2. B 细节题。文章第二段一开头就说：“It’s not entirely clear why medicine has been so slow to build on Anderson’s early success.”从时间上来看，Anderson采用基因疗法的成功尝试已经是1990年的事情了，但是他的成功没有让医学加速发展。

3. C 细节题。文章第二段对于基因治疗的方式的解释是用于治疗的基因通过“viruses that don’t cause human disease”进入体内，就好像“特洛伊木马”一样，由此可见，这些病毒是无害的。

4. D 语义题。第四段上文提到基因疗法遭受的一次挫折——一个病人因接受基因疗法而死亡；接着讲专家担心运动员利用基因疗法在比赛中作弊会进一步tarnish这一领域，从上下文逻辑推理，应该是“有损，玷污”这一类的意思，答案D符合题意，为正确答案。

5. A 推理题。作者的态度从文章第一句话和最后一句话就可以明显判断出来。第一句话说基因疗法是20世纪的伟大成就之一，最后一句话说“Everybody recognizes that gene therapy is a very good idea”，由此可见作者对基因疗法持积极乐观的态度。





参考译文


住在克利夫兰郊区18岁的阿珊赛·德西娃是20世纪智力成就的鲜明代表。她一出生就患上了一种极为罕见而且通常致命的免疫系统不全症（即“气泡男孩症”，该病得名于早期的一位在消过毒的塑料帐篷里生活多年的患者）。从1990年开始，她就接受了一种全新的治疗方法，这种方法试图医治其病源——在她的白血球基因中治疗免疫缺陷。这种方法奏效了。来自南加州大学的一位曾经参与治疗的医生W·弗伦奇·安德森说，虽然她上次接受基因治疗的时间已经是1992年，但现在的她完全健康，并且拥有正常的免疫功能。长期以来研究人员一直梦想用正常基因取代突变基因的方法治疗血友病和癌症等各种疾病。这种梦想也许还会延续几十年。安德森说：“在50年内，基本上各种疾病都会有一种基因疗法。”

现在还不完全清楚为什么自从安德森的早期成功之后，医学发展却如此缓慢。国家卫生研究院预算办公室估计2005年该院将投入4. 32亿美元用于基因疗法的研究，而且大有领先的可能。治疗基因通常都是通过那些不会引起人类疾病的病毒进入体内的。“这种病毒就好像特洛伊木马，”来自韦尔·康奈尔医学院的纽约基督教长老会教徒罗纳德·克利斯特尔说，“它运送的货物则是基因。”

在宾州大学阿博拉姆逊癌症中心，免疫学家卡尔·琼最近用一种基因来治疗艾滋病病毒感染者，以帮助他们的细胞抵御感染。在康奈尔大学，研究人员正在研究用基因疗法治疗帕金森症和一种破坏儿童脑细胞的罕见遗传疾病。在斯坦福大学和费城儿童医院，研究人员也在尝试找出帮助血友病患者的方法。目前血友病患者必须注射昂贵的促凝血药物来维持生命。动物实验已经表明这项研究大有可为。

但不知什么缘故，从实验室转换到病人，有一些环节缺失了。在治疗血友病的人体试验中，病人最初有一些反应，但经过一段时间，这种反应就消失了。此外，这一领域还没有从1999年遭受的那一次挫折中恢复过来。那一年，身患罕见新陈代谢紊乱症的18岁青年杰西·格尔辛基在宾州大学接受基因疗法试验后死亡。一些专家担心如果接下来受益的人群不是病人而是想增强竞争力的运动员的话，将更有损这个领域的形象。今年夏天，圣迭戈索尔克研究院的研究人员说他们已经通过植入增强奔跑能力的基因创造出了一只“马拉松老鼠”；而世界反兴奋剂机构也已经准备检验运动员有没有“基因作弊”的迹象。但无论你是在帮助一个健康的赛跑者跑得更快还是让一个营养不良症患者行走起来，其原理都是相同的。“大家都知道基因疗法是个非常好的想法，”克里斯托尔说道，“基因疗法最终会有用的。”





Unit 85


Shortages of flu vaccine are nothing new in America, but this year’s is a whopper. Until last week, it appeared that 100 million Americans would have access to flu shots this fall. Then British authorities, concerned about quality-control problems at a production plant in Liverpool, barred all further shipments by the Chiron Corp. Overnight, the U.S. vaccine supply dwindled by nearly half—and federal health officials found themselves making an unusual plea. Instead of beseeching us all to get vaccinated, they’re now urging most healthy people between the ages of 2 and 64 not to. “This re-emphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply,” says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, “and the lack of redundancy in our system.”

Why is such a basic health service so easily knocked out? Mainly because private companies have had little incentive to pursue it. To create a single dose of flu vaccine, a manufacturer has to grow live virus in a 2-week-old fertilized chicken egg, then crack the egg, harvest the virus and extract the proteins used to provoke an immune response. Profit margins are narrow, demand is fickle and, because each year’s flu virus is different, any leftover vaccine goes to waste. As a result, the United States now has only two major suppliers （Chiron and Aventis Pasteur）—and when one of them runs into trouble, there isn’t much the other can do about it. “A vaccine maker can’t just call up and order 40 million more fertilized eggs,” says Manon Cox, of Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. “There’s a whole industry that’s scheduled to produce a certain number of eggs at a certain time.”

