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 . 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. |
3 . Many of us remember the feeling of having our braces (牙套) regularly adjusted and retightened at the dentist’s. And interventions are based entirely upon the estimate of dentists and involve a great deal of trial and error, which can lead to too many visits to the dentist’s.
Professor Erleben and his team created a computer model that creates accurate 3D simulations (模拟) of an individual patient’s jaw, which dentists can use to predict how sets of braces should be designed to best straighten a patient’s teeth and plan the best possible treatment. To create these simulations, the computer model was used to map sets of human teeth after getting detailed CT images of teeth and the small, fine structures between the jawbone and the teeth. This type of precise digital simulation is referred to as a digital twin, a virtual model that lives in the cloud.
The virtual model can answer what’s happening in the real world, and do so instantly. For example, one can ask what would happen if you pushed on one tooth and get answers with regards to where it would move and how it would affect other teeth. The model also helps to predict the post treatment effect, achieve “visualization” of treatment, and facilitate patients to understand the plan of straightening their teeth. What’s more, it has enabled more flexible and convenient digital medical follow-up services.
The area of research that uses digital twins is relatively new. “However, we need to set up a sufficiently big database if digital twins are to really take root and benefit the healthcare industry,” Erleben said, “In the future, the virtual model can be used to plan, design and improve, and can therefore be used to operate companies, robots, factories and used much more in the energy, healthcare and other fields.”
1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The professional integrity of dentists. | B．The current state of dental treatment. |
| C．The procedure of retightening braces. | D．The intervention of modern technology. |
| A．Predicting treatment effect. | B．Designing a computer model. |
| C．Drawing the shape of a mouth. | D．Obtaining the details of teeth. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Curious. | C．Favorable. | D．Dismissive. |
| A．Why digital twins make a hit | B．Where virtual treatment goes |
| C．What trouble dentists encounter | D．How a virtual model aids dentists |
4 . Using a headset at home to deliver a low electrical current to the brain can relieve symptoms of depression. The approach, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is effective when used several times a week for half an hour at a time.
Previous trials have shown that the therapy works under medical supervision in a clinic or lab. Now, a randomised trial has demonstrated that a tDCS headset can also reduce depression symptoms when worn at home.
Several forms of electrical brain stimulation may have the potential to treat depression. With tDCS, sponge electrodes are placed on the left and right sides of the forehead, causing a mild current to flow from the left to the right. This makes brain cells on the left side more likely to fire, with some studies suggesting that activity in this region is low in people with depression.
Repeated sessions of stimulation may lead to longer term changes in the brain cells, increasing their activity levels, says team member Cynthia Fu at the University of East London. Affecting activity in this region probably alters activity in multiple areas, she says. “There are probably many brain regions causing depression.”
To see if people can benefit from using such a device at home, the team randomly assigned 174 people with moderate or severe depression to receive either a full session of stimulation from the headset or stimulation from the same device that lasted just a few seconds. People felt their skin aching at the start and end of each session.
While the depression symptoms of both groups improved on a 52-point scale, those who got the real treatment showed the most benefit, by about 9 points compared with 7, a degree of difference that is similar to that seen with antidepressants (抗抑郁药), “We found people liked having it at home,” says Fu. “Participants could build it into their day.”
1. What is the function of the headset?| A．Curing depression in patients. | B．Testing the degree of depression. |
| C．Adjusting brain’s electrical current. | D．Reducing symptoms of depression. |
| A．By making the left-brain cells active. | B．By causing a strong electrical current. |
| C．By changing the brain wave’s direction. | D．By stimulating all brain regions repeatedly. |
| A．Monitors. | B．Disturbs. | C．Limits. | D．Changes. |
| A．They feel relieved to some extent. | B．They remain relaxed in the session. |
| C．They use different kinds of headsets. | D．They are bound to rely on the headsets. |
5 . With the development of the Internet, many of our activities take place online. Medicine is no exception. Patients can visit doctors by phone call and video chat. Online searches for telehealth increased sharply.
Online visits are best suited to simple tasks, like refilling prescriptions (doctor’s orders), as well as diagnosing (诊断) and treating conditions that rely on a doctor’s sense of sight — pink eye, rashes, etc. — or a patient’s description of symptoms, such as back pain. Telehealth also works better at monitoring chronic (慢性的) conditions, such as congestive heart failure, where doctors don’t need to provide a new diagnosis but simply check up on patients, monitor symptoms and discuss the side effects of medication. Diabetes (糖尿病) is also a good fit: people can upload blood sugar levels, dosing, and other information for a doctor to review electronically.
