1 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Laughter really is the best medicine.

As a Clown Doctor for the Humour Foundation, Lou Pollard has spent the last nine years     1     (bring) “sunshine and silliness” to people     2     need it most: sick children and their families.

The Humor Foundation is a non-profit charity working to deliver the health benefits of humor. The idea for the organization came from a     3     (perform) who wanted to use his talent for good and give back to the community.

“It’s all about distracting the unhappy kids, trying to bring them some smiles and laughters and get them back to their     4     (nature) state,” says Pollard;

“People do think that we are all doctors,” Pollard says, “we’ve been in hospital emergency departments and people have said all these medical problems to     5     (we) and we’ve just looked     6     them blankly.”

Dressing as a clown     7     (seem) like a simple job but when they try to see every child at least once a week, it’s     8     big, rewarding task.

But Clown Doctors aren’t just for the kids.

“It’s about the family having a laugh together and everyone remembering that they can still be together and have a laugh even though terrible     9     (thing) are happening to them medically,” Pollard says.

“It’s     10     (rue) for the whole family.”

3 . When SpaceX’s 20th mission lifted off to the International Space Station, beating heart cells were along for the ride. After 22 days, the heart cells were returned to Earth - and they were still beating. This experiment marks a significant step toward helping heart patients on Earth in the future.

The beating heart cells, called cardiomyocytes (心肌细胞), were grown from stem cells. “They’re like magic cells because they can turn into almost all kinds of cells in our body, including beating heart cells. The heart cells have the potential to treat heart disease for kids and adults. But to repair a damaged heart, we will need a lot more cardiomyocytes. And sometimes it’s really hard to get that many cells to grow,” said Chunhui Xu, researcher and associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

When her experiment using simulated zero-gravity on Earth showed promising steps toward quickly and safely producing cardiomyocytes, Xu saw space as the proving ground. Her experiment was chosen to fly on the space station in order to determine how the absence of gravity impacts stem cells that are essentially turned into heart cells.

The heart cells were frozen, and then thawed(解冻)once they reached the station. This allowed the cells to grow in space for 21 days. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir oversaw the experiment. “This one-of-a-kind place is what makes doing research on the International Space Station so incredibly special. We can test things that we can’t do anywhere on Earth,” Meir said.

When these live cells returned to Earth, Xu and her colleagues discovered that the stem cells grow faster in zero gravity. This rapid ability to grow cardiomyocytes could generate a large number of healthy heart cells for children and adults with various heart diseases. With these new findings, the research could lead a more efficient and cost-effective way to develop the heart cells on Earth for patients in need. The cells have great potential to treat children and adults. And the cells could also be used to test new therapies and speed up the development of safe drugs, Xu said.

1. What can we know about the experiment conducted in the International Space Station?

A．It lasted 20 days in space.	B．It found a cure for heart attacks.
C．It was watched over by Chunhui Xu.	D．It means a lot to heart patients on earth.

2. Why did Chunhui Xu send her experiment to space?

A．To try heart transplant in space.

B．To test a way to speed up stem cell growth.

C．To understand how human hearts change in space.

D．To study the effects of microgravity on brain cells.

3. What did Xu and her colleagues find?

A．It’s really hard to get stem cells to grow on the space station.

B．The heart cells were easy to froze and thaw on the space station.

C．Zero gravity is ideal for stem cells to grow.

D．It is costly to grow stem cells.

4. What can the new findings contribute to?

A．Test novel treatments	B．Eliminate drug trade
C．Cure all heart diseases	D．develop the heat cells in a safer way

5 . People don’t like new things. It is not any different in health care. It took plenty of time until the stethoscope (听诊器), the symbol of health care was accepted by the medical community back in the 19th century. The instrument was invented by a French physician, who published its description in 1819, but it took several decades until doctors actually started using it.

I don’t expect any difference with artificial intelligence (AI). After many of my talks, physician colleagues ask me whether AI might replace them in their jobs and whether it can eventually become better at identifying the exact cause of an illness. Both will happen but not the way they imagine it. Huge waves are coming to health care. While some of physicians’ tasks will be taken over by AI, they will deal with patients with real care and more patience. Doctors will not have to struggle with being up-to-date in medical research, with administrative tasks, with consultation or making notes. They do not have to have a headache about how to choose the best treatment.

What even the most learned professors know cannot match cognitive (认知的) computers. As the amount of information they accumulate grows, the assistance of computing solutions in medical decisions is approaching. AI will help doctors on the personal level as well as hospitals and other medical institutions on the structural level. On the institutional level, the most obvious use of AI will be data management. It could also analyze entire health care systems quickly and easily.

AI will gradually appear in more and more hospitals and get through the initial stage very quickly. Although it is coming, it will need the medical community’s understanding, initiative (主动性) and drive for a better health care in order to work its best. If we introduced AI everywhere from Bolivia to Harvard, health care would not change a bit. There are many reasons for it but everyone in health care should play their part to improve those elements.

1. Why does the author refer to the stethoscope?

A．To show it has many limitations.

B．To imply it will give way to AI.

C．To explain it is widely used in treating disease.

D．To illustrate people refuse to accept new things.

2. How will AI influence physicians?

A．They needn’t do medical research.

