Acupuncture (针灸) is a traditional Chinese medical practice of treating various physical and mental conditions. It
Chinese doctors used acupuncture on James after surgery to reduce his pain, and his recovery was quick. Curious about this, James was allowed to watch surgery on patients
Acupuncture left James such a deep
The National Institutes of Health began to organize some of their top doctors to visit China
Acupuncture (针灸) has been a treatment for countless patients for thousands of years in China. Before modern medicine came to life, stone tools
Acupuncture is a treatment that is aimed
Looking beyond China, acupuncture has become a global treatment. Over the years, acupuncture
Acupuncture, as
1. When did the man have a very bad cold?
| A．One year ago. | B．Two years ago. | C．Three years ago. |
| A．His work. | B．His pay. | C．His test. |
| A．Take medicine. | B．Start a new job | C．Do further tests. |
| A．At home. | B．In a hospital. | C．In a company. |
4 . Traditionally, many decisions about medical treatment were left up to doctors: They decided, and patients agreed. Today, health care professionals are embracing the idea of shared decision-making, where patients become informed partners in their choices. Health care professionals now focus on placing the patient at the center of care, informing them about their options, and engaging them in treatment decisions. For example, they engage patients by asking, “What’s important to you? And what are your priorities and goals as we talk about a treatment plan?”
“I think there’s a strong recognition in American medicine, of the importance of patient engagement not only in their care, but in deciding what types of care and types of procedures they’re going to get,” said Dr. Allen, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.
A 2017 study, published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes found that people with heart disease who went through-shared decision-making had better physical and mental health, better obedience to medication and lower rates of staying in hospital and emergency department use. Patients also reported better communication with their doctors. When people are more engaged in decision-making, they understand the pros and cons of various treatment options, and they’re more likely to stick to the treatment plan and to continue that communication.
But research on how to best approach different, cultural groups is lacking. Many doctors cite limited time as a barrier, although research shows that shared decision-making can be accomplished even within short clinic visits. Also, current models of payment for doctors’ visits do not always agree with the goals of shared decision-making. But underlying all that is that medical decisions can be “incredibly complicated”.
Making the practice work. on a wider scale is an evolving process. But in the long run, Allen said: “shared decision-making can ensure that with all the amazing new technologies and treatments that we will have in medicine, they really can be applied to more patients in a tailored, meaningful way that meets their own values, goals and preferences.”
1. What role do doctors play in shared decision-making?| A．They are at the center of care. | B．They ask questions to patients: |
| C．They follow patients’ opinions. | D．They present suggestions to patients. |
| A．Shortened time in hospital | B．Improved healthy awareness |
| C．Reduced mental problems | D．Enhanced communication skills |
| A．Lack of family support |
| B．Limited time and money |
| C．Uniqueness of medical treatment |
| D．Complicated medicine production process |
| A．Shared Decision Making: More than Technology? |
| B．Shared Decision Making: an Ideal Way for Patients |
| C．Shared Decision Making: a Future Model of Hospitals? |
| D．Shared Decision Making: Advantages and Disadvantages |
5 . 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. |
1. What’s the woman’s new problem?
| A．She has a sore throat. |
| B．She has a toothache. |
| C．She has an earache. |
| A．Once a day. | B．Twice a day. | C．Three times a day. |
| A．Next Monday. | B．Next Tuesday. | C．Next Thursday. |
| A．Make an appointment. |
| B．Buy medicine outside. |
| C．Write down the date. |
Acupuncture(针灸), an ancient Chinese medical practice, has been the treatment for lots of patients for thousands of years. Before modern medicine
As a treatment
Practices can be different in forms, including needle insertion (扎针), cupping and rubbing. Needle insertion, the most common method, is carried out by
Looking beyond China, acupuncture has become a global treatment. In the past 50 years, acupuncture
As an ancient Chinese medical practice, acupuncture has a rich history and much cultural
8 . Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. For example, it may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer (乳腺癌) in ways that were not possible.
