1 . A brain implant allowed people with head injuries to function again. The deep brain stimulation implant, developed by researchers at Stanford University, aims to boost activity between the regions responsible for consciousness learning, memory, thinking and problem solving.
During the early trial, five people with brain injuries reported they were able to concentrate, read, remember and drive properly. The trial proved so effective that researchers had trouble completing the final stage, which was to switch off the device for three random participants after two of the patients declined.
Gina Arata, a trial participant, said, “I couldn’t remember anything. My left foot dropped, so I’d trip over things all the time. I was always in car accidents. Since the implant, I haven’t had any speeding tickets. I don’t trip anymore. I can remember how much money is in my bank account.”
Researchers selected patients for the trial who had recovered from comas (昏迷) with brain systems believed to be still well preserved, but not functioning as well as previously. “In these patients, those pathways are largely complete, but everything has been down-regulated (下降),” said Dr Jaimie Henderson, a professor of neurosurgery. “It’s as if the lights had been darkened and there just wasn’t enough electricity to turn them back up.” The researchers hoped that precise electrical stimulation of specific areas could turn the “lights” back up, and created a virtual model of each participant’s brain so they could trial stimulation at different locations ahead of surgery.
Guided by the theory, Dr Henderson implanted the device in the five participants who had sustained injuries between three and 18 years earlier. After allowing the device to bed-in for two weeks, the participants spent 90 days with it turned on for 12 hours a day. At the end of the 90-day treatment period, the participants had improved their mental processing speeds by an average of 32 percent.
“This is a pioneering moment,” said Dr Nicholas Schiff, co-senior author of the study. “Our goal now is to try to take the systematic steps to make this a therapy (疗法). This is enough of a signal for us to make every effort.”
1. What made it hard to end the last stage of the trial?| A．Researchers’ wrong solution to problems. |
| B．Participants’ refusal to turn off the device. |
| C．The decrease in the number of participants. |
| D．Patients’ unwillingness to pay for the trial. |
| A．To present the patient’s urgent need. |
| B．To warn about the dangers of speeding. |
| C．To prove the effectiveness of the device. |
| D．To show the difficulty of conducting trials. |
| A．Prove a finding. |
| B．Explain a theory. |
| C．Draw a conclusion. |
| D．Present a new topic. |
| A．The result of the trial is very encouraging. |
| B．He needs more evidence to support the trial. |
| C．The process of the trial is far from scientific. |
| D．The therapy has already been widely received. |
2 . These days, more people in Denmark are surviving serious heart attacks. Some of that good news is thanks to a smartphone app called Heartrunner.
Many heart attacks happen when people are not near doctors. The most serious type of heart attack is when the heart stops. In Denmark, the survival rate for people whose heart had stopped when they were not near doctors used to be 4%. In the past 20 years, it has risen to 16%. Denmark has seen a dramatic change in survival from heart attacks after it began recruiting (招募) volunteers and arming some of them with smartphone technology.
Denmark’s emergency number is 112. Call center workers can use Heartrunner to contact up to 20 volunteers within 1.1 miles of an emergency. Workers also send out an ambulance. They often tell the caller how to start CPR. Heartrunner sends an alert (警报) to volunteers. It asks, “Can you run?” If a person says yes, the app sends the address. If there is an AED nearby, the app tells volunteers where to find it.
More than 100,000 people in Denmark volunteer for Heartrunner. About 75% of them are not health care workers. That’s OK, said expert Freddy Lippert. “The patient is dead, and if you don’t do anything, nine out of 10 will be dead forever. The faster CPR begins, the better the chance of restarting the heart. In Denmark, everyday people responded faster than professionals to more than four in 10 heart attacks.”
Erik Kaxe, 81, lives in a small Danish town. Recently, his heart stopped. His wife called 112. The ambulance was sent. And the Heartrunner alert went out. Within minutes, 10 strangers who lived nearby showed up at their house. The ambulance came 17 minutes after the call. So many helpers showed up that they were able to do far more than just CPR. When the ambulance showed up, Kaxe was breathing again. He lived and is now back at home.