Mental health service is easy to access digitally, too, though it comes with advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, doctors may not be able to see body language, which can sometimes be a clue to understanding a client’s well being, and a poor Internet connection can be particularly unfavorable during a difficult conversation. On the other hand, there are patients who like it better. “Some health care providers even say having that extra bit of distance makes people more honest and less stressed to talk about difficult topics,” says Annette Totten, a professor who has studied telehealth.
When done right, Totten’s research shows telehealth benefits both health care providers and patients. It can significantly reduce hospital admissions, which frees beds for people in need of special care. And it’s a lot more convenient for patients, adds Michelle Greiver, a family doctor.
1. How is the medicine industry changing?| A．convenient | B．popular | C．difficult | D．digital |
| A．Heart attack | B．High fever | C．Uncomfortable eye | D．Back injury |
| A．Because it reduces their pressure. |
| B．Because it saves them transportation cost. |
| C．Because it saves them time on the road. |
| D．Because it makes it easier for them to contact the doctor. |
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．application | B．effects | C．development | D．advantages |
6 . In the not-so-distant future, the doctors who treat our diseases might be tiny machines that swim through our bodies. Movies like Fantastic Voyage have long played with the idea of making machines the size of a single cell (细胞) — today advances in robotics have brought the idea ever closer to reality. In my lab, I’m just trying to build such intelligent, or smart, microrobots.
Tiny organisms (living things) , such as bacteria (细菌), have many intelligent behaviors, and if we can make robots copy some of them, it’s very exciting. The way bacteria travel across their environment is unbelievable. At first, they kind of just aimlessly move around, but when they start sensing food, like an amino acid (氨基酸) they will move gradually in that direction. As a roboticist, you could imagine making tiny robots that can do the same thing.
For example, look at something like E. coli (大肠杆菌). It has receptors on its surface that can sense amino acids around it. It can change how it’s moving. It can rebuild or repair itself. In fact, E.coli does all these sowell that some researchers are using it as part of their tiny machines. They are having their microrobots get free rides from it, and letting it do all the sensing for them and direct their movements.
We’re already using smaller and smaller medical tools for operations, like catheters (long thin pipes) that can travel deep into your brain to treat a tumor (肿瘤) or a blood clot. Next, we will put microrobots into the body that can travel into even smaller spaces and treat disease at an early stage. Imagine a device that can treat a blood clot deep in your brain that can’t be reached with existing catheters.
It’s important to note, though, that we may not actually need something as powerful as artificial intelligence (AI) in these cases. You can still build an extremely useful microrobot with a low degree of intelligence. For example: If a microrobot notices a tumor, it can slowly move in that direction, and carry medicine directly to that part. It might only have the intelligence of bacteria but could still be unbelievably effective.
1. Which of the following inspires the author’s work?| A．Bacteria’s ability to stay alive. | B．Movies about tiny machines. |
| C．Tiny organisms’ behaviors. | D．New advances in robotics. |
| A．Letting E.coli work for their tiny robots. | B．Using microrobots to sense amino acids. |
| C．Asking robots to direct bacteria’s movements. | D．Changing tiny machines into bacteria’s drivers. |
| A．They are unlikely to be widely used by doctors. |
| B．They are unable to get to tinier areas in the body. |
| C．They will be smaller than microrobots in the future. |
| D．They can help doctors treat disease at an earlier stage. |
| A．To show microrobots can treat tumors very easily. |
| B．To show AIs important role in developing tiny robots. |
| C．To explain the connection between AI and microrobots. |
| D．To explain limited intelligence is enough for microrobots. |
7 . A lack of scientific evidence has led some to question whether herbs used in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) actually relieve people’s illnesses. A new study, published in the journal Science Advances, might start to challenge that view. Scientists have developed a new tool that could be used to predict the effectiveness of these herbs. They’ve begun to confirm some of its predictions using clinical data from patients treated in a traditional Chinese medicine hospital.
“To our knowledge, this is the first scientific theory to explain how a traditional medicine system works,” lead study author Xiao Gan, a researcher at the Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology in China said.
