1 . When delivering medications to patients, one of the most effective methods is direct injection (注射) into the bloodstream using a needle. But this can be an uncomfortable experience, especially for kids or adults with a fear of needles. While patients do have the option to take oral pills instead, drugs containing large molecules (分子) are not absorbed effectively this way.
Now, inspired by octopus suckers (章鱼吸盘), researchers from China and Switzerland have designed a needle-free alternative: a tiny, drug-filled, cup-like patch (贴片) that sticks to the inside of the cheeks. The device is easily accessible, and it can be removed at any time and the drug gets absorbed through the lining of the inner cheek, the team reports in a paper in Science Translational Medicine.
To test the design, the team 3D printed the suckers. They loaded each with the drug and stuck them inside the cheeks of three beagles, a kind of dog which has a similar inner cheek lining to humans. For comparison, they also delivered the drug to beagles via a pill. After three hours, the team found that drug blood concentrations in dogs with the patch were more than 150 times higher than in the dogs that took a tablet. They also found patches worked effectively for drugs with large molecules.
40 healthy human volunteers self-applied water-filled patches to see how well they would stay on while talking and moving their mouths. After 30 minutes, only five of the 40 patches had fallen off, which was because of improper placement. Most volunteers said they would prefer a patch over injections for daily applications.
Still, the team only tested the patch for a short time so they would need to find out what would happen if it was used repeatedly. They’d also need to determine which drugs would work with the technology: the target is large molecules, such as those used to treat obesity or osteoporosis, but they can’t be too large to fit in the cup.
1. Why do the researchers develop the patch?| A．To help patients overcome the fear of needles. |
| B．To enable kids to swallow tablets smoothly. |
| C．To offer a better way of drug delivery. |
| D．To guarantee the efficiency of oral pills. |
| A．It is technologically possible to 3D print the patches. |
| B．The cheek lining of dogs is similar to that of humans. |
| C．Patches fall easily with their mouth movement. |
| D．Drugs are absorbed better through patches than pills. |
| A．Innovative and profitable. |
| B．Effective and user-friendly. |
| C．Affordable and accessible. |
| D．Flexible and long-lasting. |
| A．The related issues to be solved. |
| B．The risk of using patches repeatedly. |
| C．The way to identity large molecules. |
| D．The trouble of improving the technology. |
2 . A walk in the park may be just what the doctor ordered. A new program launched last month in Canada gives some doctors the option of providing patients with a free annual pass to the country's national parks as part of an effort to increase access to nature and the health benefits.
PaRx, a health initiative launched by the BC Parks Foundation in 2019, partnered with Parks Canada to provide doctors across four provinces with an initial run of 100 passes that can be prescribed (开处方). The program allows doctors to write more general prescriptions for time spent out in nature; two hours a week, at least 20 minutes at a time, is what PaRx director Dr. Melissa Lem suggests.
“Given the growing body of evidence that indicates nature time can improve all kinds of different physical and mental health conditions, we’re hoping that our PaRx program not only improves patient health, but reduces costs to the health-care system, and helps to grow the number of people who are more engaged environmental advocates,” said Prama Rahman, a coordinator for the BC Parks Foundation.
Doctors have been catching on, instructing their patients to turn to nature to improve their health and they're getting creative in how they do it. Dr. Robert Zarr, a doctor based in Washington, began prescribing accessible outdoor activities for his young patients and even created a searchable online database of local parks to make it easier.
But getting outside isn’t always as easy as it might sound. Income can affect one’s access to nature, an issue that PaRx is trying to address in Canada. Doctors utilizing the new national parks pass program are urged to prioritize patients who might not otherwise be able to afford these passes.
While only 100 adult passes, which give holders access to more than 80 national parks, historic sites and nature reserves, have initially been made available, organizers plan to routinely reassess this number as the program grows, the BC Parks Foundation told NPR
1. What is PaRx intended to do?| A．Qualify doctors to prescribe. | B．Give patients free access to parks. |
| C．Promote free admission to parks. | D．Advocate 20 minutes’ walk a day. |
| A．Financing. | B．Setting up. | C．Evaluating. | D．Carrying out. |
| A．The BC Parks Foundation is expanding rapidly. |
| B．The program has signed up 80 national parks. |
| C．More people will benefit from the program. |
| D．Those living close to parks can gain priority. |
| A．PaRx, a Nature Prescription Program. | B．BC Parks Foundation in Canada |
| C．Year-long Passes to National Parks | D．A New Study on Benefits of Walk |
3 . China is one of the first countries to breed a medical culture. In comparison with Western methods, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adopt a vastly different approach. For thousands of years, Chinese people have accumulated rich experience in fighting all sorts of diseases, therefore forming a unique medical theory under the guidance of ancient Chinese philosophies.
