1 . LONDON—A smart toilet could offer a mini health check every time you take a seat, scientists said recently, but privacy campaigners and potential users said the idea sat uncomfortably with them.
The device would identify users through an anal(肛门) scan using a camera fitted under the seat before checking their waste for disease markers, including early signs of cancer, says the US-led team who developed the prototype(原型).
“We know it seems strange, but as it turns out, your anal print is unique,” said Sanjiv Gambhir, a radiology professor at Stanford University, who led work on the project. “The smart toilet is the perfect way to make use of a source of data that’s typically ignored,” Gambhir said. “Everyone uses the bathroom—there’s really no avoiding it—and that enhances its value as a disease-detecting device.”
A set of devices fitted inside the toilet bowl identifies the users and monitors their waste for signs of ill health which could be shared with their doctors, researchers said in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. Such devices could become common place in homes, said Gambhir, as consumers accept health monitoring tools like smartwatches and internet-connected home devices. But many were concerned about releasing their privacy, the researchers found following a 300-person survey to assess acceptance. Three in ten respondents said they would not want to use a smart toilet, with only about half reporting they would be “somewhat” or “very” comfortable with it. The most commonly reported concerns were over privacy and data security, found researchers, who said information gathered would be stored in a secure, cloud-based system.
Despite those assurances, privacy campaigners expressed fears about security problems. “Health data contains the most sensitive and revealing information about anyone,” said Edin Omanovic, advocacy director at London-based charity Privacy International. “Linking it to someone’s biometric ID risks exposing private details to third parties, either through data sharing or security drawbacks which leave back doors exposed.”
1. What does this smart toilet use to detect disease?| A．A smartwatch. | B．A seat. |
| C．A cloud-based system. | D．A camera. |
| A．They are widely accepted. |
| B．Gamhhir has confidence in their future. |
| C．Their function has been improved recently. |
| D．Signs of illness can he removed through them. |
| A．It needn’t be taken seriously. | B．It will be treated properly. |
| C．It may not be shared publicly. | D．It can be exposed illegally. |
| A．The use of a smart toilet | B．The value of a smart toilet |
| C．A smart toilet without privacy | D．A smart toilet with good intention |
1. Why is the man making the call?
| A．To change the medicine. |
| B．To make an appointment. |
| C．To know about the meeting. |
| A．Go to Dr. Lee's office. |
| B．Get in touch with Dr. Johnson. |
| C．Put the man through to Dr. Lee. |
3 . Did you know it’s possible to swim with whales in the ocean while lying on a hospital bed? Have you imagined experiencing your 74th birthday as a 20-something? Medical virtual reality is an area with interesting an attractive possibilities. Although the field is brand new, there are already great examples of VR having a positive effect on health care. Here are some.
Have you ever lain down on a hospital bed counting the days until you leave the hospital? Brennan Spiegel and his team at the Cedarssinai hospital in Los Angeles introduced VR worlds to their patients to help them reduce stress and pain. With the special glasses, they could escape the four walls of the hospital and enjoy amazing scenery in part in the work of an art studio or swim together with whales in the ocean. So the hospital experience is improved.
As we know, the experience in a hospital is even more stressful for small children who miss their parents and friends. Now, a Dutch company made their dream possible. Through a smart and virtual glasses, VisitU makes live contact possible with a 360-degree camera at the patients’ home, school or special occasions like a birthday celebration or a football game. Though staying in hospital, young patients can relax and still enjoy their lives.
Did you wonder what it feels like to grow old? Embodied Labs created “We Are Alfred” by using VR to show young medical students what ageing means. Everyone can be the imagined Alfred for 7 minutes, and experience what it feels like to live as a 74-year-old man. Thus it's possible to solve the disconnection between young doctors and elderly patients due to their huge age difference.
Mindmotionpro, produced by the Swiss Mindmaze allows patients with a brain injury to “practice” how to lift their arms or move their fingers with the help of virtual reality. The app makes the practice of repetitive movements fun for patients. The mental effort helps their damaged nervous systems to recover much faster than lying helplessly in bed.
