2003年Text 4
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death-and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient-too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
In1950, the U.S. spent .7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age-----say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former Surgeon General Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.
58. The author's attitude toward Richard Lamm's remark is one of
[A] strong disapproval.
[B] reserved consent.
[C] slight contempt.
[D] enthusiastic support.
[答案] B
[解題思路]
Lamm的話出現(xiàn)在文章第三段的最后一句"Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty todie and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential"（據(jù)說，科羅拉多州前州長理查德·拉姆曾經(jīng)說，老年多病者"有責(zé)任死去和讓位"，以讓更年輕、更健康的人們?nèi)グl(fā)揮他們的潛能），這一看就是一個(gè)過激的說法。作者緊接著在下一段的第一句就表明了自己的態(tài)度，"I would not go that far"（我不會(huì)說得這么絕對(duì)）。這句話雖然短卻包含了兩層意思：1、作者基本上統(tǒng)一Lamm的說法；2、作者本人的態(tài)度沒有那么極端。瀏覽一下四個(gè)選項(xiàng)，只有B"有保留地同意"包含了這兩層意思。A和D選項(xiàng)意思完全相反，可同時(shí)排除。C選項(xiàng)"一絲的蔑視"基調(diào)也與原文不符。
[題目譯文]
作者對(duì)理查德·拉姆說的話的態(tài)度是 。
[A] 強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)
[B] 有保留地同意
[C] 一絲的蔑視
[D] 熱切支持
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