1 . Scientists from Imperial College London have found that using virtual reality (VR) headsets can reduce sensitivity to pain, by immersing people in icy Arctic scenery. In a study published in Pain Reports, a team from Imperial used VR video to reduce people’s sensitivity to ongoing pain and sharp shooting pain.
According to the researchers, the findings add to the growing evidence for the potential of VR technology to help patients with long-term pain. Beyond the distracting effect, they think VR may actually cause the body’s own inbuilt pain-fighting systems to start working.
Dr Sam Hughes, the first author on the paper, said, “Our work suggests that VR may be getting involved in processes in the key parts of our inbuilt pain-fighting systems and are helpful in regulating the spread of increased sensitivity to pain.”
To test their theory, researchers applied a cream containing capsaicin — the chemical that makes your mouth bum-to 15 healthy volunteers. The capsaicin makes the skin more sensitive to painful stimuli like a very small electric shock.
In the first trial, participants were then asked to rate the pain caused by the capsaicin cream on a scale of 0-100 (from ‘no pain’ to ‘worst pain possible’)while either watching a VR scene of Arctic exploration through a headset, or looking at a still image of an Arctic scene on a monitor. Under the same conditions, they were also asked to say when a stimulus applied directly to the skin area is considered as painful.
The team found that ongoing pain was reduced following VR immersion, and that sensitivity to painful stimuli was also reduced. However, the same effect was not seen in people who looked at still images of the polar environment.
They explain that while the findings made at the beginning are encouraging, the study is limited by the small number of healthy participants, without long-term pain. However, the researchers believe VR could hold a bright future to treat patients with long-term pain who have poor inbuilt pain fighting systems.
1. How can VR possibly help long-term pain sufferers?| A．By controlling the spread of pain sensitivity. | B．By slowing down their brains' reaction to pain. |
| C．By making their pain-fighting systems function. | D．By drawing their attention to fighting pain. |
| A．Applying capsaicin cream to the skin. | B．Looking at pictures on a computer screen. |
| C．Making a capsaicin cream. | D．Putting on virtual reality headsets. |
| A．Healthy people were less sensitive to VR than pain sufferers. |
| B．Capsaicin cream brought people more pain than electronic stimulus. |
| C．Still images helped to ease people's pain. |
| D．VR immersion was the key factor in pain reduction. |
| A．VR treatment can be applied in other medical fields. |
| B．The trial only has an effect on short-term pain patient. |
| C．The team feels confident about future VR treatment. |
| D．The researchers will work on the side effect of VR. |
2 . An aircraft carrying personal protective equipment donated by China, along with U.S.-purchased medical supplies, arrived in New York on March 29.
The plane is the first in a series of flights over the next 30 days organized by the White House to help fight the coronavirus, the White House said. Most of the purchases are from Asia including Malaysia and Vietnam.
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. retweeted a report from Axios, which said that 12 million gloves, 130,000 N-95 masks, 1.7 million surgical masks, 50,000 gowns, 130,000 hand sanitizer units, and 36,000 thermometers from China have arrived in the United States.
Along with the goods, Chinese company Huawei donated 10,000 masks, 20,000 articles of protective clothing, 10,000 gloves and 50,000 goggles to New York state.
Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed the donation and thanked Huawei on Twitter.
The plane was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It landed at John F. Kennedy airport carrying gloves, gowns and masks for distribution in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, three hard-hit states battling to care for a crush of coronavirus patients.
The airlift is a product of a team led by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, which formed "Project Airbridge," a partnership between large U.S. healthcare distributors such as Mekesson Corp, Cardinal, Owens & Minor, Medline and Henry Schein Inc, and the federal government.
The flight from Shanghai was the first of about 20 flights to arrive between now and early April, according to the White House. Additional flights will carry similar gear from China, Malaysia and Vietnam.
1. From the passage we know that ________.| A．all goods on the plane are donated by China |
| B．all goods on the plane are purchased from China |
| C．all goods on the plane are donated by Huawei |
| D．some of the goods on the plane are from donation while others are purchased from Asia |
| A．New York. | B．New Jersey. |
| C．California. | D．Connecticut. |
| A．Protective equipment and medical supplies. |
| B．Parts of the machine. |
| C．Medicine. |
| D．Food. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A collection of stories. |
| C．A guide book. | D．An official report. |
