1 . Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss in children. In all cases of amblyopia, there’s a stronger eye and a weaker eye, and it’s winner-take-all in the cortex (大脑皮层). The cortex learns to ignore the signal from the weaker eye. By ignoring the weaker eye, the brain doesn’t fuse (融合) images from both eyes. As a result, people with amblyopia can have trouble seeing in 3D.
In an attempt to solve this problem, doctors start treating patients with amblyopia at a young age, while their brain pathways are still developing. The children, usually under 7 years old, are often told to wear an eye patch over their strong eye to force the brain to rely on the weaker. But whenever the eye patch is removed, the competition can start over. For lasting improvement, new treatments need to teach the brain to stop suppressing (抑制) key visual cues coming from the weaker eye, says neuroscientist Dennis Levi of the University of California.
Now, several research teams are taking a new way that aims to get the brain to make better use of the information coming from both eyes, Several companies are working on treatments based on this new angle. One is called Luminopia.
Luminopia’s therapy involves having children watch videos through a virtual reality headset. As the children watch, the headset blocks out certain parts of the display for each eye, so the patients actually have to combine input from the two images to get the full video.
The company conducted a trial showing that children with amblyopia begin to see better on eye chart assessments after three months of one-hour sessions done six days a week, But they have yet to measure improvements in long-term effectiveness. It is believed that if people with amblyopia don’t learn to fuse signals from both eyes from a young age, they never will. So some scientists think attempting to treat adults, whose brains have suppressed signals from their weak eye for decades, is a lost cause.
1. Why does a person with amblyopia have trouble seeing in 3D?| A．His brain is unable to receive images. |
| B．His cortex overlooks signals from the weaker eye. |
| C．His stronger eye can’t send signals to the brain. |
| D．His weaker eye fails to receive signals. |
| A．Ineffective. | B．Temporary. |
| C．Wonderful. | D．Comprehensive. |
| A．Activating the weak eye to get the full video. |
| B．Forcing the brain to rely on the weaker eye. |
| C．Improving the situations with eye chart assessments. |
| D．Blocking out the images received from the stronger eye. |
| A．It has an instant effect. | B．Adults are is main targets. |
| C．More trials need to be conducted. | D．It has long-term effectiveness. |
2 . People in Australia have been really cautious about using natural or alternative treatments compared to other places, according to Dr. Paul Laver, a professor at the University of Sydney. He thinks this is because doctors in Australia have always been very powerful, and they are unwilling to let others take their place. In many other countries, regular treatments and these alternative treatments have worked closely together for a long time. For example, in Germany, medicines made from plants account for 10%of the country’s medicine sales. In the United States, more people visited these alternative therapists (治疗专家) than regular doctors in 1990.
During the past 20 years, more people in Australia have started to like these alternative treatments. In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people say they had contacted alternative therapists like chiropractors or herbalists. By 1990, this figure had risen to 2.6% of the population. Rather than criticizing this trend, increasing numbers of doctors in Australia, especially the younger ones, are starting to work with alternative therapists or take courses themselves, particularly in acupuncture and herbalism. Part of the motivation was financial, Dr Laver said. The bottom line is that most doctors don’t want to lose patients. If they see potential patients going elsewhere, they might want to be able to offer a similar service.
In 1993, Dr. Laver did a survey in Sydney and found that people who went to alternative health therapists were usually those who hadn’t been helped much by regular medicine. These people liked the holistic approach of their alternative therapists, and the friendly, concerned and detailed attention they had received, which they didn’t always get from regular doctors.
The survey suggested that people visited alternative therapists for various problems like muscle pains, stomach issues, and emotional stress etc. It suggested that calling it “complementary medicine” might be better because people use it alongside regular medicine, d especially when regular medicine doesn’t seem to help.
