A.The same as she used to be. |
B.Much better than before. |
C.More serious than before. |
2 . At this very moment around the world, athletes are stepping almost naked into freezing cold rooms. Why on earth are they doing this? Because it’s supposed to help them feel better.
The treatment is called whole-body cryotherapy (冷冻疗法). Basketball star LeBron James, soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo, and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. have all tried it. The therapy works like this. You take off everything but your underwear. Then you put on warm socks and gloves and step into a small room that looks sort of like a shower, except your head sticking 16% out the top. Once you’re locked in, air cooled to below -200°F (-129°C) fills the room. That’s way colder than Antarctica (南极洲). You stay in for two to three minutes.
Supporters believe the extremely cold air helps muscles recover faster and reduces other body pain. After his first cryotherapy sessions, Phil Mackenzie, a professional rugby player, felt noticeably better. He told Scientific American, “I felt refreshed right away. My sleep was better.” Soon, he was using it four times a week. Those who promote cryotherapy make all sorts of wild claims about its benefits. Supposedly, that extremely cold air can increase focus, improve skin tone, make you happier, burn calories, slow aging, and much more.
Is there any evidence to back up these incredible claims? Nope. Several small scientific studies have looked at whether the therapy can improve muscle recovery after exercise, with encouraging results. But there just isn’t enough evidence to show that the therapy works. The benefits some people experience may just be the placebo effect. That’s when a patient’s expectation that a treatment will work leads to an improvement.
The US Food & Drug Administration has actually issued a warning about whole-body cryotherapy. It cautions that the liquid nitrogen (氮) used to cool the room may make it difficult to breathe. Frost bite is another potential risk, which is why participants wear gloves and socks.
What do you think? Is it a chance for a better athletic performance worth the risk?
1. What can we learn about the therapy according to the first two paragraphs?A.The whole-body cryotherapy can help athletes recover. |
B.The therapy has won popularity with only great athletes. |
C.People need to stay in a freezing small room with almost nothing on. |
D.People need to wear gloves and socks after cold air fills the room. |
A.To explain a rule. | B.To support an idea. |
C.To present a fact. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.Many great athletes have received the therapy. |
B.Extremely cold air is beneficial to people’s health. |
C.Scientific studies have proved the effect of the therapy. |
D.The therapy may have psychological benefit to them. |
A.Careful. | B.Supportive. | C.Unclear. | D.Indifferent. |
3 . As soon as Boran Bumovich Hignio’s bare feet touch the sand on the beach, he spreads his arms like a helicopter and happily says, “Let's go surfing!” The 7-year-old, wearing a black wetsuit, is followed by a dozen other kids who skip their way into the blue waves of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru's capital, Lima.
Boran gets help with his wetsuit from Diego Villarán, who founded the local surf school. This Peruvian surf school is part of a wave of community-based projects around the world that use a perhaps surprising method to help kids: surf therapy (疗法).
The idea is not only about catching waves to make use of the proven mental health benefits of physical exercise. The wider goal is to create a space for young children to express themselves freely, to help teach them how to process their emotions and to create positive social connections.
Lima's surf therapy project is run by Alto Peru, a local nonprofit named after the neighborhood in the south of the city where Villardn-its 41-year-old founder-and all of the trainee surfers come from. Many of the children in the Alto Peru program face challenging situations. Some parents are addicted to alcohol. One of the boys has even turned up for lessons with a black eye a couple of times.
Half of all mental health disorders begin before the age of 14 and up to a fifth of teenagers globally experience mental health conditions, according to the World Mental Health Survey Initiative, which conducted face-to-face interviews in 17 countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
Surf therapy, which covers projects from Sierra Leone to California and Trinidad, is seen by advocates as a convincing solution to helping address mental health issues among young people. “It has changed my life,” says Omarion Butler, 19, who began surfing with Alto Peru two years ago. “When my parents put me down in the past, it was hard for me to express my feelings. But surfing makes me more confident. It helps me to take time for myself.”
1. What do we know about Boran from the first paragraph?A.He is good at flying a plane. | B.He feels excited to go surfing. |
C.He is having a physical education class. | D.He enjoys the holiday with his family. |
A.The origin of surf therapy. | B.The tips for catching waves. |
C.The purposes of surf therapy. | D.The advice on relationships. |
A.Add some background information. | B.Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
C.Introduce a new topic for discussion. | D.Offer some suggestions to the readers. |
A.Unconcerned. | B.Unclear. | C.Doubtful. | D.Favorable. |
4 . 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. |
5 . For years, doctors have given blood to patients who need it to survive. These transfusions (输血) usually include giving red blood cells to patients.
Blood transfusions aren’t as simple as taking blood from one person and giving it to someone else. There’re several different blood types that don’t all mix well. If someone gets a transfusion of the wrong kind of blood, their body will reject the blood cells, causing problems. For the first time ever, scientists from the University of Bristol, Britain, are carrying out a new trail: testing red blood cells grown in a laboratory on human volunteers. The scientists have used stem cells (干细胞) from a blood sample to grow billions of brand new red blood cells.
