1、2008年北京理工大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 A TIME columnist bears witness to an operation to help triplets with cerebral palsy walk like other boys Cindy Hickman nearly bled to death the day she gave birththree months prematurelyto her triplet sons. Weighing less than 2 lbs each, her babie
2、s were alive, but barely. They clung so tenuously to life that her doctors recommended she name them A, B and C. Then, after a year of heroic interventionsbrain shunts, tracheotomies, skull remodelingoften requiring emergency helicopter rides to the hospital nearest their rural Tennessee home, the H
3、ickmans learned that their triplets had cerebral palsy. Fifteen years ago there wasnt much that could be done about cerebral palsy, a disorder caused by damage to the motor centers of the brain. But pediatric medicine has come a long way since then, both in intervention before birth, with better pre
4、natal care and various techniques to postpone delivery, and surgical interventions after birth to correct physical deficiencies. So although the incidence of cerebral palsy seems to be increasing (because the odds of preemies surviving are so much better), so too are the number of success stories. T
5、his is one of them. Lane, Codie and Wyatt (as the Hickman boys are called) have spastic cerebral palsy, the most common form, accounting for nearly 80% of cases. “We first noticed that they werent walking when they should,“ Cindy recalls. “Instead they were only doing the combat crawl. “ Their brain
6、s seemed to be developing age appropriately, but their muscles were unnaturally stiff, making walking difficult if not impossible. Happily, spastic cerebral palsy is also the most treatable form of CP, largely thanks to a procedure known as selective dorsal rhizotomy, in which the nerve roots that a
7、re causing the problem are isolated and severed. Among the first to champion SDR in the U. S. in the late 1980s was Dr. T. S. Park, a Korean-born pediatric neurosurgeon at Washington U-niversity in St. Louis, Mo. , who has performed more than 800 of these operations and hopes to do an additional 1 0
8、00 before he retires. Having performed the operation myself as a resident in neurosurgery, I was eager to see how the countrys most prolific SDR surgeon does it. Last month I got an opportunity to stand by his side as he operated on 3-year-old Lane Hickman. Peering through a microscope and guided by
9、 an electric probe, we were able to distinguish between the two groups of nerve roots leaving the spinal cord. The ventral roots send information to the muscle; the dorsal roots send information back to the spinal cord. The dorsal roots cause spasticity, and if just the right ones are severed, the s
10、ymptoms can be greatly reduced. Nearly half a million Americans suffer from cerebral palsy. Not all are candidates for SDR, but Park estimates that as many as half may be. He gets the best results with children between ages 2 and 6 who were born prematurely and have stiffness only in their legs. He
11、is known for performing the operation very high up in the spine, right where the nerve roots exit the spinal cord. Its riskier that way, but the recovery is faster, and in Parks skilled hands, the success rate is higher. Cindy and Jeremy Hickman will testify to that. Just a few weeks after the proce
12、dure, two of their sons are walking almost normally and the third is rapidly improving. 1 When the triplets were born, _. （ A） both the triplets and their mother nearly died （ B） they didnt have cerebral palsy （ C） doctors didnt believe they were going to survive （ D） they received medical intervent
13、ion like brain shunts 2 Cerebral palsy is _ . （ A） deadly disease （ B） a kind of brain disorder （ C） not treatable for children who are over 6 and have stiffness in their legs （ D） to be cured by isolating and cutting off the right nerve roots 3 There are more and more cases of cerebral palsy_. （ A）
14、 because there are more and more triplets （ B） because more and more babies prematurely born are able to survive （ C） so there are more cases of successful treatment （ D） so there are more candidates for SDR 4 Dr. T. S. Park_. （ A） is a successful pioneer in adopting SDR operations in CP treatment （
15、 B） is famous because of his success with the triplets who are very difficult cases （ C） is ambitious by hoping to do another 1,000 SDR operations （ D） is not cautious enough by taking risks to perform the operation very high up the spine 5 SDR is a procedure of_. （ A） prenatal intervention using de
16、livery postponing techniques （ B） . surgical intervention after birth to reduce spastic symptoms （ C） isolating and severing either of the two groups of nerve roots leaving the spinal cord （ D） great risk and high efficiency 5 Modern lore has it that in England death is imminent, in Canada inevitabl
17、e 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-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unima
18、ginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure deathand 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 optimal conditions. We all understa
19、nd 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 its futile. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. A vast industry pushed fo
20、r aggressive and expensive therapy for prostate cancer, despite a lack of demonstrable benefit for many patients. Physiciansfrustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patienttoo often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified. Meanw
21、hile, the kind of palliative care provided in hospices is taught derogatorily to medical students as a treatment of last resort. In 1950 the United States spent $ 12. 7 billion, or 4. 4 percent of gross domestic product, on health care. In 2002 the cost will be $ 1. 54 trillionnearly 14 percent of G
22、DP, by far the largest percentage spent by any developed country. Anyone can see that this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some ethicists conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain
23、 agesay 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 wouldnt go that far. Not long ago similar arguments were used to justify mandatory re
24、tirement ages as young as 55 for employees in industry, academia and government. The message was “Step asideI want your desk and your paycheck. “ Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims
25、 to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the maladies that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I aspire
26、 to age as productively as they have. Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit, or should. Ive watched as the lives of my family members and friends have been painfully prolonged. Its a stark contrast with the inexpensive and compassionate deaths of my parents a generation ag