1. Traditionally, how have Australian doctors differed from doctors in other countries?| A．They’ve resisted alternative therapists. |
| B．They’ve provided alternative medicines. |
| C．They’ve worked with alternative therapists. |
| D．They’ve had less power than alternative therapists. |
| A．doctors’ salaries are decreasing | B．younger doctors are in more demand |
| C．doctors are receiving more complaints | D．doctors are choosing to learn new skills |
| A．Regular doctors were not available in their area. |
| B．People received more care from alternative therapists. |
| C．Alternative therapists had better medical equipment. |
| D．People paid much higher expenses for regular doctors. |
| A．Challenges Faced by Regular Doctors |
| B．The Rise of Alternative Therapies in Australia |
| C．Financial Motivation Behind Doctors’ Choices |
| D．The Development of Medical Practices Worldwide |
The centuries-old traditional Chinese medicine scraping (刮) massage, gua sha, has become a fashion among young people on the mainland! who show off the bruises (淤青) it creates.
Many shared
The meridians
The practice, also known as scraping and coining, is
The folk-treatment
Some describe gua sha as “the Chinese way to cure the stress from the workplace” saying the pain and stress that
1. What part of the man’s body is hurting?
| A．The top of his head. |
| B．The right side of his face. |
| C．The left side of his mouth. |
| A．To a hospital. |
| B．To a dentist’s office. |
| C．To his regular doctor’s office. |
| A．By bus. | B．By bike. | C．By car. |
5 . For decades, scientists thought of the brain as the most valuable and consequently most closely guarded part of the body. Locked safely behind the blood-brain barrier, it was broadly free of the harm of viruses and the battles started by the immune system (免疫系统). Then, about 20 years ago, some researchers began to wonder: is the brain really so separated from the body? The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is no.
The list of brain conditions that have been associated with changes elsewhere in the body is long and growing. Changes in the makeup of the microorganisms in the digestive system have been linked to disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. There is also a theory that infection during pregnancy could lead to brain diseases in babies.
The effect is two-way. There is a lengthening list of symptoms not typically viewed as disorders of the nervous system, but the brain plays a large part in them. For example, the development of a fever is influenced by a population of nerve cells that control body temperature and appetite. Evidence is mounting that cancers use nerves to grow and spread.
The interconnection between the brain and body has promising implications for our ability to both understand and treat illnesses. If some brain disorders start outside the brain, then perhaps treatments for them could also reach in from outside. Treatments that take effect through the digestive system, the heart or other organs, would be much easier and less risky than those that must cross the blood-brain barrier.
It also works in the opposite direction. Study shows mice have healthier hearts after receiving stimulation to a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Activation of the brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to cause immune changes that contribute to it. Working out how this happens could help to destroy cancers, enhance responses to vaccines and even re-evaluate physical diseases that, for centuries, have not been considered as being psychologically driven.
1. What do the researchers focus on about the brain?| A．Its protecting system. | B．Its exposure to diseases. |
| C．Its controlling function. | D．Its connection to the body. |
| A．By explaining a theory. | B．By providing examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By presenting cause and effect. |
| A．Cheaper. | B．More specific. |
| C．Safer. | D．More direct. |
| A．Brain health depends on immune changes. |
| B．Brain stimulation leads to negative emotions. |
| C．The brain can help enhance psychological health. |
| D．The brain may be key to treating physical diseases. |
6 . Growing up in a small village in Ghana, Osei Boateng watched many of his family members and neighbors struggle to access basic health care. In many regions of the country, it can take hours to get to the nearest hospital. “My grandmother was a very big part of my life,” said Boateng. “It was very hard when we lost her, and it was due to something that could have been easily prevented. That is the painful part of it.”
Feeling an urgent call to help, Boateng decided he would make it his life’s mission to bring health care to remote communities in Ghana. He started his nonprofit, OKB Hope Foundation, and in 2021, he converted a van into a mobile doctor’s office called the Hope Health Van and started bringing health care directly to those in need. A few times a week, the mobile clinic and medical team travel long distances to remote communities in Ghana and provide routine medical care for free. On each trip, Boateng’s team consists of a nurse, a physician’s assistant, a doctor, and an operation assistant. In the van, they can run basic labs like bloodwork and urinalysis as well as prescribe and provide medications.
