1 . On Monday, a lawsuit (诉讼) in the US got huge headlines around the world. It deals with a truly 21st century issue—whether human genes (基因) may be patented.

Myriad Genetics, a biotechnology company, discovered two genes — BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 — that are highly related to breast cancer. Myriad patented its discoveries and a group of researchers challenged that the patent was illegal.

The US patent law protects the temporary economic rewards inventors get from their inventions. But it also says a product of nature or a law of nature can’t be patented. For example, Einstein couldn’t patent on his discovery of E=mc².

And until relatively recently, many of the medical researchers voluntarily gave up patents on their inventions. When Dr. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine (小儿麻痹症疫苗), was asked in 1955 whether he had a patent on the vaccine, he replied, “Could you patent the sun?”

Myriad Genetics, however, says that the genes it identified are not like the sun. It notes that there are 20,000 genes in the human body and that it has sorted through all those genes and found the two that are closely related to breast cancer.

Not so, say those challenging the patent. Human genes are products of nature. They are just a part of the human body. “All Myriad does is take the part out of the body,” says the challengers’ lawyer, Christopher Hansen. “Can the person who first takes the heart out of the body patent on hearts?”

Rochelle Dreyfuss, a patent expert who is not associated with this case, is a little more down to earth. “At some level it is about money,” he says, “because medicine doesn’t happen for free. The patent system is very important to encourage companies to spend more money on scientific research and development.”

Then how do other countries handle this tricky situation? Most countries approve patents on genes, but they also allow other scientists to use the genes freely to do research and develop new medicines and testing methods.

1. Which of the following can be patented according to the US patent law?

A．The law of gravity force.	B．A unique orbit found in space.
C．A new medicine based on BRCA 1.	D．The basic working principle of planes.

2. What is Christopher Hansen’s argument against the patent?

A．A product of nature can’t be patented.

B．Public interests should be put before profits.

C．It is unacceptable to the other countries in the world.

D．The connection between genes and cancers is not obvious.

3. What does the underlined phrase “down to earth” in paragraph 7 mean?

A．Angry.

B．Rude.

C．Smart

D．Practical.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The consequences of the lawsuit.	B．Other countries’ solution to the case.
C．The public reactions to the news.	D．Some scientists’ support for the patent.

2 . Ms. McIntyre, 38, worked as a publisher. She suffered brain cancer and her health got worse despite some medical treatment. But she realized that in a way, she was luckier than some other people. She had insurance to help pay for her medical care. But Ms. McIntyre and her husband, Mr. Gregory, knew that many people with cancer face tough decisions because of the costs of medical care and wind up owing far more than they can pay.

Though her health was failing, Ms. McIntyre decided to help pay off the medical debts of as many people as she possibly could. The couple began donating money to a group called RIP Medical Debt, which is committed to working to pay off the unpaid medical debts of others. The group can pay off medical bills for about 100 times less money than they cost. In other words, for every 100 donated, the group can pay off 10,000 in unpaid medical bills.

Unfortunately, Ms. McIntyre passed away before long. Mr. Gregory posted a message for Ms. McIntyre on her social media accounts. “If you’re reading this, I have passed away,” the post began. Then the post explained, “To celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debts and then destroy the debts.”

The couple had set up a page on a website to raise money for this purpose. They had hoped to raise about $20,000. Nevertheless, Ms. McIntyre’s last post attracted a lot of attention. The donations on her web page quickly passed the total goal. In less than a week, the site had raised 10 times more than expected and the donations are still coming in. By November 22, 2023, Ms. McIntyre’s web page had raised over $627,000, or enough money to pay off about $60 million in medical debts.

Mr. Gregory planned a special event in December to celebrate Ms. McIntyre’s life and to announce how many millions of dollars of medical debts her efforts had paid for.

1. Why did Ms. McIntyre feel luckier than some other people?

A．The doctors eventually cured her.	B．Her disease didn’t become worse.
C．She had a decent job before being ill.	D．She had security about medical care.

2. How did Ms. McIntyre and her husband help others?

A．By paying for their daily debts.	B．By giving away money to them.
C．By ridding them of debts from treatments.	D．By purchasing medical insurance for them.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The public involvement.	B．The couple’s commitment.
C．The operation of a website.	D．The increase of medical debts.

4. Which of the following words can best describe Ms. McIntyre?

A．Humorous and elegant.	B．Influential and understanding.
C．Cautious and promising.	D．Enthusiastic and adaptable.

3 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What was wrong with Tom?

A．He was hit by a taxi.

B．He hurt his head.

C．He fell ill with heart trouble.

2. What did the woman do?

A．She called the doctor.

B．She checked Tom carefully.

C．She took Tom to the hospital.

9 . The old saying that “laughter is the best medicine” may contain an element of truth when it comes to heart health. A research has demonstrated that laughing causes the tissue inside the heart to expand and increases oxygen flow around the body.

“Our study found that laughter treatment increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular (心血管的) system, and patients with heart disease who engaged in a course of laughter treatment had reduced inflammation (炎症) and better health.” said the lead author, Prof Marco Safffi, of the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil.

In the trial, scientists carried out a first-of-its-kind study to examine if laughter treatment could improve symptoms of patients with heart disease. It involved 26 adults with an average age of 64, all diagnosed with the heart disease caused by plaque (斑块) buildup in the walls of the arteries (动脉) that supply blood to the heart. Over three months, half were asked to watch two different hour-long comedy programmes each week, including funny popular sitcoms. The other half watched two different serious documentaries, about heavy topics such as politics or the Amazon rainforest.

At the end of the 12-week study period, the comedy group improved by 10% in a test measuring how much oxygen their heart could pump around the body. The group also improved in a second measure that tested how well arteries can expand. They also had a blood test to measure several inflammatory markers, which indicate how much plaque has built up in the blood vessels and whether people are at risk of heart attack or stroke. The results showed that their inflammatory markers had significantly reduced compared with the documentary group.

“When patients with heart disease arrive at hospital, they usually have a lot of inflammatory markers.” said Saffi. “It’s really good news that laughter treatment is a good intervention that could help reduce inflammation and decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke.”

1. How does laughter help patients with heart disease?

A．It makes the tissue inside the heart become larger

B．It lowers the oxygen flow around the patients’ body

C．It reduces the function of the cardiovascular system

D．It increases inflammation and results in better health

2. What can we infer from the research?

A．The research participants were all old man above 60.

B．The documentary group worried about the Amazon rainforest.

C．The comedy group must have laughed while watching sitcoms.

D．The comedy group had more inflammatory markers than the documentary group.

3. How many tests did the participants have at the end of the research?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

4. What’s the best title of this article?

A．Laughter treatment — A powerful weapon to cure heart disease.

B．Laughter treatment —An effective method to defeat heart disease.

C．Laughter treatment —A helpful way to lower the risk of heart disease.

D．Laughter treatment — A perfect therapy to save lives from heart disease.