1 . In US emergency rooms (ER), the average wait time to see a doctor is more than two hours. There are more patients in need than there are doctors, nurses and other staff to help them. Many parents have suffered through hours in the ER with a sick, upset child, only to get sent home because their case is not considered urgent. What if there was another choice—like a house call from an intelligent machine?
Now, a new study shows that AI systems can assess a child’s medical chart and come up with a diagnosis, a determination of what is wrong with that patient.
The study took place at Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center in southern China. First, a team of doctors reviewed 6, 183 medical charts. They summarized the information in these charts into a list of keywords linked to disease-related symptoms or signs, such as “fever”. Researchers then taught these keywords to the AI system. Once trained, the system scanned children’s charts for the key terms, checking if they were present or not in order to come to a conclusion. Finally, it offered diagnoses based on the charts, narrowing down from among 55 illness categories.
It agreed with real doctors about 90 percent of the time. It was especially effective at identifying illnesses of the ear, nose and throat. For these upper-respiratory infections, the Al system got it right 95 percent of the time.
Dongxiao Zhu, an assistant professor of computer science at Wayne State University who did not take part in the study, however, sees this as “augmented intelligence (增强智能)” rather than “artificial intelligence”, because the system handled only 55 illness categories. Compare that to thousands of possibilities in the real world. The machine cannot yet get into the more complex aspects of a medical decision.
Zhu is also concerned about the amount of human work that went into the study—namely, the time and energy spent by human doctors. They spent hours grading the machine’s assessments and comparing them to their own. It’s no wonder that the process took four years. Considering that, it may be a while before you can skip the ER and see a robot-doctor instead.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Patients pay too much for the ER. |
| B．American doctors aren’t responsible. |
| C．Children are treated urgently in the ER. |
| D．The emergency rooms are crowded with patients. |
| A．AI systems still have a long way to go. |
| B．AI systems diagnose disease like doctors. |
| C．AI systems will take over from doctors someday. |
| D．AI systems get into complex medical decisions. |
| A．By examining a patient first. | B．By reviewing many medical charts. |
| C．By scanning keywords about a disease. | D．By observing disease-related symptoms. |
| A．Most of the medical judgments by the AI system are identical to doctors’. |
| B．The AI system trains the patients to assess their medical charts. |
| C．The AI system mainly focuses on the illnesses of the ear, nose and throat. |
| D．All of illnesses can be identified by the AI system. |
| A．They need to be improved a lot. | B．They will replace real doctors soon. |
| C．They are suitable for complex disease. | D．They help doctors make a quick analysis. |
2 . It was a pleasant surprise to learn this week that three large poultry companies had greatly reduced their use of antibiotics in healthy chickens, a move that could help slow the appearance of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause diseases in humans. Other companies ought to follow the lead of these pioneers, and Congress ought to ban the use of medically important antibiotics in animal husbandry except to cure sick animals.
Strong action is needed because many germs that infect humans are growing resistant to treatment with antibiotics. Such resistance occurs unavoidably over time as antibiotic kills off vulnerable strains of a germ and leaves only the more resistant strains to multiply. But in recent decades the growth of resistance has been increased by overuse of antibiotics in agriculture, where companies routinely use the drugs to promote growth on less feed and to prevent disease in healthy animals. As a result, some germs that infect both animals and humans have become resistant to antibiotics, and even germs that do not infect humans are capable of transferring their antibiotic-resistance genes to germs that do.
That is why the report in Sunday's Times by Marian Burros was so encouraging. She found that three poultry companies that produce a third of the chickens consumed by Americans each year - Foster Farms, Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods — have greatly reduced the use of antibiotics in healthy chickens and are using them primarily to treat sick chickens.
There is no reason that other poultry producers could not do the same, and probably the pork and beef industries as well. It is unacceptable that any industry should use medically important antibiotics for the economic purpose of fostering growth. Congress and the Food and Drug Administration need to restrain the use of animal antibiotics that are related to human medicines.
1. it can be inferred from the first paragraph that _________ .| A．three poultry companies are forced to use fewer antibiotics |
| B．other companies have followed the practice of the pioneers |
| C．antibiotic resistance in bacteria may result in human disease |
| D．antibiotics are never needed in whatever kind of situations |
| A．is insignificant in disease prevention |
| B．is unavoidable in the poultry industry |
| C．decreases bacteria resistant to the antibiotics |
| D．threatens the effectiveness of related medicines |
| A．To illustrate how the three poultry companies use antibiotics |
| B．To emphasize the functions of antibiotics in animal husbandry |
| C．To show the author's prediction of the future use of antibiotics |
| D．To represent the decline in antibiotics use in the poultry industry |
| A．increase | B．limit | C．promote | D．restore |
| A．Intolerable | B．Favorable | C．Neutral | D．Ambiguous |
3 . A T-shirt that constantly monitors the heart's activity and detects abnormalities could help protect people against stroke. The T-shirt, which can be washed up to 35 times before it needs replacing, has been developed to improve the detection of dangerous heart conditions like atrial fibrillation（心房颤动）,which causes an irregular heart rhythm and raises the risk of stroke.