Since its launch, Boateng says the Hope Health Van has served more than 4,000Ghanaians across more than 45 rural communities who otherwise don’t have easily accessible medical care.
Boateng has big plans for the future. He hopes to expand to provide more consistent and high-quality medical care not only to those living in remote areas of Ghana but in other countries as well. He has gone all in on his OKB Hope Foundation, recently quitting his job to dedicate his time to bringing health care to his home country. But for him, the sacrifices are well worth the reward.
1. Why is Boateng’s grandmother mentioned?| A．To show his deep love. | B．To highlight the poor health care. |
| C．To call for equality. | D．To blame the government. |
| A．Routine medical checks. | B．Prescribed medicine. |
| C．Minor operations. | D．Mental therapy. |
| A．Conservative and cautious. | B．Selfless and risky. |
| C．Caring and tolerant. | D．Devoted and ambitious. |
| A．Hopeless health care in Ghana | B．Nonprofit organizations booming in Ghana |
| C．Doctor’s office on wheels | D．Empowering medical schools |
7 . Occasionally, doctors become patients too. While I wouldn’t wish ill-health on anyone, it can be an inspiring lesson for medical professionals to suddenly be on the other side.
This happened to me a few months ago when I had a kidney stone, which had decided to make its unwelcome presence known in a rather romantic fashion just as I was going out for dinner. The pain came from absolutely nowhere but within minutes I was incapacitated. I was quite taken aback by how astonishingly painful it was.
As a doctor, I initially refused to believe that anything was seriously wrong, because I have witnessed countless individuals come to the emergency room convinced they are dying only for nothing more than trapped wind and then creep (蹑手蹑脚) out as they burp (打嗝) loudly and the pain disappears. However, the unbearable pain continued to exist, forcing me to acknowledge that this was indeed more than just a stubborn burp,
I was particularly pleased to read afterwards in a medical textbook that renal colic, as the pain is known, is the “most painful event a person can endure, often described as being worse than childbirth”. It’s no wonder chronic (慢性的) pain drives people mad. While doctors talk about pain and its management, it’s hard to put into words how exhausting it really is until you’ve experienced it for yourself.
During my time in hospital, I interacted with numerous doctors, each exhibiting professionalism and kindness but one stuck out in my mind. He was actually the most junior of them all, but something about his manner was incredibly calming and comforting. Whenever he came to my bed to speak to me, he knelt down so he was at my eye level. This simple act rid me of the stress that other healthcare professionals unintentionally projected. Just kneeling down made all the difference.
Experiencing the role reversal of doctor-turned-patient provided me with profound insights into the realities of pain and effective patient care.
1. What does the underlined phrase taken aback in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Shocked. | B．Impressed. | C．Annoyed. | D．Moved. |
| A．Pitiful. | B．Understandable. | C．Embarrassing. | D．Ridiculous. |
| A．The intense pain caused by the kidney stone. | B．A small gesture bringing ease and relief. |
| C．Stress caused by the healthcare workers. | D．Doctors with professionalism and kindness. |
| A．Experience must be bought. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. | D．Health is not valued till sickness comes. |
Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese medical practice, has been the remedy for
As an ancient Chinese medical practice with a rich history and deep cultural significance, acupuncture is an embodiment of profound cultural heritage and a holistic path to healing.
9 . Healthy human skin is covered with bacteria (细菌) that are quick to settle in an open wound. To prevent these organisms from spreading through the body, which can permanently injure or kill a person, the infected wound may need to be cleaned and treated with antibiotics. Medical professionals typically identify infections by unwrapping and observing a wound or by swabbing (用拭子擦拭) it and conducting a laboratory test. But removing a wound dressing can slow down the healing process. Plus, observations are subjective, while swab tests take time and require that a patient be physically present.
To address these issues, some research teams are developing devices that sit under bandages and continuously monitor indirect signs of infection, such as changes in wound temperature or acidity. And scientists at the National University of Singapore have now created an even more direct infection sensor.