In the new study, the authors looked at genes (基因) thought to be responsible for causing specific symptoms (症状) of disease. They relied on an already published dataset that connected the dots between disease symptoms and the underlying genes and proteins that give rise to those illnesses. Pulling this data together, the researchers were able to score how well these herbs might relieve specific symptoms of the disease. These scores were based on how close the herbs’ target proteins were to the proteins associated with various symptoms.
The authors then compared their predictions to herbs recognized by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as effective against specific disease symptoms. They also used the model to review prescriptions(处方) that patients at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan received while being treated for liver disease. Gan said the herbs that they identified as effective from the two data sources supported their model’s predictions. The authors also used their model to identify potential new applications for the herbs, beyond what’s already recommended by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Testing natural products in clinical trials can be costly, so it is helpful to use computer simulations (模拟) to identify potential drug targets, said Xiang-Qun Xie, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Xie pointed out more data are needed to support these findings and that it would be useful to study how TCM herbs and modern medications may interact in patients who take them at the same time.
1. What is the purpose of the new study?| A．To study the side effects of TCM herbs. |
| B．To analyze the genetic makeup of TCM herbs. |
| C．To forecast the effectiveness of TCM herbs. |
| D．To compare TCM herbs with modern medications. |
| A．By analyzing their chemical makeup. |
| B．By carrying out clinical trials on patients. |
| C．By asking patients about their experiences of using them. |
| D．By comparing their target proteins with disease-related proteins. |
| A．Some TCM herbs tested by the model are rarely used. |
| B．The model may be used to develop new medicines. |
| C．The data sources used by the model are not big enough. |
| D．More models should be created to review prescriptions. |
| A．Researchers should try to cut the cost of their study. |
| B．It is necessary to find new ways to figure out potential drug targets. |
| C．The weaknesses of computer simulations in drug development are ignored. |
| D．The interaction between TCM herbs and modern medications needs to be studied. |
8 . A man with advanced Parkinson’s disease (帕金森氏症) is now able to walk almost normally again thanks to electrodes implanted (电极植入) in his spinal cord (脊椎), researchers said on Monday. The medical first was achieved by Swiss researchers who had previously pioneered similar breakthroughs to help disabled people walk again.
“This could be a game-changing technology to help bring back movement in people with advanced Parkinson’s,” said David Dexter, research director at Parkinson’s UK.
Marc Gauthier, the 62-year-old patient who lives in France, has suffered from the brain disorder for about 30 years. Like more than 90 percent of people with advanced Parkinson’s, Mar c has had great difficulty walking. What are known as “freezing” experiences — during which patients are unable to move for a limited time, putting them at risk of falling — are particularly awful, Marc told AFP.
Much remains unknown about Parkinson’s disease, making treatment difficult. But the disease can seriously affect the lives of patients, sometimes keeping them to bed or a wheelchair. So when the opportunity came to go through an operation in Switzerland, Marc gladly accepted the chance.
“Now I can do whatever I want,” Marc says. “I can go for a walk and go out shopping by myself.” He adds that he can now walk much more easily — he is even planning a trip to Brazil — but it still requires concentration, particularly when climbing upstairs.
The Swiss team, led by surgeon Jocelyne Bloch and neuroscientist Gregoire Courtine , implanted a complex system of electrodes called a “neuroprosthesis (神经假体)” at important points along Marc’s spinal cord. The neuroprosthesis was first tested on animals, and then implanted in Marc, who has used it for roughly eight hours a day over nearly two years.
The Swiss team has expanded their experiment to a group of six Parkinson’s patients, aiming to know how it could help others, given the disease affects people in different ways. However, treatment using the implant could be quite expensive, potentially limiting how many patients would have access.
1. What is David Dexter’s attitude to the Swiss breakthrough?| A．Unconcerned. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Volunteer as a tour guide in Brazil. | B．Run to his heart’s content. |
| C．Go to the supermarket alone. | D．Make a phone call while climbing the stairs. |
| A．It was first tested on Marc Gauthier. | B．It is hardly affordable for ordinary people. |
| C．It has been performed on many patients. | D．It was done by researchers in the UK. |
| A．A Spinal Implant Allows a Parkinson’s Patient to Walk Again |
| B．Parkinson’s Patients Have to Deal With Difficulties in Life |
| C．Swiss Experts Have Created a Drug to Treat Parkinson’s |
| D．New Technology Prevents People From Developing Parkinson’s |
9 . Shenzhen in Guangdong province has become the first city in China to allow specialist nurses to prescribe (开药方) selected drugs and order tests, in a move that is expected to increase efficiencies in the healthcare system and reduce the patient-load burden on physicians.
