職稱英語等級考試閱讀理解模擬試題3
第4部分：閱讀理解（每題3分，共45分）閱讀下面的短文。每篇短文的後面有五個問題，每個題有四個備選答案。請根據短文的內容選擇最佳的答案。
New U.S. Plan for Disease Prevention
Urging Americans to take responsibility for their health, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Tuesday launched a $15 million program to try to encourage communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The initiative highlights the cost of chronic diseases--- the leading causes of death in the United States --- and outlines ways that people can prevent them, including better diet and increased exercise.
“In the Unites States today, 7 of 10 deaths and the vast majority of serious illness, disability and health care costs are cause by chronic diseases,” the Health and Human Services Department said in a statement.
The causes are often behavioral --- smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.
“I am convinced that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future,” Thompson told a conference held to launch the initiative.
“Our current health care system is not structured to deal with the escalating costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices.”
Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than $351 billion in 2003.
“These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for us to lead healthier, longer lives,” he said.
The $15 million is slated to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.
Daily exercise such as walking can prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes, and prevent cancer and strokes.
The money will also go to community organizations, clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at risk of diabetes about what they can do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening.
The American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancers can be caught by screening, including Pap tests for cervical cancer, mammograms for breast cancer, colonoscopies, and prostate checks.
If such cancers were all caught by early screening, the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent.
詞彙：
diabetes 糖尿病 initiative n. 主動的行動，倡議
behavioral adj. 行為方面的 escalate vi. 逐步上升；逐步增強
slate vt. 預定，規劃 nutritionist n. 營養學家
cervical adj. 子宮頸的 mammogram n. 乳房X線照片
colonoscopy n. 結腸鏡檢查 prostate adj. 前列腺的
註釋：
1. take responsibility for their health: 承擔起確保自己健康的責任
2. The initiative highlights the cost of chronic diseases… : 這一行動強調了慢性病所造成的損失……
3. Pap test (= Papanicolaou test ): 巴氏實驗（一種檢查早期癌變的方法）
練習：
1. Which of the following is NOT true of chronic diseases in the US?
A) They account for 70% of all deaths.
B) They are responsible for most of the health care costs.
C) They often result in unhealthy lifestyles.
D) They are largely preventable.
2. The author mentions all the following as ways of diseases prevention EXPECT
A) better diet.
B) increased exercise.
C) reduction on smoking.
D) higher survival rate for cancer.
3. The article indicat
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職稱英語等級考試閱讀理解模擬試題3
es that more money spent on disease prevention will mean
A) greater responsibility of the government.
B) much less money needed for disease treatment.
C) higher costs of health care.
D) more lifestyle choices for people.
4. The $15 million program is aimed at
A) promoting disease prevention.
B) building more sidewalks.
C) helping needy communities.
D) wiping out chronic disease.
5. Early cancer screening can help reduce significantly
A) the death rates for all chronic diseases.
B) the kinds of cancer attacking people.
C) the cancer incidence rate.
D) cancer death rate.
Eat to Live
A meager diet may give you health and long life, but it’s not much fun --- and it might not even be necessary. We may be able to hang on to most of that youthful vigor even if we don’t start to diet until old age.
Stephen Spindler and his colleagues from the University of California at Riverside have found that some of an elderly mouse’s liver genes can be made to behave as they did when the mouse was young simply by limiting its food for four weeks. The genetic rejuvenation won’t reverse other damage caused by time for the mouse, but could help its liver metabolize drugs or get rid of toxins.
Spindler’s team fed three mice a normal diet for their whole lives, and fed another three on half-rations. Three more mice were switched from the normal diet to half-feed for a month when they were 34 months old --- equivalent to about 70 human years.
The researchers checked the activity of 11,000 genes from the mouse livers, and found that 46 changed with age in the normally fed mice. The changes were associated with things like inflammation and free radical production4--- probably bad news for mouse health. In the mice that had dieted all their lives, 27 of those 46 genes continued to behave like young genes. But the most surprising finding was that the mice that only started dieting in old age also benefited from 70 per cent of these gene changes.
“This is the first indication that these effects kick in5 pretty quickly,” says Huber Warner from the National Institute on Aging near Washington, D.C..
No one yet knows if calorie restriction works in people as it does in mice, but Spindler is hopeful. “There’s attracting and tempting evidence out there that it will work,” he says.
If it does work in people, there might be good reasons for rejuvenating the liver. As we get older, our bodies are less efficient at metabolizing drugs, for example. A brief period of time of dieting, says Spindler, could be enough to made sure a drug is effective.
But Spindler isn’t sure the trade-off is worth it6. “The mice get less disease, they live longer, but they’re hungry,” he says. “Even seeing what a diet does, it’s still hard to go to a restaurant and say: ‘I can only eat half of that’.”
Spindler hopes we soon won’t need to diet at all. His company, Life Span Genetics in California, is looking for drugs that have the effects of calorie restriction.