27、o. As a medical consumer, I may want Medicare to buy me multiple coronary bypass operations or a desperate round of bone-marrow transplantation. As a taxpaying citizen, I knowintellectually, if not emotionallythat the value of such measures must be weighed against other social goods, such as housing
28、, defense and education. And as 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
29、 the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve peoples lives; For example, the field of alternative and complementary medicine receives just a 5 percent chunk of the National Institutes of Health budget. To create a humane system of health care, we
30、must acknowledge that death and dying are not themselves the enemies. As the post-World War II British epidemiologist Archie Cochrane once observed, cures in medicine are rare, but the need for “care“ attention and reassurance from approachable, sympathetic physicians and caregiversis widespread. Co
31、chrane worried that by pursuing cures at all cost, we would restrict the supply of care that patients can receive. This is precisely the crisis of contemporary medicine: billions for cures, and pennies for care. Medicine can accomplish great things for the generation now passing 50, but only if were
32、 wise enough not to ask too much of it. 6 People different attitudes towards death show that_. （ A） people in other countries dont have a great health-care system as Americans do （ B） Americans rely too much on their health-care system even to challenge death （ C） Americans are optimistic （ D） palli
33、ative care works wonders in Americans 7 The best health care_. （ A） can even change our genetic programs to prolong our lives （ B） can guarantee the old an unimaginable life of high quality （ C） should do everything possible to save the patients life （ D） has limits to what it can do and should do 8
34、 Palliative care provided in hospices_. （ A） is not thought much of because it doesnt cure patients （ B） needs much more money than health care and is unsustainable （ C） is for poor people who cant afford to stay in hospital for a long time （ D） should be attached more importance 9 The government wi
35、th finite resources had better_. （ A） balance its budget for research into cures and that into therapies that can help people live healthier and happier lives （ B） stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond age 83 so that younger and healthier people can realize their potential （ C） make
36、 it a rule that people in industry, academia and government who are over 55 should retire （ D） spend less on health and more on housing, defense and education 10 What patients need most is_. （ A） a solution to the problem of death （ B） courage, optimism and sympathy for others （ C） attention, care a
37、nd reassurance from friendly physicians and caregivers （ D） a great health-care system that can provide them the most expensive and best therapies 10 In economics, demand implies something slightly different from the common meaning of the term. The layman, for example, often used the term to mean th
38、e amount that is demanded of an item. Thus, if the price were to decrease and individuals wanted more of the item, it is commonly said that demand increases. To an economist, demand is a relationship between a series of prices and a series of corresponding quantities that are demanded at these price
39、s. If one roads the previous sentences carefully, it should become apparent that there is a distinction between the quantity demanded and demand. This distinction is often a point of confusion and we all should be aware of and understand the difference between these two items. We repeat, therefore,
40、that demand is a relationship between price and quantities demanded, and therefore suggests the effect of one (e. g. , price) on the other (e. g. quantity demanded). Therefore, knowledge of the demand for a product enables one to predict how much more of a product will be purchased if price decrease
41、s. But the increase in quantity demanded does not mean demand has increased, since the relationship between price and quantity (i.e. , the demand for the product) has not changed. Demand shifts when there is a change in income, expectations, tastes, etc. , such that a different quantity of the produ
42、ct is demanded at the same price. In almost all cases, a consumer wants more of an item if the price decreases. This relationship between price and quantity demanded is so strong that it is referred to as the “law of demand“. This “law“ can be explained by the income and substitution effects. The in
43、come effect occurs because price increases reduce the purchasing power of the individual and, thus, the quantity demanded of goods must decrease. The substitution effect reflects the consumers desire to get the “best buy“. Accordingly, if the price of product A increases, the individual will tend to
44、 substitute another product and purchase less of goods A. The negative correlation between price and quantity demanded is also explained by the law of diminishing marginal utility. According to this law, the additional utility the consumer gains from consuming a product decreases as successively mor
45、e units of the product are consumed. Because the additional units yield less utility or satisfaction, the consumer is willing to purchase more only if the price of the product decreases. Economists distinguish between individual and market demand. As the term implies, individual demand concerns the
46、individual consumer and illustrate the quantities that individuals demand at different prices. Market demand includes the demand of all individuals for a particular goods and is found by summing the quantities demanded by all individuals at the various prices. The other side of the price system is s
47、upply. As in the case of demand, supply is a relationship between a series of prices and the associated quantities supplied. It is assumed that as price increases the individual or firm will supply greater quantities of a product. There is a positive correlation between quantity supplied and product
48、 price. Economists also distinguish between a change in supply and quantity supplied. The distinction is similar to the one made with respect to demand. Also, as in the case of demand, economists distinguish between individual firm supply and market supply, which is the summation of individual suppl
49、y. Taken together, supply and demand yield equilibrium of price and quantity. Equilibrium is a state of stability, with balanced forces in which prices and quantity will remain constant. Moreover, there are forces in the market that will act to establish equilibrium if changes in demand or supply create disequilibrium. For example, if prices are above equilibrium, the quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded and surpluses occur that have a downward pressure on prices. These pressures will persist unti
