1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 66及答案与解析 0 Considering that industry analysts claim that hospital price calculations are arbitrary, we asked hospitals nationwide a simple question: How do you calculate your sticker prices? Five declined to comment or didnt provide an answer, leaving Murray Askinazi, senior vice-pres
2、ident and CFO of Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, New York, to offer this explanation; For an outpatient MRI(核磁共振成像 ), as an example, his hospital calculates its charge based on such factors as the cost of buying or leasing the machinery, the wear and tear on that machine, staff salaries, the
3、 climate control and electric bill, cleaning costs, local competitive pricing, and other costs related to the hospitals overhead, like malpractice insurance. Surprisingly, medical services can vary wildly from one hospital to the next. The median charge for acute appendicitis admissions at 289 medic
4、al centers and hospitals throughout California, for example, ranged from $1,529 to almost $183,000, an Archives of Internal Medicine study reported in April. Within San Francisco alone, the range between the lowest and highest charge was nearly $172,000. But hospital sticker prices matter only to a
5、limited extent because they typically get trumped(胜过 )by a higher power: the amounts that insurance companies are willing to pay for those services. The figures are determined by a negotiated contract that dictates the rate at which the companies will reimburse the hospital on the patients behalf. I
6、n addition, the rates paid by Medicare and Medicaid, Askinazi adds, often fail to cover the hospitals cost of providing the service in the first place, which means some of those costs are often shifted to commercially insured patients. Now, all those factors affect the math for one simple outpatient
7、 test. For an inpatient hospital stay, those computations sprout into an intricate vine in which every service(from radiology to pathology)generates its own charges. The hospital also has facility charges, covering room and board, certain room-use fees(such as the operating room), and nursing servic
8、es, all of which get consolidated into the bill sent to you and your insurance company. As technology advances, those charges rise. Palmer had a client from Louisville, Kentucky, who was astonished to receive a charge of $45,330 for a prostate surgery and an overnight stay(insurance would cover only
9、 $4,845). The billing department told Palmer that the steep price was not only because it was a robotic procedure but also because patients who receive the high-tech surgery shortly after the hospital starts offering it are helping to recoup(偿还 )the facilitys equipment costs. 1 According to Murray A
10、skinazi, the charge for an outpatient MRI is based on the following factors EXCEPT_. （ A） the maintenance of the machinery （ B） staff salaries （ C） local taxation （ D） malpractice insurance fees 2 Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph Three? （ A） Some of the hospital costs will be co
11、vered by commercial insurance companies. （ B） The insurance companies are willing to pay for all the charges. （ C） Hospital sticker prices usually get trumped by a high power from the hospital. （ D） The rate that insurance companies will pay is determined by themselves. 3 “An intricate vine“ in Para
12、graph Four refers to_. （ A） the difficulty for an inpatient hospital stay （ B） the huge amount of hospital charges （ C） the problem in calculating hospital charges （ D） the complexity of hospital charges 4 The example of Palmers client in the last paragraph indicates that_. （ A） the technology appli
13、ed in medical services is quite advanced （ B） the client spent $45,330 on a prostate surgery （ C） the improvement of technology may lead to the rise of hospital charges （ D） the surgery was conducted by robots only 5 What is this passage mainly concerned with? （ A） The problems in U.S. hospitals and
14、 medical centers. （ B） Why a hospital bill costs what it costs. （ C） How difficult it is for a patient to get medical services. （ D） How the medical charges rise as technology advances. 5 Conservationists on Tuesday appealed to countries to urgently address new threats to whales, dolphins and other
15、cetaceans(鲸类动物 )as climate change opens up previously inaccessible areas of the Arctic and industries move in to new areas. As emotional arguments broke out in the annual International Whaling Commissions(IWC)conference between pro- and anti-whaling nations over the right of small, aboriginal groups
16、 to hunt a few whales each year, WWF appealed to countries to better regulate fishing and stop the oil and gas industries devastating populations. “A few thousand whales are killed each year because of whaling but 300,000 whales, dolphins and other cetaceans are killed just in fishing gear. Now the