“Dying wasn’t difficult” he said. “But waking up is.”
1. What do the numbers mentioned in paragraph 2 show?| A．Heartrunner has raised a lot of concern. |
| B．Heartrunner has made a big difference in Denmark. |
| C．An increasing number of people have suffered heart attacks. |
| D．Danish doctors have successfully improved heart attack survival rates. |
| A．It calls 112 immediately. | B．It contacts an ambulance. |
| C．It sends helpers to victims. | D．It sends alerts to AED owners. |
| A．Every minute counts for victims. | B．Ambulances respond slowly in Denmark. |
| C．There is a serious lack of health care workers. | D．Volunteers for Heartrunner should be professionals. |
| A．To tell a touching story. | B．To remind us to value life. |
| C．To show how Heartrunner saves lives. | D．To teach us how to use the life-saving app. |
3 . Gene therapy (治疗)—which involves fixing or replacing a disease-causing gene or changing its activity—has recorded some remarkable successes and some fatal missteps. Having experienced those extreme ups and downs in the past decade, gene therapy has now begun advancing at a rapid pace. This report explores how the field has moved beyond its early failures and fully grown to embrace its bright future.
Over the past few years, not only has the discipline changed but the definition of gene therapy has evolved. Today the field includes not just direct, permanent changes to a cell’s DNA but also temporary changes to how genes are translated into proteins. Researchers have now reported a number of success stories: they have alleviated some cases of blindness. Cured cancers, addressed the underlying causes of some blood diseases, and begun to treat some born disorders.
The history of gene therapy has had a lot to overcome, especially at the lab bench. Early tragedies led researchers to different paths- while some of them turned away from the field, others fought to pursue ways to prevent the side effects. What has resulted is a range of new viral vectors (载体), engineered to mix their genetic material more safely and efficiently into the genome, as well as the rapid development of tools, such as the Nobel Prize-winning technique known as CRISPR.
Gene therapy has more than compensated for its shaky scientific start and the field also managed to restore its reputation. Consequently, both patients and the public now connect this approach with the hope for seemingly miraculous cures. And with that hope comes other problems: problems of over-expectation, of affordability and of accessibility. Current gene therapy approaches are pricey and not easily available, and both issues limit their possible reach. Solving these problems may be the field’s next big challenge.
1. What does the underlined word “alleviated” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Developed. | B．Changed. | C．Relieved. | D．Recorded. |
| A．To prove the high efficiency of gene therapy. |
| B．To show the scientific advance of gene therapy. |
| C．To present the promising future of gene therapy. |
| D．To indicate the potential problem of gene therapy. |
| A．Its technical problem. | B．Its ruined reputation. |
| C．Its patient-friendly price. | D．Its limited availability. |
| A．Gene Therapy Comes of Age | B．Gene Therapy Rewrites the History |
| C．Gene Therapy Breaks the Cycle | D．Gene Therapy Edits Human Lives |
| A．To cancel a visit. | B．To make an appointment. | C．To give some information. |
As the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. Laughing is like a super drug for your health that can lift your mood, lessen pain, and protect you from the
Journalist, author and professor Norman Cousins was
Since then, research has continuously confirmed the effectiveness of laughter in relieving pain
6 . In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have brought both excitement and concerns to various fields. One area where AI is making a profound impact is the medical field, particularly in the domain of diagnostics.
Al-powered diagnostic systems leverage deep learning algorithms to analyze medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. These algorithms can detect subtle patterns and anomalies that might be missed by human radiologists, potentially leading to earlier and more accurate diagnoses.
However, the integration of AI in medical diagnostics raises complex ethical questions. For instance, who should be held responsible if an AI system misdiagnoses a patient’s condition? Should AI algorithms be treated as medical professionals, with legal and liability implications? These questions become even more intricate when considering that AI systems learn from vast datasets of medical information, which might contain biases or inaccuracies.
