考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇【社會(huì)文化類(lèi)】

考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇unit19
Unit 19
As you read this, nearly 80,000 Americans are waiting for a new heart, kidney or some other organ that could save their life. Tragically, about 6,000 of them will die this year--nearly twice as many people as perished in the Sept. 11 attacks--because they won't get their transplant in time. The vast majority of Americans (86%, according to one poll) say they support organ donation. But only 20% actually sign up to do it. Why the shortfall?

Part of the problem is the way we handle organ donations. Americans who want to make this sort of gift have to opt in--that is, indicate on a driver's license that when they die, they want their organs to be made available. Many European and Asian countries take the opposite approach; in Singapore, for example, all residents receive a letter when they come of age informing them that their organs may be harvested unless they explicitly object. In Belgium, which adopted a similar presumed-consent system 12 years ago, less than 2% of the population has decided to opt out.

Further complicating the situation in the U.S. is the fact that whatever decision you make can be overruled by your family. The final say is left to your surviving relatives, who must make up their minds in the critical hours after brain death has been declared. There are as many as 50 body parts, from your skin to your corneas, that can save or transform the life of a potential recipient, but for many families lost in grief, the idea of dismembering a loved one is more than they can bear.

The U.S., like all medically advanced societies, has struggled to find a way to balance an individual's rightful sovereignty over his or her body with society's need to save its members from avoidable deaths. Given America's tradition of rugged individualism and native distrust of Big Brotherly interference, it's not surprising that voters resisted attempts to switch to a presumed-consent system when it was proposed in California, Oregon, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Health Secretary Tommy Thompson last spring announced plans for a new initiative to encourage donations--including clearer consent forms--but its impact is expected to be modest. Given the crying need for organs, perhaps it's time we considered shifting to something closer to the presumed-consent model.

Meanwhile, if you want to ensure that your organs are donated when you die, you should say so in a living will or fill out a Uniform Donor Card (available from the American Medical Association). Make sure your closest relatives know about it. And if you don't want to donate an organ, you should make your wishes equally explicit.

注（1）：本文選自Time; 12/10/2001, p117；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2003年真題text 3；

1.       According to the author, one of the reasons for a shortage of organs in America is ______.

[A] most Americans are reluctant to donate their organs after death
[B] the information about organ donation is not popular in America
[C] the ways to handle organ donation is far from perfect
[D] people waiting for transplant are rapidly increasing in America

2.       What is most Americans’ attitude towards the organ donation?

[A] Indifferent.
[B] Indignant.
[C] Detached.
[D] Supportive.

3.       It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that ______.

[A] Americans have a long tradition of weak individualism
[B] all the states in America resist the presumed-consent system
[C] it’s not easy to find a way to serve the society’s need and at the same time to protect the individual’s right in the matter of organ donation
[D] the government is not active in solving the problem

4.       The term “presumed-consent” probably means ______.

[A] one’s organs should be donated whether they agree or not
[B] one is supposed to agree that their organ will be donated after death unless they explicitly object
[C] dismembering a dead body is inhuman
[D] one is assumed to be happy after they decide to donate their organs

5.       From the text, we can see the author’s attitude towards organ donation is ______.

[A] supportive
[B] indignant
[C] indifferent
[D] negative

答案：CDCBA

篇章剖析
本篇文章采用提出問(wèn)題－分析問(wèn)題－解決問(wèn)題的模式，在提出了一個(gè)解決美國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)捐獻(xiàn)器官嚴(yán)重緊缺問(wèn)題的解決辦法。第一段以人們的良好愿望和實(shí)際的嚴(yán)峻現(xiàn)實(shí)的強(qiáng)烈對(duì)比開(kāi)始，第二段找出了產(chǎn)生這一問(wèn)題的一個(gè)原因---運(yùn)作方式有待提高，第三段找出了產(chǎn)生這一問(wèn)題的令一個(gè)原因---人們的心理承受能力。第四段說(shuō)明美國(guó)必須解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。最后一段指明在目前捐獻(xiàn)器官的方式及注意事項(xiàng)。

詞匯注釋
perish:[] v. 死；暴卒；毀滅
donation: [] n. 捐贈(zèng)
shortfall: [] n. 不足之量，短缺的數(shù)額
opt: [] v. （常與for連用）決定做；選擇，選取
consent: []  n & v.  同意
overrule: [] v. 駁回, 否決
cornea: [] n. 角膜
dismember: [] v. 肢解
sovereignty:[] n. 完全獨(dú)立和自我統(tǒng)治
rugged: [] adj.  粗獷的