1. What is implied in the questions raised in paragraph 1?| A．The characters of medical VR. | B．The function of medical VR. |
| C．The popularity of medical VR. | D．The imagination about medical VR. |
| A．Being given a smart phone. | B．Having fun in the hospital. |
| C．Having access to various activities. | D．Being together with familiar people. |
| A．To make doctors trust their patients |
| B．To help young doctors know much about elderly patients . |
| C．To increase doctors’ interest in their work . |
| D．To help doctors experience the life of an elder. |
| A．Spiegel’ special glasses. | B．The application of VisitU. |
| C．The use of MindMotionPro. | D．The creation of “We Are Alfred”. |
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. |
5 . People have different ways of dealing with a common cold. Some take over the counter medicines such as aspirin while others try popular home remedies(治疗) like herbal tea or chicken soup. Yet here is the tough truth about the common cold: nothing really cures it.
So why do people sometimes believe that their remedies work? According to James Taylor, professor at the University of Washington, colds usually go away on their own in about a week, improving a little each day after symptoms peak, so it's easy to believe it's medicine rather than time that deserves the credit, USA Today reported.
It still seems hard to believe that we can deal with more serious diseases yet are powerless against something so common as a cold. Recently, scientists came closer to figure out why. To understand it, you first need to know how antiviral drugs work. They attack the virus by attaching to and changing the surface structures of the virus. To do that, the drug must fit and lock into the virus like the right piece of a jigsaw(拼图), which means scientists have to identify the virus and build a 3D model to study its surface before they can design an antiviral drug that is effective enough.
The two cold viruses that scientists had long known about were rhinovirus(鼻病毒) A and B. But they didn't find out about the existence of a third virus, rhinovirus C, until 2006. All three of them contribute to the common cold, but drugs that work well against rhinovirus A and B have little effect when used against rhinovirus C.
''This explains most of the previous failures of drug trials against rhinoviruses,'' study leader Professor Ann C. Palmenberg at the University of Wiscons in Madison, US, told Science Daily.
Now, more than 10 years after the discovery of rhinovirus C, scientists have finally built a highly detailed 3D model of the virus, showing that the surface of the virus is, as expected, different from that of other cold viruses.
With the model in hand, hopefully a real cure for a common cold is on its way. Soon, we may no longer have to waste our money on medicines that don't really work.
1. What does the author think of popular remedies for a common cold?| A．They are quite effective. | B．They are slightly helpful. |
| C．They actually have no effect. | D．They still need to be improved. |
| A．By breaking up cold viruses directly. |
| B．By changing the surface structures of the cold viruses. |
| C．By preventing colds from developing into serious diseases. |
| D．By absorbing different kinds of cold viruses at the same time. |
| A．The surface of cold viruses looks quite similar. |
| B．Scientists have already found a cure for the common cold. |
| C．Scientists were not aware of the existence of rhinovirus C until recently. |
| D．Knowing the structure of cold viruses is the key to developing an effective cure. |
| A．Drugs against cold viruses | B．Helpful home remedies |
| C．No current cure for common cold | D．Research on cold viruses |
6 . Art—no matter whether you choose to create it yourself or simply observe and enjoy it—is a relaxing and inspiring activity for many people. However, the particular benefits of artistic expression go much further.
Studies suggest that art therapy (疗法) can be very valuable in treating issues such as depression and anxiety disorder. It is a great way to express your emotions without words, process complex feelings and find relief.
You don’t necessarily have to see a therapist in order to experience some of the benefits of artistic expression. There are many simple activities you can try from the comfort of your home such as art journaling, drawing, making collections, sculpting with clay, etc. It doesn’t matter what media you choose. The only thing that matters is that you feel comfortable using it. Human beings are naturally creative, and all you need to do to complete an art therapy activity successfully is to be with yourself and your emotions. Once you free your creativity, your inner artist will quickly wake up.
