1 . This year brought some exciting news for patients of Alzheimer’s disease and their families. Leqembi, a new drug for the disease made through a US-Japanese partnership, has been available in a pilot zone in China’s Hainan province since September.
Being a currently uncurable disease, Alzheimer’s disease damages or even kills nerve cells (神经细胞) in the brain. Damaged cells can cause breakdowns in various parts of the brain, resulting in memory loss, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. A kind of plaque (斑块) made up of protein is the “suspect”. Plaques build up in the spaces between nerve cells, which can break up the communication between cells. Although most people develop such plaques as they age, Alzheimer’s patients tend to have more, beginning in the areas responsible for memory.
This July, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approved Leqembi. It became the first Alzheimer’s drug to receive FDA approval in 20 years. Leqembi is designed to “remove plaques that have already formed and prevents them from forming”, US medical expert Jon LaPook told CBS News. Therefore, the drug can only be effective in those who are in the early stage of the disease. Patients would also need to have evidence of plaques in their brain, which can be detected through brain scans or blood tests.
Sadly, this drug is not a cure. According to the FDA’s press release, after a 79-week trial on human patients, the drug could slow but not reverse (逆转) the development of the disease and its related effect on memory. What it offers is a way for patients with Alzheimer’s to maintain their ability to live a more or less normal life for longer.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 55 million people are living with dementia (痴呆) worldwide, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common cause. As scientists make more effort, there’s growing hope that they can one day create a world where Alzheimer’s disease no longer affects millions of families like it used to.
1. What makes Alzheimer’s patients excited?| A．A US-Japanese partnership. | B．Damaged nerve cells in the brain. |
| C．A new drug for Alzheimer’s disease. | D．A kind of plaque in the memory area. |
| A．It can detect the plaque in patients’ brain. |
| B．It can reverse the development of disease. |
| C．It can be used in the late stage of the disease. |
| D．It can remove plaques and prevent their forming. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncaring. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
| A．Progress in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease |
| B．A Promising Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease |
| C．The Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on Patients |
| D．The Role of Plaque in Alzheimer’s Disease |
2 . Malaria has been a deadly problem for humans since ancient times. Usually, people get malaria when infected mosquitoes bite them. Countless people have died from the disease. Thankfully, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou found an effective drug called qinghaosu.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Tu’s discovery. In 1969, Tu became the director of a national project to develop a drug against malaria. Her team took a unique approach. They studied books about classical Chinese medicine. After reading more than 2,000 old remedies (疗 法), Tu and her team collected over 600 plants and listed almost 380 possible remedies for malaria.
One remedy, which is 1,600 years old, uses sweet wormwood as a treatment. Tu found it effective and tried to extract the qinghaosu from it in order to make a drug. The extraction failed at first, so Tu returned to the classical books again and finally found a way. She used a low-temperature method to extract the qinghaosu and finally succeeded in 1972.
After her team showed that qinghaosu could treat malaria in mice and monkeys, Tu and two of her colleagues volunteered to test the drug on themselves before testing on human patients. It turned out that qinghaosu was safe and all patients in the test recovered. Gradually, qinghaosu became the first-line treatment for malaria recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), saving millions of lives around the world.
In 2015, when Tu was awarded with the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, she refused to take all of the credit. Instead, she praised her colleagues and Chinese traditional medicine. She once said: “Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world.”
1. Which of the following can best describe Tu?| A．Warm-hearted and strong-minded. | B．Cold-blooded but hardworking. |
| C．Devoted and determined. | D．Kind and energetic. |
| A．In 1969. | B．In 1972. | C．In 2000. | D．In 2015. |
| A．She kept on trying new method. |
| B．She used sweet wormwood as a treatment. |
| C．She made a drug from qinghaosu. |
| D．She buried herself in classic books again. |
| A．Traditional Chinese Medicine plays an important role in her discovery. |
| B．She won an award because she volunteered to test the drug. |
| C．Qinghaosu was recommended as the first-line treatment for malaria. |
| D．Tu thought she didn’t deserve the award. |
