53. What response did USA Today’s report draw?

A) A heated debate.

B) Popular support.

C) Widespread panic.

D) Strong criticism.

54. How did parents feel in the face of the experts’ studies?

A) They felt very much relieved.

B) They were frightened by the evidence.

C) They didn’t know who to believe.

D) They weren’t convinced of the results.

55. What is the view of the 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics?

A) It is important to quantify various concrete hazards.

B) Daily accidents pose a more serious threat to children.

C) Parents should be aware of children’s health hazards.

D) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure.

56. Of the dangers in everyday life, the author thinks that people have most to fear from __________.

A) the uncertain

B) the quantifiable

C) an earthquake

D) unhealthy food

Passage Two

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.

Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.

A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries(老年醫(yī)保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors—two primary care physicians and five specialists—in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don’t guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.

How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he’s reimbursed (返還費(fèi)用). Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient’s disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.

Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.

Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.

How do we fix this problem?

It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally (最佳地) managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.

We’re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.

Who will be there to treat them?

57. The author’s chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is __________.

A) the inadequate training of physicians

B) the declining number of doctors

C) the shrinking primary care resources

D) the ever-rising health care costs

58. We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that __________.

A) the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure

B) seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errors

C) visiting doctors on a regular basis ensures good health

D) the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better

59. Faced with the government threats to cut reimbursements indiscriminately, primary care physicians have to __________ .

A) increase their income by working overtime

B) improve their expertise and service

C) make various deals with specialists

D) see more patients at the expense of quality

60. Why do many new medical graduates refuse to choose primary care as their career?

A) They find the need for primary care declining.

B) The current system works against primary care.

C) Primary care physicians command less respect.

D) They think working in emergency rooms tedious.

61. What suggestion does the author give in order to provide better health care?

A) Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.

B) Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases.

C) Recruit more medical students by offering them loans.

D) Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major.

Part V Cloze (5 minutes)

Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D) on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

McDonald’s, Greggs, KFC and Subway are today named as the most littered brands in England as Keep Britain Tidy called on fast-food companies to do more to tackle customers who drop their wrappers and drinks cartons (盒子) in the streets.

Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, its new Dirty Pig campaign, said it was the first time it had investigated which made up “littered England” and the same names appeared again and again.

62. A) elevating B) convening

C) launching D) projecting

63. A) signals B) signs

C) commercials D) brands

“We litterers for dropping this fast food litter the first place but also believe the results have pertinent (相關(guān)的) messages for the fast food . Mc-Donald’s, Greggs, KFC and Subway need to do more to littering by their customers.”

He recognised efforts made by McDonald’s, placing litter bins and increasing litter patrols, but its litter remained “all too prevalent”. All fast food chains should reduce packaging, he added. Companies could also reduce prices those who stayed to eat food on their premises, offer money-off vouchers (代金券) or other for those who returned packaging and put more bins at points in local streets, not just outside their premises. A for McDonald’s said: “We do our best. Obviously we ask all our customers to dispose of litter responsibly.” Trials of more extensive, all-day litter patrols were in Manchester and Birmingham.

KFC said it took its on litter management “very seriously”, and would introduce a programme to reduce packaging many products. Subway said that it worked hard to the impact of litter on communities， it was “still down to the customer to dispose of their litter responsibly”. Greggs said it recognised the “continuing challenge for us all”, having already taken measures to help the issue.

64. A) condemn B) refute

C) uncover D) disregard

65. A) around B) toward

C) in D) off

66. A) industry B) career

C) profession D) vocation

67. A) exclude B) discourage

C) suppress D) retreat

68. A) incorporating B) including

C) comprising D) containing

69. A) unreliable B) unrelated

C) unimportant D) unnecessary

70. A) for B) about

C) with D) to

71. A) accessories B) merits

C) incentives D) dividends

72. A) curious B) mysterious

C) strange D) strategic

73. A) narrator B) spokesman

C) mediator D) broker

74. A) in season B) at risk

C) off hand D) under way

75. A) responsibility B) liability

C) commission D) administration

76. A) around B) by

C) on D) above

77. A) divert B) minimize

C) degrade D) suspend