However, working with a licensed therapist also has its advantage because a professional can tailor each activity to your own needs. If the activities are done in a group, they are excellent for building healthy connections with other people, which may be very helpful if you are fighting depression.
Experts agree that art therapy has many benefits, from promoting your self-respect, and providing you a safe outlet to relieve your emotions, to giving you a sense of control over your life and helping you to get to know and understand yourself better. During the process of art creation, you will be taking yourself on a journey of self-discovery that will help you get rid of emotional roadblocks, and learn how to communicate with yourself and others.
1. To complete an art therapy successfully, you have to ______.| A．be talented for art | B．see a therapist |
| C．choose a special media | D．accept yourself |
| A．The activities are tailored to one’s own needs. | B．The activities are inspiring. |
| C．The activities are comforting. | D．The activities promote communication. |
| A．explain the advantages of art therapy |
| B．give some advice about promoting your self-respect |
| C．provide an approach to relieve your emotions |
| D．summarize the process of art creation |
| A．How to develop drawing skills. |
| B．How to wake up art creativity. |
| C．Art therapy is a great way to treat mental health. |
| D．Art can be used to learn how to communicate with oneself. |
7 . Sam is a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School，but poetry is still a big part of his life，now with a new teacher，Rafael Campo，who believes poetry can benefit every doctor’s education and work. Rafael is a physician，professor and a highly respected poet.
“Poetry is in every encounter(邂逅)with my patients. I think healing is really in a very great way about poetry. And if we do anything when we’re with our patients，we’re really immersing(使沉浸于)ourselves in their stories，really hearing their voices. And，certainly，that’s what a poem does，”he said.
Rafael worries that something important has been lost in medicine and medical education today：humanity，which he finds in poetry. To end that，he leads a weekly reading and writing workshop for medical students and residents(住院医生).
He thinks medical training focuses too much on distancing the doctor from his or her patients，and poems can help close that gap.
Third-year resident Andrea Schwartz was one of the workshop regulars. She said. “I think there’s no other profession other than medicine that produces as many writers as it does. And I think that is because there’s just so much power in doctors and patients interacting when patients are at their saddest. ”Not everyone believes that’s what doctors should do，though.
Rafael said，“I was afraid of how people might judge me，actually. In the medical profession，as many people know，we must always put the emergency first. But，you know，that kind of treatment，if it’s happening in the hospital，very regrettably，sadly，results in a bad outcome. The family is sitting by the bedside. The patient hasn’t survived the cancer. Don’t we still have a role as healers there?”
In a poem titled“Health”，Rafael writes of the wish to live forever in a world made painless by our incurable joy. He says he will continue teaching students，helping patients and writing poems，his own brand of medicine.
1. What do we know about Rafael Campo?| A．He works as a doctor. | B．He is under medical care. |
| C．He is a literature professor. | D．He knows little about poetry. |
| A．The importance of medical training. |
| B．The effect of poetry in medical treatment. |
| C．The similarity involved in poetry and medical work. |
| D．The present relationship between patients and doctors. |
| A．It comforts patients’family. |
| B．It contributes to medical work. |
| C．It has nothing to do with doctors. |
| D．It keeps doctors away from patients. |
| A．It requires a lot of spare time. |
| B．It can provide a useful tool for doctors. |
| C．It has little effect on patients’conditions. |
| D．It should be included in emergency treatments. |
8 . Sometimes when we are in our darkest hour, something completely unexpected happens that can give us a little bit of hope and comfort.
Jessica was a healthy woman. One day, she woke up and something was not right. After she was sent to the hospital, her heart rate slowed by nearly 50 percent. It took nine days for doctors to zero in on what was causing her problem.
After several weeks, Jessica was able to move her lips. Staff noticed this and introduced Jessica to Consuelo Gonzalez, a professional lip reader. Consuelo can understand what people are saying by the shape their lips make. She can also understand how annoying it is to not be able to communicate because she has been completely deaf since the age of 8.