詞彙：
meager adj. 不足的 youthful adj. 有青春活力的
vigor n. 精力，活力 metabolize vt. 使（一種物質）進入新陳代謝過程
rejuvenation n. 恢復活力，返老還童 liver n. 肝臟
toxin n. 毒素 ration n. 定量
inflammation n. 炎症，發炎 trade-off n. 交換，交易
rejuvenate vt. 使恢復活力，使回春
註釋：
1. hang on to
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職稱英語等級考試閱讀理解模擬試題3
: 繼續保留。例如：You should hang on to that painting --- it might be worth a lot of money one day. (你應該繼續保留那幅畫，或許有一天它會值很多錢。)
2. The genetic rejuvenation won’t reverse other damage caused by time for the mouse, but could help its liver metabolize drugs or get rid of toxins. 老鼠的肝部基因恢復活力不會逆轉老鼠在其他方面的老化，但卻有助於肝臟代謝藥物或出去毒素。Other damage caused by time 歲月造成的其他方面的`破壞，即“其他方面的老化”。Metabolize drugs: 代謝藥物，即“使藥物參與新陳代謝以提高藥效”。Get rid of : 擺脫，除去。
3. half-ration 和half-feed: 都是指“老鼠飼料正常定量（normal diet）的一半”。
4. free radical production : 指“（有機體組織、器官等的）無限激增”。
5. kick in: 意為“開始起作用”。如：We’re still waiting for the air conditioning to kick in. （我們還在等著空調開始起作用。）
6. be worth it: 意為“值得，有益”。例如：They are expensive, but they are worth it. (那些東西很貴，但划得來。)
練習：
1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A) Eating less than usual might make us live longer.
B) If we go on a diet when old, we may keep healthy.
C) Dieting might not be needed.
D) We have to begin dieting from childhood.
2. Why does the author mention an elderly mouse in paragraph 2?
A) To describe the influence of old age on mice.
B) To illustrate the effect of meager food on mice.
C) To tell us how mice’s liver genes behave.
D) To inform us of the process of metabolizing drugs.
3. What can be inferred about completely normally fed mice mentioned in the passage?
A) They will not experience free radical production.
B) They will experience more genetic rejuvenation in their lifetime.
C) They have more old liver genes to behave like young genes.
D) They are more likely to suffer from inflammation.
4. According to the author, which of the following most interested the researchers?
A) The mice that started dieting in old age.
B) 27 of those 46 old genes that continued to behave like young genes.
C) Calorie restriction that works in people.
D) Dieting that makes sure a drug is effective.
5. According to the last two paragraphs, Spindler believes that
A) calorie restriction is very important to young people.
B) seeing the effect of a diet, people will eat less than normal.
C) drugs do not have the effects of calorie restriction.
Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist Attack?
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying hard to solve a question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable: Can building be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists?
Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at UB traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visiting the site as part of MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and to search for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing.
“Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage4,” said M. Bruneau, Ph.D. “Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies5 to achieve enhanced performance of buildings6 in the event of terrorist attacks,” he added.
Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in startling detail7 the monumental damage
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職稱英語等級考試閱讀理解模擬試題3
inflicted on the World Trade Center towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, but was badly damaged. “This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of that building,” explained A. Whittaker, Ph.D. “The column became a missile that shot across the road, through the window and through the floor.”
The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing8 system in one of the adjacent buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pieced by tons of falling debris to remain intact9. “Highly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance,” he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load-bearing column fails. “We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse,” said A. Whittaker. “We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it.”
A. Reinhorn, Ph.D. noted that “earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of many buildings in the past. It induces dynamic response and extremely high stresses and deformations in structural components. Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may be directly applicable to blast engineering and terrorist-resistant design. Part of our mission now at UB is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones where none exist at present.”
詞彙：
aftermath n. 後果，結果 in the vicinity 附近
withstand v. 經受住 debris n. 碎片
inflict v. 使遭受，施加 intact adj. 未受損傷的，完整無缺的
reconnaissance n. 勘察，偵察 ductile adj. 可伸展的，易變形的
註釋：
1． In the aftermath of : 在….. （災難性的事件發生——後的一段時間內。例：
In the aftermath of the Second World War: “二戰”結束後的時期
2. ground zero : 世界貿易中心（雙塔）被毀現場
3. buildings that were damaged, but still are standing. : 那些已損壞但未倒塌的建築
4. but that sustained damaged: 但遭到了損壞。Sustain: 蒙受，遭受（傷害或損失）
5. whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies: 地震工程技術是否可以和現有的技術相結合。Be married to : 與…相結合。
6. to achieve enhanced performance of buildings: 以提高建築的效能
7. in startling detail: 以令人吃驚的細節
8. the floor framing: 樓板骨架
9. allowing floors that were pierced by tons of falling debris to remain intact.: 那些被成噸的殘片擊穿的樓板得以完整無缺。
練習：
1. The question raised in the first paragraph is one
A) that was asked by structural engineers a month age.
B) that is too difficult for structural engineers to answer even now.
C) that was never thought of before the terrorist attack.
D) that terrorists are eager to find a solution to.
2. The project funded by the National Science Foundation
A) was first proposed by some engineers at UB.
B) took about two days to complete.
C) was to investigate the damage caused by the terrorist attack.
D) was to find out why some buildings could survive the blasts.
3. The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker
A) was part of the building close to the World Trade Center.
B) was part of the World Trade Center.
C) was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center.
D) damaged many buildings in the vicinity of the W
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職稱英語等級考試閱讀理解模擬試題3
orld Trade Center.
4. A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to ground zero is that
A) floors in the adjacent buildings remain undamaged.
B) some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion.
C) simple floor framing systems are more blast resistant.
D) floors in one of the adjacent buildings were pierced by tons of debris.
5. What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the following EXCEPT that
A) blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror-resistant design.
B) blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant design.
C) solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may apply to terrorist-resistant design.
D) blast engineering emergese as a new branch of science.
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