1. What does the woman want to do?
| A．Do more tests. |
| B．Get a second opinion. |
| C．Carry out an operation. |
| A．Doctor and patient. |
| B．Teacher and student. |
| C．Employer and employee. |
| A．Excited. | B．Worried. | C．Relaxed. |
1. What is the relationship between the speakers?
| A．Colleagues. | B．Doctor and patient. | C．Teacher and student. |
| A．Monday. | B．Friday. | C．Sunday. |
| A．Look for a new job. |
| B．Do physical tests regularly. |
| C．Change her breakfast habits. |
3 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．The public involvement. | B．The couple’s commitment. |
| C．The operation of a website. | D．The increase of medical debts. |
| A．Humorous and elegant. | B．Influential and understanding. |
| C．Cautious and promising. | D．Enthusiastic and adaptable. |
| A．To change his appointment. |
| B．To speak to Dr. Zane. |
| C．To see the woman. |
5 . Gene therapy (治疗) has come a long way since its first human proof-of-concept trials in the 1990s. The approach, which involves fixing or replacing a disease-causing gene, has recorded some remarkable successes and some disastrous missteps. In the past decade those extreme ups and downs have leveled off, and now gene therapy, in a variety of forms, has begun advancing at a rapid pace.
Over the past few years not only has the discipline changed but the very definition of gene therapy has developed. Today the field includes not just direct, permanent changes to a cell’s DNA but also temporary changes to how genes are translated into proteins. Researchers have now reported a number of success stories: they have relieved some cases of blindness, cured cancers, addressed the underlying cause of cell disease, and begun to treat some disorders that might be fatal.
The history of gene therapy has had a lot to overcome, both in reputation and at the lab. Early tragedies led to scientific thinking. While many researchers turned away from the field entirely, others began to pursue ways to prevent some of the most serious side effects. As a result, a range of new viral vectors are now engineered to incorporate their genes more safely and efficiently into the genome, as well as the rapid adoption and development of other tools, such as the Nobel Prize-winning technique known as CRISPR.
Gene therapy has more than made up for its shaky start, and the field manages to recover not only its science but its reputation. Many now associate the approach with the potential for seemingly wonderful cures, an association that can be as harmful as it can be helpful. For both patients and the public, the potential for such treatments causes not fear so much as a lot of hope. And with that hope still comes other problems: affordability and accessibility. Current gene therapy approaches are pricey and not easily available, and both issues limit their possible reach. Solving these problems may be the field’s next big challenge.
1. What is considered gene therapy?| A．Recording genes. | B．Making genes inactive. |
| C．Handling abnormal genes. | D．Changing fat into proteins. |
| A．Reasons for the success of genetics. | B．The previous blindness of gene therapy. |
| C．The genetic cause of some fatal diseases. | D．Current accomplishments in gene therapy. |
| A．It got a better reputation. | B．It got off on a rocky start. |
| C．It was securer and more efficient. | D．It was cheaper and more accessible. |
| A．Gene Therapy Is at Its Peak | B．Gene Therapy Causes Some Harm |
| C．Gene Therapy Faces Big Challenges | D．Gene Therapy Is on Its Way to Maturity |
1. What is the relationship between the speakers?
| A．Doctor and nurse. | B．Nurse and patient. | C．Doctor and patient. |
| A．He often gets tired. | B．He doesn’t feel like eating. | C．He can’t sleep well at night. |
| A．He is hungry now. | B．He dislikes junk food. | C．He seldom does sports. |
| A．Do exercise every day. | B．Get enough sleep. | C．Eat right food. |
7 . Summer is coming. It is easy to get too much sun. While there's no cure for sunburn, a small but fascinating new study suggests taking large amounts of vitamin D after exposure may prevent the associated redness and inflammation (发炎) of your skin.