Sleeker technologies are now in the works, and experts are hoping that this year’s fiasco will speed the pace of innovation. The main challenge is to shift production from eggs into cell cultures—a medium already used to make most other vaccines. Flu vaccines are harder than most to produce this way, but several biotech companies are now pursuing this strategy, and one culture-based product（Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ Invivac）has been cleared for marketing in Europe.

For America, the immediate challenge is to make the most of a limited supply. The government estimates that 95 million people still qualify for shots under the voluntary restrictions announced last week. That’s nearly twice the number of doses that clinics will have on hand, but only 60 million Americans seek out shots in a normal year. In fact, many experts are hoping the shortage will serve as an awareness campaign—encouraging the people who really need a flu shot to get one.

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1~4题分别模仿1997年真题Text 3第1~4题，第5题模仿1997年真题Text 4第4题。



1. Shortages of flue vaccine show that ______.

A) America relies too much on foreign suppliers

B) the demand of flue vaccines is high this year

C) quality problem is a serious problem in flu vaccine production

D) the supply of flu vaccines is rather weak and America has no back-up measures to make it up

2. The word “cleared” （Line 5, Paragraph 3） might mean ______.

A) permitted

B) removed

C) proved

D) produced

3. Private companies have little interest in producing flu vaccines because of ______.

A) complicated process, high cost, low profit and high risk

B) shortages of fertilized chicken eggs

C) difficulty in growing live virus

D) fast changing of flu virus

4. From the last paragraph we can infer that ______.

A) the government hopes to solve the problem by way of volunteer restrictions

B) more than 47 million Americans who are qualified to get flu vaccine shots cannot get them this year

C) America needs not to worry about a limited supply of flu vaccines this year

D) normally only a small percentage of American population gets flu vaccine shots each year

5. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A) All Americans are persuaded not to get vaccinated this year.

B) The big problem in innovating flu vaccine’s producing technique is how to grow virus in a new way.

C) More flu vaccines cannot be produced in a short time because private companies refuse to produce more.

D) Flu vaccines are easier than most vaccines to produce through cell cultures.





篇章剖析


本篇文章探讨了美国流感疫苗短缺的原因以及今后的解决办法。第一段，作者介绍了美国流感疫苗短缺问题以及其直接原因；第二段，作者剖析了其背后的经济原因；第三段，作者介绍了解决短缺问题的办法之一——革新疫苗生产技术，将其从鸡蛋培育转移到细胞培养；第四段，作者探讨了美国的当务之急：如何利用好有限的疫苗。出路就是号召公民发扬风格，将注射疫苗的机会让给敏感群体。





词汇注释


whopper /ˈ(h)wɒpə/ n. 弥天大谎

bar /bɑː(r)/ v. 禁止

dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ v. 缩小

beseech /bɪˈsiːtʃ/ v. 恳求

vaccinate /ˈvæksɪneɪt/ v. 接种疫苗

fragility /frəˈdʒɪlɪti/ n. 脆弱

the National Network for Immunization Information （美国）全国防疫信息网

redundancy /rɪˈdʌndənsi/ n. 备份

knock out 击倒

incentive /ɪnˈsentɪv/ n. 动机

fertilized chicken egg已受精鸡蛋

crack /kræk/ v. （使）破裂

harvest /ˈhɑːvɪst/ v. 收获

extract /ɪkˈstrækt/ v. 提取

immune response 免疫反应

profit margin 利润率

fickle /ˈfɪkl/ adj. 变化无常的

sleek /sliːk/ adj. 圆滑的；打磨过的

fiasco /fɪˈæskəʊ/ n. 惨败

innovation /ˌɪnəʊˈveɪʃən/ n. 改革，创新

culture /ˈkʌltʃə/ n. 细菌培养

biotech /baɪəʊˈtek/ n. 生物技术

culture-based adj . 基于细菌培养技术的

clear /klɪə/ v. 批准，准许

an awareness campaign一场公民道德意识活动





难句突破


“This re-emphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply,” says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, “and the lack of redundancy in our system.”

主体句式：Dr. Marin Myers says “This re-emphasizes the fragility... and the lack...”