17、greater threat is from the oil and gas industries. Cetaceans have so far been lucky because the Arctic has been mostly inaccessible but as climate change develops new areas are opening up. These are some of the most important areas left for whales and cetaceans,“ said Wendy Eliott, head of the WWF d
18、elegation to the meeting in Panama. “It is essential these issues are addressed by the IWC. But whaling governments like Norway, Iceland and Japan refuse to acknowledge the conservation committee of the IWC and do not participate. “ Shell plans to begin drilling operations in the Beaufort and Chukch
19、i seas off Alaska as early as this month, and other oil companies are planning new off-shore drilling platforms in the Russian far east near the feeding area of critically endangered western gray whales. There are only an estimated 26 breeding females remaining and the oil-rich zone off Sakhalin Isl
20、and is the only place where they can teach their calves to feed, said Elliott. “This could mark the beginning of a massive oil exploration effort,“ she said. The IWC, which is regularly torn by disputes, grants five-year permits to communities with a strong tradition of subsistence whaling. This yea
21、r, several Caribbean countries, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the USA, Russia and Denmark are asking approval from the commission for their annual quota of whales to be renewed. Most whaling opponents do not try to block small-scale aboriginal hunts as they do not threaten lar
22、ger whale populations. While governments argue that the use of whales and dolphins contribute to national food security, cultural preservation and sustainable livelihoods, some are seen by conservationists as ill-disguised commercial whaling. On Monday, pro-whaling countries led by Japan shot down a
23、 Latin American-led proposal to create a no-kill zone for whales in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay put forward a proposal to declare the southern Atlantic a no-kill zone for whales, a largely symbolic measure as whaling ended there long ago. Thirty-eight cou
24、ntries voted in favor of the measure and 21 voted against, with two abstentions. Under commission rules, proposals need to enjoy a “consensus“ of 75% support for approval. 6 According to the passage, the heated disputes in the annual IWC conference were about_. （ A） the urgency of handling new threa
25、ts to whales （ B） the small native groups right of whale hunting （ C） the poor management of fishing （ D） the drilling of oil in Arctic 7 What causes the bigger threat to whales according to Wendy Eliott? （ A） Weather changing. （ B） Whale hunting. （ C） Fishing equipment. （ D） Oil and gas industries.
26、 8 Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the responsibilities of IWC? （ A） To regulate whales hunting. （ B） To make whales adapt to climate change. （ C） To grant whaling permits. （ D） To renew annual quota of whales. 9 The only place for the western gray whales to teach their babies to feed is
27、near_. （ A） Beaufort sea （ B） Chukchi sea （ C） Alaska （ D） Sakhalin Island 10 We can learn from the passage that the proposal about the no-kill zone was_. （ A） denied （ B） accepted （ C） postponed （ D） up in the air 10 Alzheimers disease has no cure. There are, however, five drugs known and approved
28、that can slow down the development of its symptoms. The earlier such drugs are administered, the better. Unfortunately, the disease is usually first noticed when people complain to their doctors of memory problems. That is normally too late for the drugs to do much good. A simple and reliable test f
29、or Alzheimers that can be administered to everybody over the age of about 65, before memory-loss sets in, would therefore be useful. Theo Luider, of the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, and his colleagues think they have found one but it works only in women. They made their discovery,
30、 just reported in the Journal of Proteome Research, by tapping into a long-term, continuing study that started in 1995 with 1,077 non-demented and otherwise healthy people aged between 60 and 90. At the beginning of the project, and subsequently during the periods 1997-99 and 2002-04, participants w
31、ere brought in for a battery of neurological(神经学的 )and cognitive investigations, physical examinations, brain imaging and blood tests. During the first ten years of the study, 43 of the volunteers developed Alzheimers disease. When Dr. Luider compared blood samples from these people with samples fro
32、m 43 of their fellow volunteers, matched for sex and age, who had remained Alzheimers-free, he found something startling. Levels of a substance called pregnancy zone protein had been unusually high, even before their symptoms appeared, in some of those who went on to develop Alzheimers disease. Thos
33、e “some“ , it turned out, were all women. On average, levels of pregnancy zone protein in those women who went on to develop Alzheimers were almost 60% higher than those of women who did not. In men, levels of the protein were the same for both. The reason for this curious result seems to be that th