Rishi Rawat teaches AI at a University in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. He says, “You put information about cancer cells (细胞) into a computer and it will learn the cancerous growth patterns. The pattern recognition is very important to making decisions.”
At present, researchers have to take a thin piece of tissue (组织), put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cell-growth patterns. That process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do it better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can quickly recognize patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized.
The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick recognition of cancerous cell-growth patterns that is free of human mistakes. Rawat adds that the process could be done “for almost no cost for the patients”. But having a large amount of information about cells is important for a machine to effectively do its job. Once the cancerous growth pattern is recognized, doctors still have to treat the patient. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer.
David Agus is another researcher of the team. He believes, “Computers will help doctors make better decisions and look for those patterns that the human brain can’t recognize by itself. But they will not treat patients.”
1. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?| A．The process of adding color to cells. |
| B．The process of taking a piece of tissue. |
| C．The process of recognizing the cell-growth. |
| D．The process of treating cancers by machine learning. |
| A．It treats breast cancer all by itself. |
| B．It provides free cancer treatment for the patients. |
| C．It recognizes the cancerous growth patterns faster. |
| D．It helps doctors make fewer mistakes in cancer treatment. |
| A．AI will not replace doctors. | B．AI will develop fast in the future. |
| C．AI can be useless in treating cancers. | D．AI can provide the doctors with treatments. |
| A．AI makes better doctors. | B．AI helps pattern recognition. |
| C．AI functions well in cancer growth. | D．Future cancer treatments will be successful. |
Acupuncture (针灸), a traditional Chinese medical practice,
Practices can vary in forms, including needle insertion, cupping and scraping. Needle insertion,
Looking beyond China, acupuncture has become a global therapy. According to a 2019 WHO report, acupuncture is used in 113 of its 120 member countries,
With a rich history and deep cultural significance, acupuncture has seen many
10 . Medical artificial intelligence (AI) can perform with expert-level accuracy and deliver cost-effective care. IBM’s Watson diagnoses (诊断) heart disease better than cardiologists (心脏病专家) do. Chatbots give better medical advice to patients in place of nurses. Some forecast that medical AI will enter 90% of hospitals and replace as much as 80% of what doctors currently do. Yet, as our recent research suggests, patients show a strong resistance to medical AI.
The reason, we found, is not the belief that AI provides lower care. Nor is it that patients think that AI is more costly or less informative. Rather, resistance to medical AI seems to come from a belief that AI does not take into account one’s specific circumstances. People view themselves as unique. By contrast, they think medical care delivered by AI providers is suited to treat an average patient but unsuitable to account for the unique circumstances that apply to an individual. No wonder that medical AI providers are given a cold welcome.
There are a number of steps that care providers can take to overcome patients’ resistance to medical AI. For example, if an AI provider is capable of tailoring its recommendation for whether to have a surgery to each patient’s unique characteristics and medical history, patients would be likely to follow the treatment recommendations of the AI provider. In addition, health care providers could also deliver individualized health care by explaining how the algorithms (算法) work and sharing patients’ reviews with the media. Having a physician confirm the recommendation of an AI provider should make people more willing to accept AI-based care. People are comfortable using medical AI if a physician remains in charge of the ultimate decision.
AI-based health care technologies are being developed and employed at an impressive rate, providing better medical services for the patients. But harnessing the full potential of them will require that we first overcome patients’ doubt of having an algorithm, rather than a person making decisions about their care.
1. What made people resist the medical AI?| A．A sufferer’s temper ignored by medical AI. |
| B．People’s lasting trust in a human doctor’s ability. |
| C．The concern about its personalization in treatment. |
| D．The accuracy of the information from medical AI. |
| A．Treating sufferers as average patients. |
| B．Providing a more specific treatment. |
| C．Getting the algorithms prioritized in time. |
| D．Keeping away from the influence of a physician. |
| A．Weakening. | B．Storing. | C．Destroying. | D．Using. |
| A．Advantages of Medical AI |
| B．Potential Application of AI |
| C．How AI Replaces Nurses in Healthcare |
| D．The Challenge That Medical AI Faces |