In the paper, researchers exposed 20 volunteers to a light resembling（类似） solar radiation to induce a sunburn（晒伤） on a small piece of skin. They then gave the ''burn victims'' large amounts of vitamin D, and followed up with participants one, two and three days (and a week) later to measure skin redness and thickness. The researchers found that vitamin D decreased inflammation and redness, compared with taking a placebo （安慰剂). And this effect increased in proportion to how much was consume（消费）. Vitamin D also appears to increase the activity of a gene（基因）called arginase-1, which is involved in tissue（皮肤组织） repair and healing. Taking 50, 000 international units (IU) of vitamin D-- 125 times the recommended daily allowance——led to a significant reduction in redness and inflammation, compared with the placebo. Those who took 100,000 IU had even less redness and pain; and those who took 200, 000 IU had the greatest reduction in inflammation.
This is the first study to show vitamin D can reduce inflammation, and suggests that it ''could potentially help prevent sunburn, '' says senior author Kurt Lu, a physician scientist and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University.
It used to be thought vitamin D was primarily involved in building healthy bones and muscles, but recent research has found it has many more roles, including influencing inflammation, such as the kind associated with sunburns.
So, if you get burned, should you take a lot of vitamin D? The study authors don't recommend it. ''I think that's probably not a good idea and not well established by this study, '' says Barbara Gilchrest, a physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Such large amounts, if taken repeatedly, have the potential to do harm to the health.
1. How do the researchers confirm the healing effect of taking vitamin D?| A．By observing the inflammation of skin every day. |
| B．By measuring the thickness of skin after a week. |
| C．By increasing the daily volume of vitamin. |
| D．By comparing the effect with that of placebo. |
| A．recommend the weekly allowance of Vitamin D. |
| B．argue against the benefits of more Vitamin D. |
| C．show under the control, the more Vitamin D, the greater benefits. |
| D．stress the potential danger of too much Vitamin D. |
| A．Repeatedly taking large amounts of Vitamin D might be harmful. |
| B．Vitamin D brings less advantages to us than what has been found out. |
| C．Don't take vitamin D unless your doctor approves . |
| D．Vitamin D is more useful for curing sunburn than building healthy bones. |
| A．It gives tips for how to travel safely in summer. |
| B．A new study suggests the vitamin D can relieve sunburn. |
| C．It provides a suggestion on taking vitamin D properly. |
| D．It advises us how to take medicine effectively. |
1. How long has the woman been in hospital?
| A．For one week. | B．For ten days. | C．For two weeks. |
| A．In two weeks. | B．Tomorrow. | C．Uncertain. |
| A．To have medical checks regularly. |
| B．To take the medicine every day. |
| C．To avoid any physical exercise. |
| A．In a few days. |
| B．In a long time. |
| C．As soon as she leaves the hospital. |
9 . Driven by her passion for providing quality healthcare, a Latvian woman has won over the hearts of the elderly residing in the nursing home she oversees.
It is incredibly rare to find a Caucasian woman working as the director of a nursing home in Shanghai. But the fact that Anastasija Puzankova can even converse in Liantang, a Chinese dialect spoken only by residents in a small town in southwestern Shanghai, makes her one of a kind.
“I had always wondered how the elderly were getting along with others, or if they were well cared for. I realized that I could better serve them and understand their concerns if I spoke their dialect.” says the 35-year-old, who also speaks Russian, English, Latvian, French and Spanish.
Puzankova chose to study Sinology(汉学) out of her curiosity about China at the University of Latvia in 2003. The next year, she traveled to Shanghai as part of an exchange program and then she spent the next 10 years studying law at Fudan University, graduating with a master's degree in 2014.
Despite her qualifications, in 2018, Puzankova joined Haiyang Group, a Shanghai-based company that operates the nursing home, as an executive assistant. During that period, she performed so well in her nursing and management training that she was appointed the director of the home after just one year.
A caregiver, surnamed Cai, says the atmosphere at the home has changed since Puzankova took charge. “She makes life in the nursing home uplifting and purposeful.” says Cai.
“She throws monthly birthday parties for the elderly, creates a festive mood in the home for every traditional festival and frequently organizes handicrafts classes and activities to stimulate the minds of the residents.”
When family visits and group activities were delayed during the novel coronavirus outbreak, Puzankova came up with a similar idea at the home, purchasing vegetable seeds and growing them in the field near the nursing home so that the residents can observe the plants growing from their windows.