Under a new rule in October that took effect in January, eligible nurses will be permitted to order examinations, treatments considering their expert skills and knowledge of specialist nursing or community healthcare. Their prescriptions must be based on existing diagnoses (诊断) made by physicians.
To become a nursing specialist, applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, five years of working experience, obtained an advanced nursing qualification and have attended a months-long specialist training program and passed a final test.
“Medical institutions must review inappropriate prescriptions given by nurses,” said the regulation. “Nursing specialists who are found to have given three or more improper prescriptions will have their prescribing power stopped for three to six months and will have to undergo retraining before regaining the authorization,” it added.
“Considering the difference in professional positioning, medical education background and work experience between physicians and nurses, it is necessary to fully analyze the necessity and practicability of the nurses’ prescriptive authority,” the commission said.
Zhou Wensi has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and is now a specialist nurse in periodontitis (牙周炎) , or gum disease, at Shenzhen Stomatology Hospital in the city’s Pingshan district.
“Our hospital has not begun allowing us to prescribe. If the rule goes into effect in the future, we’ll likely be able to directly prescribe mouthwash, anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers to patients,” she said.
However, she also noted that most patients visiting the hospital are in need of treatment delivered by doctors with assistance from nurses like her, so the new regulation is not expected to have a major impact.
1. Why does Shenzhen give permission for specialist nurses’ special rights?| A．To improve the overall ability of the specialist nurses. |
| B．To speed up the development of the healthcare system. |
| C．To enhance the work efficiency and lighten doctors’ load. |
| D．To respond to the demands of doctors, nurses and patients. |
| A．well-recognized | B．Qualified | C．flexible | D．hard-working |
| A．A specialist nurse should follow the rules strictly. |
| B．No institutions take charge of the prescriptions . |
| C．Not all specialist nurses can prescribe drugs freely . |
| D．A specialist nurse always has the prescribing power. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Indifferent. | C．Neutral. | D．Hopeful. |
10 . Medical artificial intelligence (AI) can perform with expert-level accuracy and deliver cost-effective care. IBM’s Watson diagnoses (诊断) heart disease better than cardiologists (心脏病专家) do. Chatbots give better medical advice to patients in place of nurses. Some forecast that medical AI will enter 90% of hospitals and replace as much as 80% of what doctors currently do. Yet, as our recent research suggests, patients show a strong resistance to medical AI.
The reason, we found, is not the belief that AI provides lower care. Nor is it that patients think that AI is more costly or less informative. Rather, resistance to medical AI seems to come from a belief that AI does not take into account one’s specific circumstances. People view themselves as unique. By contrast, they think medical care delivered by AI providers is suited to treat an average patient but unsuitable to account for the unique circumstances that apply to an individual. No wonder that medical AI providers are given a cold welcome.
There are a number of steps that care providers can take to overcome patients’ resistance to medical AI. For example, if an AI provider is capable of tailoring its recommendation for whether to have a surgery to each patient’s unique characteristics and medical history, patients would be likely to follow the treatment recommendations of the AI provider. In addition, health care providers could also deliver individualized health care by explaining how the algorithms (算法) work and sharing patients’ reviews with the media. Having a physician confirm the recommendation of an AI provider should make people more willing to accept AI-based care. People are comfortable using medical AI if a physician remains in charge of the ultimate decision.
AI-based health care technologies are being developed and employed at an impressive rate, providing better medical services for the patients. But harnessing the full potential of them will require that we first overcome patients’ doubt of having an algorithm, rather than a person making decisions about their care.
1. What made people resist the medical AI?| A．A sufferer’s temper ignored by medical AI. |
| B．People’s lasting trust in a human doctor’s ability. |
| C．The concern about its personalization in treatment. |
| D．The accuracy of the information from medical AI. |
| A．Treating sufferers as average patients. |
| B．Providing a more specific treatment. |
| C．Getting the algorithms prioritized in time. |
| D．Keeping away from the influence of a physician. |
| A．Weakening. | B．Storing. | C．Destroying. | D．Using. |
| A．Advantages of Medical AI |
| B．Potential Application of AI |
| C．How AI Replaces Nurses in Healthcare |
| D．The Challenge That Medical AI Faces |