Furthermore, the adoption of AI diagnostics could impact the role of healthcare professionals. Some argue that AI could enhance doctors’ capabilities by providing them with additional insights, while others fear that it might replace human expertise, leading to job losses and a potential decrease in the quality of patient care. Despite these challenges, proponents of AI diagnostics emphasize its potential to improve healthcare accessibility, especially in underserved regions where there is a shortage of skilled medical professionals. Al-powered diagnostics could provide preliminary assessments and recommendations, helping to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers.
1. What is the primary advantage of AI-powered diagnostic systems in the medical field?| A．They provide additional insights to doctors. |
| B．They replace the need for human radiologists. |
| C．They analyze medical images using deep learning algorithms. |
| D．They focus on detecting visible patterns in medical images. |
| A．The potential for AI algorithms to replace human doctors. |
| B．The reliability of AI algorithms in analyzing medical images. |
| C．The legal responsibility for misdiagnoses made by AI systems. |
| D．The biased data used for training AI algorithms. |
| A．AI could enhance doctors’ expertise and skills. |
| B．AI could lead to job losses in the medical field. |
| C．AI could decrease the quality of patient care. |
| D．AI could replace human doctors completely. |
| A．AI diagnostics could decrease the quality of patient care. |
| B．AI diagnostics could primarily serve regions with sufficient medical professionals. |
| C．AI diagnostics could bridge the gap in healthcare accessibility. |
| D．AI diagnostics could replace the need for skilled radiologists. |
| A．Boss and secretary. | B．Receptionist and patient. | C．Doctor and nurse. |
8 . There once lived a woman who had been blind for decades. Then one day, she found a doctor who treated the woman with a new device she had invented called the Laserphaco Probe. For the first time in over 30 years, the woman could regain her eyesight. The doctor responsible for this life-changing surgery was called Dr. Patricia E. Bath.
Dr. Bath was an American ophthalmologist (眼科医生), researcher, and an advocate for the prevention, treatment, and cure of blindness. She had an interest in science and medicine from a young age, which she said was first evoked by a chemistry kit her mother had bought for her when she was young.
During a fellowship at Columbia University, Dr. Bath realized that African Americans were twice as likely to suffer from blindness than other patients she attended to. This observation led to her development of a community ophthalmology system, which increased the amount of eye care given to underserved communities. This allowed thousands of people to get early preventative care for conditions that would have otherwise been untreated, saving the eyesight of many.
Dr. Bath also invented a new technique to remove cataracts (白内障) by the Laserphaco Probe. This technique is still used around the world, and it has allowed doctors to restore patients eyesight in a more precise, and less painful manner than techniques before it.
Cataracts develop as people age. They form when the proteins in the lens (晶状体) of the eye break down, making the lens cloudy. This can significantly affect vision. Traditional cataract surgery involved removing the cloudy lens of the eye and replacing it with an artificial lens. However, this surgery was not always successful, and could be quite painful. Dr. Bath succeeded in solving the problem.
Dr. Bath made innovative contributions to the field of medicine which had long-lasting impacts on the communities she served.
1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “evoked” in paragraph 2?| A．Displayed. | B．Decreased. | C．Stimulated. | D．Maintained. |
| A．To offer eye care treatment to the poor. |
| B．To help the blind regain their eyesight. |
| C．To provide eye surgery for African Americans. |
| D．To give real care to blind people. |
| A．It prevents proteins in the lens breaking down. |
| B．It needs to be advertised around the world. |
| C．It helps patients avoid getting cataracts. |
| D．It makes cataract surgery better than before. |
| A．A woman improved vision for millions. |
| B．An inventor changed the face of science. |
| C．A doctor had various medical skills. |
| D．A researcher advocated the well-being of the poor. |
1. What does the woman probably do?
| A．A doctor | B．An assistant. | C．A professor |
| A．On Wednesday | B．On Thursday. | C．On Friday. |
| A．His horse is fine. | B．He is in good health. | C．He has passed the driving test. |