At least one million people in Britain are known to have this condition; however, it's estimated that at least another 50（）, 000 have it but haven't yet been diagnosed because they have no obvious symptoms. Some will have symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness and fatigue； but a large number of people have no idea they're ill until they suffer a stroke.
Detecting atrial fibrillation involves carrying out an ECG（心电图）.Conventional ECGs are done in a hospital and involve highly trained teams of staff attaching up to 24 separate electrodes（电 极）to different parts of the body to measure electrical signals. But most patients experience abnormal rhythms only intermittently（间歇地）. This means the chance of picking them up during a short hospital check is slim.
Doctors sometimes issue patients with a device called a Holter monitor to wear under their clothes to try to pick up cardiac(心脏的）problems. This is an electronic box which clips onto your waistband and is connected to a series of electrodes worn on the upper part of your body. But the box itself is quite bulky, hard to hide beneath clothing and involves a dozen or more wires being attached to the patient's chest.
The Cardioskin T-shirt, which is made from cotton, could be a much more convenient alternative and can be worn 24 hours a day—meaning it is more likely to pick up any abnormal rhythms in the patients heart. It has 15 tiny electrodes woven into the material which are strategically placed around the chest area to track the electrical signals from the heart as they travel across the main part of your body.
The electrodes are powered by a battery which can be removed easily when you need to wash the T-shirt and feed results to a microchip which then sends them out wirelessly to an app. This converts（转换）the data into an easy-to-read chart showing if the heart rate is abnormal. The results are shared with the patient's doctor so they can check the patient's heart without having to call them into the hospital.
Martin Cowie, a professor of cardiology at Imperial College London, said, "Cardioskin could be an important development for cardiologists.”
1. How many British people are having dangerous heart conditions according to the text?| A．Less than 0.5 million. | B．Less than 1 million, |
| C．At least 1.5 million. | D．At least 2 million. |
| A．The difficulty in detecting atrial fibrillation. |
| B．The benefit of detecting atrial fibrillation. |
| C．The process of detecting atrial fibrillation. |
| D．The future of detecting atrial fibrillation. |
| A．To show the advantage of a Cardioskin T-shirt over it. |
| B．To introduce a way to check the patient’s heart. |
| C．To encourage people to care about their health. |
| D．To explain why doctors like using the device. |
| A．It has a battery that can be charged easily and quickly. |
| B．It can be worn a month without being washed. |
| C．It has electrodes placed all over the T-shirt. |
| D．It can make the process of diagnosis timely and convenient. |
| A．New ECG that could be an important development for doctors. |
| B．Hi-tech T-shirt that could help doctors spot risk of stroke. |
| C．Holter monitor that could track patients' heart problems. |
| D．Cardioskin T-shirt that could prevent patients from diseases. |
Diana Rae of Tenino, Washington, demonstrates Virtua/（虚拟的）Urgent Care with Dr. Ben Green in Seattle, who consults with her via Skype.
Telemedicine is the name for when doctors give advice to patients by telephone or the Internet, or when health care providers in rural areas connect with specialists in big cities.
Telemedicine has existed for a long time, but the rise of smartphone, tablets and webcam-equipped computers is raising telemedicine to new levels. Some health care systems in the United States now offer Virtual Urgent Care, patients see a doctor by video chat without having to leave home.
Diana Rae recently demonstrated how Virtual Urgent Care works. She used an iPad tablet and Skype—-the video chat service.
Doctor Green first has the patient describe her symptoms. Then the doctor performs a physical exam by demonstrating what he wants her to do. Doctor Green decides that the problem is an infection and gives her some penicillin for medicine. He says about 3 out of 4 patients who have health problems can be treated like this—through Virtual Urgent Care, which means a video chat could substitute a visit to the doctor’s office.
Franciscan charges $35 for this kind of virtual house call, that is much less than the cost of going to an emergency room, a doctor’s office or an urgent care clinic. After trying the video conference, Diana Rae says she would be happy to pay the 35 dollars, when she was recently home with a bad cold. "I would have paid twice that for the convenience of getting taken care of without having to sit in a waiting room, wait, and get exposed to everyone else’s germs." Rae said.
But a company official says state rules have not kept progress with development in telemedicine. The workers who provide Virtual Urgent Care must be licensed separately in each state where the company does business. For now, that means Franciscan doctors can treat patients in Washington state and California, for example, but not in neighboring Oregon or Idaho.
