Centuries later, the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918, also called the Spanish Flu,
Susana Vazquez-Torres is a fourth-year graduate student at the University of Washington who wants to someday invent new drugs
Lately, she
Part of the problem is
When Kylie
4 . A man wearing sunglasses grabs the mic and stands in a relaxed posture ready to make the audience laugh. Seeing how easily he moves, one can hardly notice that the stylish comedian, Gao Xiang, has any problems with vision.
Gao was diagnosed with the rare eye disease — Stargardt. Initially, he refused to accept the cruel situation. He kept escaping the fact until 2013, when he could use the computer more efficiently with the help of special programs designed to help visually disabled people . Consequently, he got the courage to be frank about his and found that people didn’t care about the problem as he had imagined. His working ability also helped remove any feelings of inferiority that he had. He tried to become mentally stronger to accept reality and get his life back on track.
Two years ago, he decided to become a full-time stand-up comedian. What has been motivating Gao to be so active in the comedy industry is his eagerness to draw the public’s attention to the disease. “As it is a rare disease, medical institutions and companies might lack the driving force to make great efforts to find a cure,” he says. “I want to unite the patients in China and voice out loud our urgent demands.”
Besides, he and two friends launched a public account on WeChat called Stargardt Care Center, through which they share inspiring stories of people suffering from the eye disorder, instructions for those on how to use computers and translations of foreign essays that explore the possibilities of curing the disease. By now, the account has managed to attract more than 1, 000 Stargardt patients and their family members. And some Non- Governmental Organisations also have got in touch with them to see if they could provide help to the community.
“Stand-up comedy has saved me and enabled me to meet interesting people and do what is worth doing,” Gao says.
1. What does the underlined word “inferiority” in paragraph 2 mean?A.Being proud. | B.Being bored. | C.Being unconfident. | D.Being modest. |
A.His eagerness for money. | B.His faith in challenging himself. |
C.His ability in performance. | D.His desire to fight the disease. |
A.The visually disabled can learn computer skills. |
B.Experts can provide medical help for the patients. |
C.Patients can read original articles about the disease. |
D.Comedians can post jokes to meet interesting people. |
A.Sensible and tolerant. | B.Positive and inspiring. |
C.Talented and aggressive. | D.Enthusiastic and punctual. |
Polio is a scary disease
An epidemic is the name given to an
7 . It was summer 2019 in Aurora, Colorado, when CBS News first met Finn Lanning, a math teacher, and Damien, his student who always stood out.
Lanning was astonished when Damien told him he was not coming back to
But the real
“It
They got along smoothly, although Damien refused to get too excited. “I’m afraid the bubbles will burst one day. It’s kind of bad thinking about that, but some people actually do that. Like, they’ll be happy with you one day and then just kick you out the next,” Damien said. Lanning told him he’s not going anywhere,
In the nearly two years since CBS News shared their story, Damien was able to get a transplant and he’s a much
It’s proof that sometimes
A.school | B.hospital | C.community | D.family |
A.failure | B.risk | C.disease | D.change |
A.informed | B.forced | C.invited | D.followed |
A.trouble | B.danger | C.threat | D.fight |
A.hopeful | B.unsuitable | C.important | D.hard |
A.hurt | B.hit | C.touched | D.affected |
A.called in | B.believed in | C.gave in | D.took in |
A.whether | B.whatever | C.wherever | D.whenever |
A.politer | B.braver | C.healthier | D.warmer |
A.miracles | B.accidents | C.fairytales | D.surprises |