The core behind TCM is that the human body’s life is the consequence of the balance between yin and yang. Yang functions to safeguard us against outer harm, and yin is the inner base to store and provide energy. When the balance between the two aspects is disturbed, people fall ill.
One of the traditional techniques of TCM, acupuncture (针刺疗法), means insertion (插入) of needles into superficial (表皮的) structures of the body—usually at acupoints (穴位)—to restore the yin-yang balance. It is often accompanied by moxibustion (灸法), which involves burning the mugwort (艾叶) on or near the skin at an acupoint.
The first known text that clearly talks about something like acupuncture and moxibustion as it is practiced today is Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon. It is the earliest and most important written work of TCM and is considered the most representative medical text in China.
Acupuncture and moxibustion have aroused the interest of international medical science circles. And TCM is gradually gaining worldwide recognition. The WHO issued a document in 2002 that appealed to more than 180 countries to adopt TCM as an alternative in their medical policies. In 2010, acupuncture and moxibustion of traditional Chinese medicine were added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. Presently, TCM has been back in the news for its effectiveness in improving the cure rate of the COVID-19 since its outbreak in January 2020.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?| A．TCM. | B．Acupuncture. | C．Yin-yang balance. | D．Moxibustion. |
| A．It distinguishes acupuncture from moxibustion. |
| B．It’s a foundation of world medical research. |
| C．It stresses the importance of using acupoints. |
| D．It greatly contributes to the development of TCM. |
| A．To introduce TCM to the world. | B．To review the development of TCM. |
| C．To tell TCM and Western medicine apart. | D．To comment on TCM in fighting COVID-19. |
| A．Why TCM gets recognition from WHO. | B．Why TCM is gaining popularity. |
| C．How TCM helps in the current situation. | D．How other countries adopt TCM well. |
4 . Metin Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and his colleagues have developed tiny robots called “microrollers” that can carry cancer drugs and selectively target human breast cancer cells. The team drew inspiration for the design of the robots from white blood cells in the human body, which can move along the walls of blood vessels (血管) against the direction of blood flow.
The microrollers are round and made from glass microparticles. One half of the robot was coated with a thin magnetic nanofilm (磁性纳米膜) made from nickel and gold. The other half was coated with the cancer drug doxorubicin as well as molecules that recognize cancer cells.
The team tested the robots using mouse blood and artificial channels lined with human endothelial cells—the kind of cells that line the inner walls of our blood vessels. The robots were exposed to a mixture of cancerous and healthy tissue. The microrollers selectively attached to the cancer cells and were activated using UV light to release the doxorubicin.
By applying magnetic fields, the team was able to control the movement of the microrollers, both with and against the flow of blood. The microrollers can reach a speed of up to 600 micrometers per second. “If you come to a spot where you need to take the right path and if you miss it, then you could go back and go to the right one,” says Setti.
In future, the researchers want to use other methods to start the drug release, such as heat or near-infrared light. They also plan to try making microrollers out of materials that would break down in the body over a few weeks or months.
The team hopes to test the microrollers in animals soon. “The rollers need to carry enough cancer drugs, which is why we need to have them in large numbers,” says Setti. “But since we can locally take drugs to the right target, we don’t need huge dosages (剂量).”
1. What can the microrollers be used for?| A．Repairing blood cells. | B．Delivering drugs. | C．Improving blood flow. | D．Performing operations. |
| A．Their shape. | B．Their advantage. | C．Their design. | D．Their application. |
| A．Their direction can be adjusted. | B．They might miss the target cells. |
| C．They might get stuck in the blood. | D．Their speed can change automatically. |
| A．Put the microrollers to clinical use. | B．Sell the microrollers in large quantities. |
| C．Tear the microrollers down in the body. | D．Experiment with the microrollers further. |
5 . Beijing will provide COVID-19 vaccinations (接种疫苗) for certain groups in nursing homes, including the elderly and caregivers, on a voluntary basis to prevent a renewed outbreak at nursing homes during autumn and winter, the local government said.