B．They’ll spare more time for patients.

C．They’ll have difficulty with treatments.

D．They’re likely to lose their jobs to AI.

3. What does the author intend to convey in Paragraph 3?

A．AI will face uncertainties in the future.

B．Cognitive computers do better than man.

C．Existing health care has its disadvantages.

D．AI will open a new dimension for health care.

4. What will the following paragraph(s) probably talk about?

A．When health care will be improved.

B．How people can promote the change.

C．What benefits AI will bring about.

D．How AI will transform health care.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

As we all know, we all need blood. Actually, every three seconds, someone needs it. Whether it’s for having a baby or     1    (experience)an operation, blood saves millions of lives every year. But the trouble is that we can only get it from each other, which is why we all have a     2    (responsible)to donate blood. Almost 68 million people in the U.S alone     3    (donate)blood in the past few years. But where does all this blood go after it leaves your body? Let’s start at the post donation stage. First, test tubes of your blood     4    (send)to a lab to identify any diseases and the blood type. At the same time, your blood goes into a place where it’s separated into three different     5    (component): red blood cells，platelets and plasma. And each of these has a separate function. Red blood cells are what give your blood     6    (it)color and contain a protein which makes it easier for them     7    (transport)oxygen to and from your lungs. This is what is given to patients under operation or those     8    low blood cell counts. Platelets are the small parts of other cells and they are of great help for your blood to clot (凝结成块)properly. They’re     9    (common)used for cancer patients     10    have been affected by their chemical treatment.

8 . “Doc, my wife’s breast cancer has come back and spread to her bones”. My friend’s eyes filled with tears when he spoke those chilling words. Like millions of other cancer patients, his wife had been treated successfully. Cancer recurrence is never a good sign, but it doesn’t mean you have to give up hope. Over the past decade, powerful new treatments have been developed to fight most stubborn cancers. Most, however, are still being tested in so-called clinical trials, and getting yourself enrolled in one takes some doing.

Clinical trials are research studies on human patients to test the safety and effectiveness of new treatments. There are hundreds of clinical cancer trials under way, involving thousands of patients. What most people don’t realize is that the scientists who conduct these studies need test subjects almost as badly as the subjects need treatment, and that lately the scientists have been running short of willing participants. At a conference on clinical trials held recently in Alexandria, Virginia, researchers trying to devise strategies for signing up more patients noted that one of the reasons there has been so much progress in treating pediatric(小儿科的)cancers in the US over the past 20 years is that 60% of all children with cancer are enrolled in some kind of trial. With adults, enrollment falls off dramatically, to only 2% to 3% of eligible patients.

Why is this? Partly it’s owing to patient misconceptions. “Patients are concerned if they enter a clinical trial that they may be part of the unlucky group that gets the placebo or ‘dummy treatment’ and not the real medicine,” says Dr. Bob Comis, president of the National Cancer Cooperative Groups. They think the placebo group get no treatment at all, when in act it gets whatever is considered the best current standard of care.

Cost shouldn’t be a consideration. Most clinical trials are free to patients; some even pay their subjects. Insurance companies in the past have been reluctant to cover the non-experimental part of the treatment, but they are starting to come around.

Now it is true that research scientists don’t always have the best bedside manner, and sometimes they unnecessarily keep patients in the dark. And the consent forms are often so encrusted with medical jargon that some patients joke.

1. What is the writer’s general attitude towards cancer recurrence?

A．Sympathetic

B．frustrated

C．optimistic

D．discouraged

2. What can we learn about clinical cancer trials?

A．Some clinical trials show that new treatments are safe and effective.

B．The scientists are lacking in cancer patients in their clinical trials.

C．There is much progress in treating adults with cancer in clinical trials.

D．Researchers have found ways of curing 60% of all children with cancer.

3. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “dummy” in Paragraph 3?

A．Fee and effective	B．harmless but ineffective
C．free and harmful	D．expensive but effective

4. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this passage?

A．Cancer patients in clinical trials enjoy the best current standard of care.

B．Why adults with cancer are unwilling to sign up for clinical trials.

C．Clinical cancer trials are under way, though with some problems.

D．Cancer recurrence is curable in clinical trials.

10 . 语法填空，在空白处填入\适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In the 1940s, China     1     (report) 30 million cases of malaria (疟疾) each year. In the 1950s, Chinese health authorities began introducing measures to treat and prevent the disease. Now, after a 70-year campaign and more than four years of zero new cases, China is officially malaria free,     2     (recognize) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO gives malaria-free certificates (证明) to countries when they have presented that they’ve stopped nationwide spread     3     at least three continuous years. Countries also need to have monitoring and reacting systems in place     4     can prevent indigenous cases of the disease from coming back — indigenous in this case meaning infected (感染)     5     (local) from a native mosquito. Forty countries and regions     6     (give) the certificate so far, according to the WHO.

In the 1970s, through a government project, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou discovered artemisinin, the most     7     (power) anti-malaria drug.     8     breakthrough, based on traditional Chinese medicine, led to a Nobel Prize for Tu in 2015. “Over many decades, China’s ability     9     (think) outside the box served the country well in its own     10     (respond) to malaria, and also had a significant effect globally,” notes Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme.