
| B．Surgeons can perform long-distance surgery using 5G . |
| C．Surgeons have the remotest interest in long-distance surgery. |
| D．There is little chance to perform long-distance surgery with 5G . |
| A．It is much faster and more stable. |
| B．It needs less power and is faster. |
| C．It is more environmental-friendly. |
| D．It costs less money and is more safe. |
| A．Special surgery when surgeons insert a medical device into the brain. |
| B．Ordinary operation when human doctors at both ends of a connection. |
| C．Telesurgery when a doctor perform a long-distance operation with a robot. |
| D．Live operation when a video conference is linked with the operating team. |
| A．What is 5G wireless technology? |
| B．Future life with 5G for Chinese doctors |
| C．Modern technology change lives greatly |
| D．Doctors in China do surgery over 5G internet |