Those who will receive the vaccines include nursing home kitchen workers, security guards and cleaners, Beijing Daily reported on Friday.
Xing Yinli, director of Jingkangyuan, a nursing home in Fengtai district with about 290 elderly residents (居民), said they have received the document (文件) recently and will strictly follow its guidance.
“It’s our top duty to strengthen prevention and control,” Xing said, adding they have been using methods such as keeping detailed records of resident contacts outside the nursing home, and encouraging online visits for family members.
As to vaccinations, she said they will ask for permission from residents, their family members and workers before giving vaccines.
In late October, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province carried out an emergency COVID-19 vaccine program, allowing the public to ask for injections (注射) in advance, with key groups first. A similar program was also organized in Jiaxing, Ningbo and Yiwu in Zhejiang.
Nationwide, emergency use of home-grown COVID-19 vaccines was approved in June and launched in late July. China now has four coronavirus candidate vaccines in the third stage clinical trials (临床试验).
The document from Beijing also said nursing homes should conduct nucleic acid testing (核酸检测) every month among kitchen workers and residents who leave the nursing homes to see a doctor. Tests will cover all people in nursing homes considered at high risk if new infections are reported in the city. Besides, routine disinfections (消毒) should be strengthened in kitchens, storerooms and restrooms, it said. The document also recommended non-contact visits from family members.
1. Where can you probably find this article?| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a fashion magazine. |
| C．In a book review. | D．In a travel journal. |
| A．China is providing vaccinations nationwide. |
| B．The four candidate vaccines have finished clinical trails. |
| C．China has taken the lead in coronavirus vaccines worldwide. |
| D．China has made great progress in coronavirus vaccines. |
| A．Nursing homes should conduct nucleic acid testing. |
| B．Beijing nursing homes are to be provided vaccines. |
| C．Certain groups will have vaccines first in late June. |
| D．Routine disinfections should be strengthened in kitchens. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Curious. | C．Doubtful. | D．Dissatisfied. |
6 . “That’s funny! These fellows in the middle of the plate have died，” Dr Alexander Fleming was talking to another doctor in a laboratory in London.He had been studying some germs (细菌)that he was growing on a plate.They were very dangerous germs because they caused different kinds of illnesses that could kill people.Dr Fleming found that a mould (霉菌) had floated in through the window landing on the plate.It had killed some of the germs it had touched.
“This certainly looks promising，” Fleming said.“We must grow some of this mould to see if it will kill other germs.”
He named the strange mould “penicillin”．It proved to be a killer of many germs.Fifty mice were given deadly germs and then half of them were injected (注射) with penicillin.The twentyfive untreated mice died，but twentyfour of those that had been treated with penicillin lived.Dr Fleming wrote a report about what he had found out.Hardly anybody took any notice of it.
In 1938 Dr Howard Florey，an Australian working in London, read Dr Fleming’s report and was very interested.He found that penicillin was effective in treating blood poisoning in human beings.
When World War II broke out，it was not possible to make enough penicillin in England.Dr Florey went to America where he helped to have enormous amounts of this wonderful drug made.It saved the lives of thousands of soldiers，sailors and airmen who would have died from their wounds if the hospitals had not had penicillin.