1. What is helping telemedicine to rise to new stages?（No more than 8 words）2. What does the underlined word "substitute" mean?（1 word）
3. Why would Diana Rae be happy to pay Virtual Urgent Care even more?（No more than 10 words）
4. Why can’t Virtual Urgent Care develop fast now?（No more than 10 words）
5. What do you think of Virtual Urgent Care’s future? Why?（No more than 20 words）
5 . A blocked airway can kill someone in three to four minutes, but it can take more than eight minutes for an ambulance to arrive. So a simple procedure such as opening someone’s airway can save their life while they’re waiting for emergency medical help. This means you’re more likely to give first aid to someone you know than a stranger.
There are many misconceptions surrounding first aid. Below are the "most popular" ones with details of what you should do.
Top four first aid misconceptions:
You should put butter or cream on a burn. The only thing you should put on a burn is cold water—keep the butter for cooking. Put the affected area under cold running water for at least ten minutes
The best way to treat bleeding is to put the wound under a tap. If you put a bleeding wound under a tap, you wash away the body`s clotting agents（凝血剂）and make it bleed more. Instead, put pressure on the wound with whatever is available to stop or slow down the flow of blood. As soon as possible call 911. Keep pressure on the wound until help arrives.
Nosebleeds are best treated by putting the head back. If you put the head back during a nosebleed, all the blood goes down the back of the airway. Instead, advise them to tilt（倾斜）their head forwards and ask them to pinch（捏）the end of their nose and breathe through their mouth.
You need lots of training to do first aid. You don’t—what you mostly need is common sense. You can learn enough first aid knowledge in a few minutes to save someone`s life—whether it`s from reading a book, attending a course or watching videos online.
Remember that anyone can save a life.
1. The most important point to save an airway blocked person’s life is to________.| A．keep his airway open |
| B．ensure the ambulance’s arriving time |
| C．keep the surroundings quiet |
| D．ask for emergency medical help immediately |
| A．put some cream on the burn area |
| B．heat up some butter for the burn |
| C．place the burn under cold running water |
| D．wash the affected area for a long time |
| A．It will help the bleeding stop at once. |
| B．The wound will help produce more clotting agents. |
| C．It will produce more pressure on the wound. |
| D．The wound will bleed more and it is hard to stop the bleeding. |
| A．When a person’s nose bleeds, please put the head back. |
| B．You can learn first aid quickly in different ways. |
| C．When a person is burnt, keep pressure on the burn until help arrives. |
| D．Not everyone can do first aid to save a life. |
| A．how to learn first aid by yourself |
| B．some misunderstandings about first aid |
| C．the importance of first aid |
| D．how to help the medical team save a life |
(1) “中医”有着悠久的历史，经过了数千年的实践和发展；
(2) “中医”也是一门科学，它的优点正得到越来越广泛的认可；
(3) 你自己对“中医”的看法。
注意：(1)词数不少于 100；
(2)可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯；
(3)开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：“中医” Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM）
Dear Chris,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Jin
Therapy dogs are dogs that are trained to give comfort (安慰) and love to people in unfortunate situations. They are often used to help people in hospitals, retirement homes, schools and disaster areas. Whether or not a dog is suitable for this line of work is based on its personality. Because therapy dogs must work with many kinds of people, such as young children or the elderly, they must have patience.
During World War II, a soldier named William Wynne found a dog abandoned (遗弃) on the battlefield. He became friends with the dog and named it Smoky. When Wynne became ill and entered a hospital, his friends brought Smoky for a visit. Smoky became so popular with the other sick soldiers in the hospital that he was allowed to stay. The doctors in the hospital used Smoky to help cheer up the patients. After the war ended, he continued to work as a therapy dog in the United States.
In the 1970s, an American nurse named Elaine Smith started a program to train therapy dogs. Smith noticed that patients in hospitals seemed to get better faster when they were around dogs. Many other doctors and nurses noticed that having animals regularly visit hospitals helped lower stress and blood pressure among patients. In the 1980s and 1990s, other animals also started to help the sick. Cats, birds and rabbits have become “therapy pets” and they are now used in many hospitals around the world.
Today, therapy pets not only help injured soldiers, but also help children with reading disabilities by providing an audience that won't look down upon them. Some therapy pets are used to work along with the doctor to help the patient learn to walk again after a serious injury.
1. What dogs are most suitable to be therapy dogs? (No more than 5 words)2. Why was Smoky allowed to stay in the hospital? (No more than 10 words)
3. What encouraged Elaine Smith to train and use therapy dogs? (No more than 8 words)
4. What does the underlined word ''therapy'' mean? (No more than 1 words)
5. What can we learn from the last paragraph? (No more than 15 words)
| A．In a hospital. | B．At Rolling’s house. | C．In a school. |