This could be even better than a regular blood transfusion. For one thing they can be adjusted for people with different blood types. That’ll be extremely helpful for people with rare blood types. Also, a normal transfusion has red blood cells of all different ages, which means only a small part of them are brand new. The red blood cells grown in the lab are brand new, and this means they last longer and that patients will need fewer transfusions.
To test its safety, researchers have given a couple of teaspoons of the blood to two healthy people, both of whom seem to be doing just fine after the transfusions. In all, they’ll be tested on 10 people, and compared to normal transfusions. The new process doesn’t indicate that normal blood transfusions will disappear. Meanwhile, growing red blood cells in a lab is extremely expensive. And a lot of work and testing still need to be done. But if it’s successful, the process could make life much easier for patients who often need transfusions-even those with rare blood types.
1. What is special about the red blood cells in the experiment?A.They’re given by those with rare blood types. |
B.They’re collected from seriously ill patients. |
C.They’re specifically for a single blood type. |
D.They’ve never existed in any human bodies. |
A.There is often a shortage of blood. |
B.It often takes the patient a lot of time. |
C.Most normal blood cells don’t live long. |
D.It’s dangerous for those with rare blood types. |
A.It will have a long way to go. | B.It’ll replace normal transfusions. |
C.It will separate rare blood types. | D.It’ll reduce blood research costs. |
A.Blood Transfusions Get Easier | B.Rare Blood Types Are Not Rare |
C.Scientists Test Lab-created Blood | D.Rare Blood Cells Need Donating |
A.On a football field. | B.At a park. | C.In a hospital. |
A.At home. | B.At a hospital. | C.At a drugstore. |
8 . Last year while I was in Madrid, Spain, my back hurt. So I went to the local hospital for an examination.
I was
He then asked me in Spanish if I was embarrassed. “Si, unpoco (Yes, a little )”, I replied with my face turning red. He looked at me as though
Soon he reappeared with a group of
No sooner had she told me this than I realized the
A.invited | B.carried | C.welcomed | D.shown |
A.see | B.inspect | C.examine | D.watch |
A.hat | B.clothes | C.shoes | D.trousers |
A.held | B.exposed | C.found | D.covered |
A.introducing | B.understanding | C.complaining | D.disliking |
A.disappeared | B.slid | C.screamed | D.waved |
A.physical | B.experienced | C.medical | D.amateur |
A.better | B.strange | C.dull | D.upset |
A.excited | B.frightened | C.pleased | D.embarrassed |
A.stated | B.prayed | C.shouted | D.whispered |
A.notice | B.promise | C.problem | D.confidence |
A.look | B.photograph | C.seat | D.view |
A.expecting | B.adopting | C.feeding | D.delivering |
A.cause | B.effect | C.problem | D.result |
A.cold | B.meeting | C.job | D.laugh |
9 . One day, an anti-cancer agent could be a cell with specially equipped powerful balloons that pop when placed near an ultrasound beam(超声束) —killing surrounding cancer cells in its wake.
The key to this operation are tiny protein bubbles. If a microbe(微生物) wishes to rise to the surface, it can create a few bubbles, making its body more flowing and pushing it upward. If it wishes to drop, it can pop a few bubbles and do the opposite. The study’s authors wondered if they could put the shock waves from those bubbles to work against tumors(肿瘤).
First, the researchers had to test bubbles’ explosive capabilities. They placed them into a petri dish. After they attacked the dish with ultrasound, in a matter of mere seconds, they saw signs of widespread damage that showed the bubbles were responsible. Then, the researchers tested the process in living, cancer-stricken mice. The researchers put E.coli bacteria in to let the microbes create bubbles. After letting the bacteria circulate for five days, they turned on the ultrasound. By that time, the researchers found that those bacteria had settled deep inside of the tumors. Nearly two weeks after the ultrasound treatment, tumors that had been broken had grown three times more slowly than those that weren’t. And the mice who had received the bubble treatment survived, on average, more than twice as long as their counterparts.
“After decades, I just haven’t seen that come to fruition,” says Mark Borden, a biomedical engineer at the University of Colorado. Of course, making this research work in the lab is one challenge. They need to ensure that putting bubble-containing microbes into a human body won’t end up striking the immune system, or that they won’t cause damage to tissues outside the tumor. So, they’d need to further test the way on animals. But, if it does work out, it could add to the ever-growing toolbox that can be used against the threat of cancer. “It’s an attractive technology and I think it has a lot of potential,” says Borden.
1. What can the bubbles made by a microbe do?A.Increase the microbe’s size. | B.Drive the microbe to move upward. |
C.Remove shock waves from the microbe. | D.Protect the microbe from being damaged. |
A.The tumors totally disappeared. | B.They showed signs of suffering. |
C.They had a big chance of survival. | D.The tumors changed their appearance. |
A.It might cost a lot of money. | B.It might face technological problems. |
C.It might do great harm to animals’ health. | D.It might cause safety problems in humans. |
A.Microbe Bubbles May Damage Cancer Cells | B.Microbe Bubbles May Serve a Lot of Functions |
C.Bubbles May Protect Human’s Immune System | D.We May Prevent Cancer Cells Producing Bubbles |
1. Why does the woman come here?
A.To visit a patient. | B.To see a doctor. | C.To apply for a passport. |
A.Her address. | B.Her ID card. | C.Her evidence of identity. |