This sensor can detect an enzyme (酶) called DNase. The enzyme acts as a reliable infection indicator because disease-causing bacteria produce it in large amounts inside wounds, whereas bacteria on healthy skin do not—so testing for the substance reduces the chance of a false positive result. Furthermore, DNase builds up before other infection signs appear. The new alert system, nicknamed the“wireless infection detection on wounds” (WINDOW) sensor, was detailed in Science Advances.
WINDOWs enzyme-sensing parts rely on a material called DNAgel. There searchers developed a particular kind of DNAgel that remains stable in watery environments, such as the human body, but begins to break down in the presence of DNase. They connected this gel (凝胶) to a chip that senses when the gel responds by sending a signal to a smartphone.
Thus far, the team has exposed the DNAgel to wound swabs from 18 people’s wounds to see how much the material degraded in the presence of the bacteria. There searchers also used the device on six living lab mice whose wounds were exposed to the same bacterial species, and it successfully detected infections.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The harm of common wounds. |
| B．The treatment of infected wounds. |
| C．The intervention on wound healing. |
| D．The dilemma of infection observation. |
| A．By comparing wound acidity. |
| B．By detecting the DNase enzyme. |
| C．By measuring the bacteria amount. |
| D．By observing changes in wound color. |
| A．It will cut down the length of infection-treating. |
| B．It could reduce the cost of infection observation. |
| C．It can monitor wounds continuously and remotely. |
| D．It might help conduct laboratory tests on wounds. |
| A．Innovations in Wound Infection Detection |
| B．Removing the Dangers of Open Wounds |
| C．Recognizing the Role of DNase in Healing |
| D．Challenges in Wound Care and Treatment |
10 . These days, James, the retired carpenter, 74, even though he suffers from a severe disease, doesn’t want to go to a hospital. And he doesn’t need to. The reason: James now gets his care from Mercy Virtual Care Center some 50 miles away.
Equipped with an iPad and devices such as a blood pressure monitor and scale that stream his vital signs and other data from his home to the Center, James and his doctors have been able to detect small health shifts in time to prevent a worse condition.“We can trend the data on a daily basis and intervene in many cases even before patients experience symptoms (症状),” says Gavin Helton, Mercy’s medical director.
James and his Mercy team are pioneers in the next big thing in telemedicine, the virtual care clinic whose doctors and nurses provide the major care from miles away. Virtual care itself isn’t new: For a number of years, hospitals have contracted with remote critical care specialists to monitor their ICU patients and have relied on teleconsults with specialists to provide guidance or second opinions. But Mercy Virtual takes the concept to a whole other level.
The 125,000-square-foot facility has no waiting rooms, hospital beds or patients on site. Instead, it houses more than 300 medical professionals who sit in front of monitors and computer displays,watching over the care of patients at 38 hospitals. In addition to internists (重症医师) who observe patients at distant ICU, neurologists (神经学家) provide guidance on stroke treatment to community hospitals. A team of virtual hospitals orders and reads tests, and nurses deal with questions about everything from nosebleeds to infections. Other clinicians, like James’ doctors, stay in near continuous touch with patients at home.
The concept is working. Death rate in the ICU “is trending 40 percent less than predicted,” says Moore, Mercy Virtual’s president. “By virtually monitoring ICUs 24/7, we’re getting to problems earlier.” The result, he says, is that Mercy in the past year sent home 1,000 ICU patients who otherwise would have been expected to die and saved $40 million.
1. Why needn’t James visit a hospital any more?| A．He gets virtual care. | B．He dislikes hospitals. |
| C．He has fully recovered. | D．He lives too far away |
| A．To detect emergencies. | B．To track his health data. |
| C．To contact his doctors. | D．To monitor his daily activities |
| A．To house medical professionals. |
| B．To provide guidance on critical diseases. |
| C．To improve treatment through technology. |
| D．To offer medical help and observation virtually. |
| A．Health Care Program: Ways to Develop it. |
| B．Virtual Care Clinics: the Wave of the Future. |
| C．Avoiding Hospitals: James’ Treatment Journey. |
| D．Mercy Virtual Care Center: Challenges it Faces |