For a few hours each week, Jessica could have long conversations with Consuelo, diving into the ocean of words she dearly missed. Through Consuelo, Jessica asked the doctors and nurses questions she had long wanted answers to. She also talked to Consuelo about the vivid dreams she was mixing up with reality.
In fact, there are other ways for Consuelo to earn a living by reading lips, but she says helping patients separate horrible dreams from reality is the most rewarding way she can use her unique skill. “What is really wonderful is being able to use this skill to create healing and to create communication between human beings. That’s what feels good. That’s what’s the best: Love.”
After four and a half months in the hospital, Jessica finally recovered. Consuelo was there, holding Jessica’s hands. Jessica eventually went back to work as a math professor. After her experience she wrote a new living will. One thing she added is that if she ever becomes incapacitated like this again, she is never to be left alone.
1. What did Consuelo do for Jessica?| A．She cured Jessica’s heart disease. |
| B．She helped Jessica communicate. |
| C．She taught Jessica how to read lips. |
| D．She made Jessica’s dream come true. |
| A．Horrible. | B．Confident. | C．Worried. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Seriously ill. | B．Desperately lonely. |
| C．Less reliable. | D．More fortunate. |
| A．A close friendship. | B．A good living will. |
| C．An unusual skill. | D．A new treatment. |
Natural herbal medicines have been a part of the medicine world for a long time, and different cultures have used them in
The main purpose of natural Herbal medicines is to help the body return to its normal state so that it can be restored
Despite many advantages of natural herbal medicines, you should take something
10 . Aging happens to all of us, and is generally thought as a natural part of life. It would seem silly to call such a thing a “disease”.
On the other hand, scientists are increasingly learning that aging and biological age are two different things, and that the former is a key risk factor for conditions such as heart disease, cancer and many more. In that light, aging itself might be seen as something treatable, the way you would treat high blood pressure or a vitamin deficiency.
Biophysicist Alex Zhavoronkov believes that aging should be considered a disease. He said that describing aging as a disease creates encouragement to develop treatments.
“It unties the hands of the pharmaceutical(制药的) industry so that they can begin treating the disease and not just the side effects,” he said.
“Right now, people think of aging as natural and something you can't control.” he said. “In academic circles, people take aging research as just an interest area where they can try to develop interferences. The medical community also takes aging for granted, and can do nothing about it except keep people within a certain health range. ”
But if aging were recognized as a disease, he said, “It would attract funding and change the way we do health care. What matters is understanding that aging is curable.”
“It was always known that the body accumulates damage” he added. “The only way to cure aging is to find ways to repair that damage. I think of it as preventive medicine for age-related conditions. ”
Leonard Hayflick, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said the idea that aging can be cured implies the human lifespan can be increased, which some researchers suggest is possible. Hayflick is not among them.
“There're many people who recover from cancer, stroke, or heart disease. But they continue to age, because aging is separate from their disease,” Hayflick said. “Even if those causes of death were removed, life expectancy would still not go much beyond 92 years.”
1. What do people generally believe about aging?| A．It should cause no alarm whatever the circumstances. |
| B．It should be regarded as a kind of disease. |
| C．They just cannot do anything about it. |
| D．They can delay it with advances in science. |
| A．It might be prevented and treated. |
| B．It can be as risky as heart disease. |
| C．It results from a vitamin deficiency. |
| D．It is an irreversible(不可逆转的) biological process. |
| A．They now have a strong interest in research on aging. |
| B．They differ from the academic circles in their view on aging. |
| C．They have ways to prevent people's aging process. |
| D．They can contribute to people's health only to a limited extent. |
| A．Aging is hardly separate from disease. |
| B．The human lifespan cannot be lengthened. |
| C．Few people live up to the age of 92. |
| D．Heart disease is the major cause of aging. |