34、e brain plaques(斑块 )associated with Alzheimers disease are themselves turning out pregnancy zone protein. Certainly, when Dr. Luider applied a chemical stain specific to that protein to the plaques of dead Alzheimers patients he found the protein present in them. Confusingly, though, it was there in
35、 the plaques of both sexes. Presumably, female cells(and therefore the plaques of female brains)make more of it than male cells do. But that remains to be proved. Whatever the reason, however, this result means that women, at least, may soon be able to tell whether and when they are at risk of Alzhe
36、imers and thus do something about it before they start losing their minds. 11 What can we learn from the first paragraph? （ A） No medication can slow down the development of Alzheimers symptoms. （ B） People who always complain are most likely to have Alzheimers disease. （ C） Doctors had better tackl
37、e Alzheimers disease when people are 65 years old. （ D） To detect Alzheimers disease before memory loss is crucial. 12 The word “non-demented“ in Paragraph 2 probably means_. （ A） physically disabled （ B） unconscious （ C） mentally clear （ D） low-spirited 13 What does Dr. Luiders study tell us about
38、the pregnancy zone protein? （ A） It never increases before the appearance of Alzheimers symptoms. （ B） Levels of it remain stable for mens lifetime. （ C） Women developing Alzheimers usually have lower levels of it. （ D） The brain plaques connected with Alzheimers produce it. 14 How does the author f
39、eel about Dr. Luiders study? （ A） Confused. （ B） Optimistic. （ C） Indifferent. （ D） Meaningless. 15 The passage is mainly about_. （ A） the development stages of Alzheimers disease （ B） the pregnancy zone protein （ C） a new discovery concerning Alzheimers disease （ D） patients of Alzheimers disease 1
40、5 It was not so long ago that parents drove a teenager to college campus, said a tearful goodbye and returned home to wait a week or so for a phone call from the dorm. Mom or Dad, in turn, might write letters yes, with pens. But going to college these days means never having to say goodbye, thanks t
41、o near-saturation of cellphones, e-mails, instant messaging, texting, Facebook and Skype. Researchers are looking at how new technology may be delaying the point at which college-bound students truly become independent from their parents, and how phenomena such as the introduction of unlimited calli
42、ng plans have changed the nature of parent-child relationships, and not always for the better. Students walking from biology class to the gym can easily fill a few minutes with a call to Moms office to whine(抱怨 )about a professors lecture. Dad can pass along family news via e-mail. Daily text messag
43、ing is not uncommon. Some research suggests that todays young adults are closer to their parents than their predecessors. Professors have figured out that some kids are e-mailing papers home for parents to edit. And Skype and Facebook might be more than just chances to see a face thats missed at hom
44、e; parents can peer into their little darlings messy dorm room or his messy social life. Experts said the change dates to 9 - 11 , which upped parents anxiety over being out of touch with their children. And the rising cost of college can threaten parents willingness to let children make mistakes as
45、 they learn how to be adults. Many of todays college students have had so much of their schedule programmed, so they may not know what to do with time and solitude, said Barbara Hofer, a Middlebury College psychology professor. Researchers are looking at these changing relationships, formed in the l
46、ast few years after parents got smartphones and Facebook accounts too and learned how to use them. “Theres a tremendous diversity in how kids handle this. Some maintain old rules. But for many, many young people, they grow up essentially with the idea that they dont have to separate from their paren
47、ts,“ said Turklea, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose specialty is technology and relationship. “Its about having an adolescence that doesnt include the kind of separation that we used to consider part of adolescence,“ she added. Hofer and colleagues surveyed students at Mi
48、ddlebury in Vermont and at the University of Michigan, two schools different in many ways. But at both, parents and students were in contact frequently, an average of more than 13 times a week. The parents of todays college students were advised to get involved in the childrens lives to communicate,
49、 communicate, and communicate. All that talk can signal a close, useful relationship, but it also can leave kids lacking what they need to fend for themselves. 16 It can be inferred from the passage that_. （ A） parents feel greatly relieved after sending their children to college （ B） parents today have quick access to their childrens campus life （ C） todays young adults are well-prepared for dealing with loneliness （ D） there is a lack of communication between young adults and their parents