難句突破
1.       They are as many as 50 body parts, from your skin to your corneas, that can save or transform the life of a potential recipient, but for many families lost in grief, the idea of dismembering a loved one is more than they can bear.
主體句式：they are…,but the idea…is…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句是由but 做連接詞的兩個(gè)分句。第一個(gè)分句中包含一個(gè)由 that 引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句修飾body parts；第二個(gè)分句的主語(yǔ)是the idea。
句子譯文：人身上有50中可捐獻(xiàn)的器官，皮膚和角膜都包括在內(nèi)。每種都可能救活一個(gè)人或改變他們的命運(yùn)。但對(duì)正沉浸在喪失親人之痛的人來(lái)說(shuō)，把逝去的親人大卸八塊是他們承受不了的。
2.       The U.S., like all medically advanced societies, has struggled to find a way to balance an individual’s rightful sovereignty over his or her body with society’s need to save its members from avoidable deaths.
主體句式：The U.S. … has struggled to find a way to balance …with…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：其中短語(yǔ) “balance…with…”的含義是“使…和…相平衡”。
句子譯文：像其他醫(yī)學(xué)發(fā)達(dá)的國(guó)家一樣，美國(guó)也在努力尋求個(gè)人和國(guó)家之間的最佳平衡點(diǎn)。既使個(gè)人對(duì)自己的身體有合法的擁有權(quán)，又能滿足社會(huì)救死扶傷的需要。

題目分析
1．答案是C，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。從一、二段可以讀出，絕大多數(shù)美國(guó)人愿意捐出自己的器官，只是運(yùn)作方式還有待提高。
2．答案是D，屬推理判斷題。從第一段 “The vast majority of Americans say that support organ donation�！笨梢钥闯�。
3．答案是C，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。政府也想改變目前這種狀況，只不過(guò)措施不那么有效。
4．答案是B，屬猜測(cè)詞義題。從第二段的對(duì)新加坡和比利時(shí)的描述中可以得出結(jié)論。
5．答案是A，屬推理判斷題。作者認(rèn)為解決這個(gè)器官短缺這個(gè)難題，應(yīng)該向新加坡和比利時(shí)學(xué)習(xí)，采取新的強(qiáng)有力的措施。最后一段作者給出了想捐獻(xiàn)器官的做法以及應(yīng)注意的問(wèn)題，這也可以看出作者支持的態(tài)度。

參考譯文
就在你讀這篇短文的時(shí)候，大約有八萬(wàn)美國(guó)人正等著可以救命的心臟、腎臟或其他器官。不幸的是，因?yàn)椴荒芗皶r(shí)得到所需的器官，他們中的大約六千人將要死去，比9•11事件中死去的人們將近多一倍。絕大多數(shù)的美國(guó)人（根據(jù)一項(xiàng)民意測(cè)驗(yàn)，有86%的美國(guó)人）表示支持器官捐獻(xiàn)，但只有2%的人簽了捐獻(xiàn)協(xié)議。為什么會(huì)有這么大的差距呢？

問(wèn)題之一在于我們處理這件事情的方式。在美國(guó)，那些想捐器官的人必須自己做出抉擇。也就是說(shuō)，他們必須在駕照上寫(xiě)明死后器官可以被征用。許多歐亞國(guó)家卻采取了相反的做法。比如在新加坡，所有的居民在成年后會(huì)收到一封信，內(nèi)容是如果他們不明確表示反對(duì)，那他們的器官就有可能死后被捐獻(xiàn)。比利時(shí)12年前也采取了類(lèi)似的“假定捐獻(xiàn)人同意”的辦法，只有2%的人決定不捐獻(xiàn)。

在美國(guó)，還有一個(gè)更為復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題。那就是，不管你做出什么決定，家人都有可能表示反對(duì)。最后的發(fā)言權(quán)掌握在那些活著的人手里。他們必須在你被宣布腦死亡之后的關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻決定捐還是不捐。人身上有50中可捐獻(xiàn)的器官，皮膚和角膜都包括在內(nèi)。每種都可能救活一個(gè)人或改變他們的命運(yùn)。但對(duì)正沉浸在喪失親人之痛的人來(lái)說(shuō)，把逝去的親人肢解是他們承受不了的。

像其他醫(yī)學(xué)發(fā)達(dá)的國(guó)家一樣，美國(guó)也在努力尋求個(gè)人和國(guó)家之間的最佳平衡點(diǎn)，既使個(gè)人對(duì)自己的身體有合法的擁有權(quán)，又能滿足社會(huì)救死扶傷的需要。美國(guó)人向來(lái)推崇強(qiáng)硬的個(gè)人主義，對(duì)老大哥式干涉他人生活的做法持懷疑態(tài)度。所以當(dāng)加利福尼亞州、俄勒岡州、明尼蘇達(dá)州、賓夕法尼亞州、馬里蘭州提議采用“假定同意捐獻(xiàn)”辦法時(shí)，那里的居民投票抵制也就毫不奇怪了。去年春天，衛(wèi)生部長(zhǎng)湯米•托姆森宣布計(jì)劃出臺(tái)新舉措來(lái)鼓勵(lì)人們捐獻(xiàn)器官，新舉措包括更為明確的同意表格。但這些舉措的影響力微乎其微。鑒于全國(guó)各地器官緊缺，我們或許真該考慮改變當(dāng)前的做法，采取接近于“假定同意”式的方式。

目前，如果你想確保自己死后器官被捐獻(xiàn)，你應(yīng)該在遺囑中說(shuō)明或填寫(xiě)統(tǒng)一的捐獻(xiàn)卡（可從美國(guó)醫(yī)學(xué)協(xié)會(huì)獲得），也必須讓你的親屬知道你的意圖。當(dāng)然，如果你不想捐獻(xiàn)，也要把自己的意愿表達(dá)清楚。

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