1. Dr Alexander Fleming ______.| A．had been studying a mould which was very dangerous and could kill people |
| B．had been studying some of the germs on a plate which could cure illnesses |
| C．had been making experiments on some germs that he was growing on a plate |
| D．had been making experiments on different germs that could help sick people to get better |
| A．they had been given deadly germs and had been injected with penicillin |
| B．they were almost dead ahead of the experiment |
| C．they were easy to die in the experiment |
| D．they had been given deadly germs and had not been injected with penicillin |
| A．left England for America，making the drug |
| B．went to America to save the lives of thousands of soldiers，sailors and airmen |
| C．found penicillin effective in treating blood poisoning in human beings |
| D．went to America to make this drug for mice |
| A．rest | B．appropriate |
| C．little | D．huge |
7 . In the 19th century, doctors tried to transfuse blood (输血)to patients who had lost blood in accidents or to try to save them. However, in most cases there would be a horrible reaction. When the donated blood mixed with the patient's own blood，it clotted (凝结)almost immediately. That stopped the circulation (循环)and the patient would die. Born on 14th June 1868，Karl Landsteiner，a doctor in Vienna, was very concerned about this. He knew there was something in the blood that caused reactions, but some people did manage to escape. Perhaps different people had different kinds of blood? He got a lot of blood samples (标本)from people, and mixed and matched them. Blood has two parts，the blood cells and the liquid serum(血清).You take blood cells from one person and mix them with the serum of another. If they react, the cells will clot and form a big lump. That means it is not safe to transfuse blood between these people. Landsteiner matched hundreds of samples like this，to find out who was safe for whom and who wasn’t. In fact, there were blood groups now called A, B, AB and O.
So what was going on in the blood? All our red blood cells have sugar molecules(糖分子) that are stuck on their surfaces. The red blood cells of people with group A have one kind of sugar, while those with B have another. People with AB have both of these while people with O have none.
People with the A blood group have a chemical substance called anti-B, while those of B blood group have anti-A in their serum. People with AB group have neither anti-A nor anti-B, while people with O have both. If you were B group and got blood from an A person,the anti- A in your blood would cause all the cells with A-sugar on them to clot immediately, stopping the circulation of blood.
In 1907, Dr. Reuben Outenberg carried out the first safe blood transfusion by matching blood groups. Blood transfusion became quite common from then on. And it helped saved thousands of lives in the First World War.
1. What does the passage mainly talk about?| A．Accidents in blood transfusion. |
| B．The discovery of blood groups. |
| C．Who Karl Landsteiner is. |
| D．The success of Dr. Reuben Otlenberg. |
| A．Some doctors in the 19th century. |
| B．The cause of some patient deaths. |
| C．Many medical accidents that he came across. |
| D．Certain successful cases of blood Iransrusion. |
| A．Only in the A blood group. |
| B．Only in the B blood group. |
| C．Only in the AB blood group. |
| D．In blood groups of B and O. |
| A．The first successful blood transfusion done by Ottenberg. |
| B．The time when blood groups were named by Landsteiner. |
| C．The year when the First World War broke out. |
| D．The blood transfusion by matching blood groups. |
8 . Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world.
When it comes to cancer, the sooner you know you have it, the better your chances of surviving are.
A new blood test could change the way doctors and researchers find cancer in patients. Researchers say the test could provide some hints of the early forms of the disease.
Gareth Jenkins is a professor at the University of Swansea. He says he and his team did not look for cancer. They instead looked for a by-product of cancer, mutated (突变的) red blood cells. They looked for, what Jenkins calls, the collateral (附带的) damage of cancer—the damage left by the disease.
“In this blood test we don’t measure the presence of cancer，we measure the presence of mutated red blood cells which are the collateral damage that occurs—a by-product of the cancer developing.’’
The researchers used normal laboratory equipment to perform the tests. This equipment looks for changes in the structure of millions of red blood cells. Those mutated cells lack a surface protein (蛋白质) that healthy cells normally have.
“The goal of the test is looking for very rare cells which have picked up a mutation. The number of mutated red blood cells in a healthy person is around 5 or so mutated cells per million; so, you have to look at millions of red blood cells to discover those rare events. The number increases in cancer patients—it goes up to 40 or 50 on average.”
The researchers tested blood from about 300 people, all of whom have cancer of the esophagus (食管). Patients with esophageal cancer have high levels of mutated red blood cells. Jenkins says that at this point he is not sure if other cancers would produce similar results.
The hope is that the new test could one day become part of commonly used medical methods to find out if a person has cancer. These new technologies could save millions of lives.
1. What does the underlined word “hints” probably mean in Paragraph 3?| A．Deaths. | B．Experiences. |
| C．Signs. | D．Kinds. |
| A．the size |
| B．the color |
| C．the shape |
| D．the number |
| A．Negative. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Cancer Can Be Prevented |
| B．New Test Could Find Cancer Earlier |
| C．Scientists Have Discovered How Cancer Spreads |
| D．New Cancer Treatment Is Showing Extraordinary Results |