“Just watching the plants grow can lift their spirits. We can also serve these organic vegetables to them.” she explains.
Puzankova says, “I simply like communicating with people, understanding their personalities and offering help when they are in need. Making an elderly person happy isn't hard. It just takes a little time, love and thought.”
1. Why did Anastasija Puzankova learn the Chinese dialect Liantang?| A．To satisfy her superior. |
| B．To research its history and popularity. |
| C．To communicate with the elderly better. |
| D．To prove her language learning capacity. |
| A．forbade family visits forever. |
| B．created a festive mood in the home. |
| C．organized some outdoor activities for the elderly. |
| D．planted some vegetables for the elderly to watch indoors. |
| A．Time tests. |
| B．Hard work pays off. |
| C．Love breaks down barriers. |
| D．Education is the key to success. |
| A．A foreign face with a local soul |
| B．A language expert with a loving heart |
| C．A nursing home with a woman director |
| D．An executive assistant with a master’s degree |
10 . At 18, Ashanthi De Silva of suburban Cleveland is a living symbol of one of the great intellectual achievements of the 20th century. Born with an extremely rare and usually fatal disorder that left her without a functioning immune system, she was treated beginning in 1990 with a revolutionary new therapy that sought to correct the defect at its very source, in the genes of her white blood cells. It worked. Although her last gene-therapy treatment was in 1992, she is completely healthy with normal immune function, according to one of the doctors who treated her, W. French Anderson of the University of Southern California. Researchers have long dreamed of treating diseases from hemophilia to cancer by replacing mutant (变异的) genes with normal ones. And the dreaming may continue for decades more. "There will be a gene-based treatment for essentially every disease, "Anderson says, "within 50 years."
It's not entirely clear why medicine has been so slow to build on Anderson's early success. The National Institutes of Health budget office estimates it will spend $432 million on gene-therapy research in 2005, and there is no shortage of promising leads. The therapeutic (有益健康的，有治疗性的) genes are usually delivered through viruses that don't cause human disease.
At the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center, immunologist Carl June recently treated HIV patients with a gene intended to help their cells resist the infection. At Cornell University, researchers are pursuing gene-based therapies for Parkinson's disease and a rare hereditary disorder that destroys children's brain cells. At Stanford University and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, researchers are trying to figure out how to help patients with hemophilia who today must inject themselves with expensive clotting drugs for life. Animal experiments have shown great promise.
But somehow, things get lost in the translation from laboratory to patient. In human trials of the hemophilia treatment, patients show a response at first, but it fades over time. And the field has still not recovered from the setback it suffered in 1999, when Jesse Gelsinger, an 18-year-old with a rare metabolic disorder, died after receiving an experimental gene therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. Some experts worry that the field will be tarnished (黯淡的) further if the next people to benefit are not patients but athletes seeking an edge. This summer, researchers at the Salk Institute said they had created a "marathon mouse" by implanting a gene that improves running ability; already, officials at the World Anti-Doping (反兴奋剂) Agency are preparing to test athletes for signs of "gene doping. "But the principle is the same, whether you're trying to help a healthy runner run faster or allow a muscular-dystrophy patient to walk. "Everybody recognizes that gene therapy is a very good idea," says Crystal. "And eventually it's going to work."
1. According to the passage, we know that ________.| A．Jesse Gelsinger give an example of modern treatment for fatal diseases |
| B．the case of Ashanthi Desilva shows the promise of gene-therapy |
| C．researchers have improved people's running ability by implanting a gene |
| D．The gene-therapy way has cured many serious diseases |
| A．greatly speeded the development of medicine |
| B．brought no immediate progress in the research of gene-therapy |
| C．realized his dream |
| D．made him a national hero |
| A．Ashanthi needs to receive gene-therapy treatment constantly. |
| B．Despite the huge funding, gene researches have shown few promises. |
| C．Therapeutic genes are carried by harmless viruses. |
| D．Gene-doping is encouraged by world agencies to help athletes get better scores. |
| A．troubled | B．pessimistic |
| C．optimistic | D．uncertain |