结构分析：该句的难点在于如何理解本句直接引语中两个关键词re-emphasize和redundancy的情感内涵。re-emphasize通常表示“再次强调”，但根据其宾语中的关键名词“fragility（脆弱）”和“lack（缺乏）”两个词的语义内涵判断，re-emphasize在本句中应该表示“凸显出（问题）”。redundancy通常表示“冗余，不必要的重复”，但在本句中表示“为了避免出现问题而采取的应急方案”。由此可见，根据具体语境，才能正确理解词汇的意思。

句子译文：“这再次凸显出我们疫苗供应的脆弱性，”全国免疫信息网的马丁·迈尔斯医生说，“此外，我们也没有必要的补救机制。”





题目分析


1. D 推理题。第一段最后一句话指出了疫苗短缺所暴露出来的问题。“This re-emphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply,” says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, “and the lack of redundancy in our system.”“这再次凸显出我们疫苗供应的脆弱性，”全国免疫信息网的马丁·迈尔斯医生说，“此外，我们也没有必要的补救机制。”这与选项D的说法一致。

2. A 语义题。在第三段最后一句“one culture-based product（Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ Invivac）has been cleared for marketing in Europe ”里出现了cleared一词。根据下文中“marketing”和药品上市前应该得到批准的常识，可以判断出，该词在本句中的意思是“得到官方的批准”。

3. A 细节题。第二段第二句“Mainly because private companies have had little incentive to pursue it.”意思是说私企生产流感疫苗的积极性不高。接下来作者介绍了制作疫苗的复杂工序，由此可以推断出流感疫苗生产工艺复杂、成本高。第二段第4~5行“Profit margins are narrow, demand is fickle and, because each year’s flu virus is different, any leftover vaccine goes to waste. ”又明确指出了私企不愿意生产流感疫苗的其他原因：利润率低、需求不稳定，此外由于流感病毒每年都不同，因此生产数量不能过大。由此也可推断出生产的风险性大，如果生产多了就会损失很大。

4. B 推理题。由第四段第二句“The government estimates that 95 million people still qualify for shots under the voluntary restrictions announced last week. ”中可以知道有9500万人有资格注射疫苗。根据第四段第三句“That’s nearly twice the number of doses that clinics will have on hand, but only 60 million Americans seek out shots in a normal year.”和前一句可以推断出美国现有大约4700万份流感疫苗库存，由此可推断出美国至少还有4700多万有资格注射疫苗的人无法得到注射。

5. B 细节题。从第一段倒数第二句“Instead of beseeching us all to get vaccinated, they’re now urging most healthy people between the ages of 2 and 64 not to.”可以判断出美国只呼吁2~64岁的健康人不接种流感疫苗，而不是所有的美国人，因此答案A是错误的。从第二段最后一句可以看出疫苗生产厂家无法临时增加疫苗生产量不是由于他们不愿意，而是由于受精鸡蛋的生产已经预先计划好，无法提供更多的受精鸡蛋，由此可见答案C是错误的。从第三段第三句“Flu vaccines are harder than most to produce this way”可以判断出答案D是错误的，因为流感疫苗比别的疫苗更难用细菌培育的方式生产。而由第三段第二句“The main challenge is to shift production from eggs into cell cultures—a medium already used to make most other vaccines. ”以及上一句可见，改造疫苗生产工艺的关键在于革新病毒培育技术，因此答案B是正确的。





参考译文


流感疫苗短缺在美国不足为奇，但今年的短缺传闻却是一个弥天大谎。到上周为止，好像还有1亿美国人能在今年秋季接种流感疫苗。紧接着，英国当局因为担心一家位于利物浦的生产厂的质量控制问题而禁止所有Chiron Corp公司的产品供应。一夜之间，美国的疫苗供应量减少了近一半——而联邦卫生官员也发现他们正在提出一项不同寻常的请求：不是请求我们去注射疫苗，而是敦促那些年龄在2~64岁之间的绝大多数健康人不去注射疫苗。“这再次凸显出我们疫苗供应的脆弱性，”全国免疫信息网的马丁·迈尔斯医生说，“此外，我们也没有必要的补救机制。”

为什么这种基本的保健服务会如此不堪一击呢？主要原因是私人公司生产积极性不高。生产每一份流感疫苗，生产商都要在一枚受精两星期的鸡蛋中培育活病毒，然后打破鸡蛋，提取病毒和用来激发免疫反应的蛋白质。利润率低，需求不稳定，此外由于每年的流感病毒不同，剩余的疫苗只能报废。因此美国目前只有两家大的供应商（Chiron Corp和Aventis Pasteur）——当其中一家公司遇到麻烦时，另一家公司也无能为力。“疫苗生产商根本不可能打个电话多要4000万个受精鸡蛋，”在康涅狄格一家蛋白质科学公司工作的马农·考克斯说，“整个鸡蛋生产都是按计划进行的。什么时间生产多少鸡蛋都是已经预先计划好的。”

目前的生产已经采用更好的技术。专家们希望今年的教训能够加快技术革新的步伐。最大的挑战是如何将疫苗生产从鸡蛋培育转向细胞培育——该技术已经广泛应用于其他大部分疫苗的生产。用细胞培育技术生产流感疫苗比生产其他大部分疫苗难度更大。尽管如此，几家生物技术公司正在进行这方面的尝试。索马尔Invivac医药公司研制的一种基于细菌培育技术的产品已经获准在欧洲销售。

对美国来说，当务之急是要利用好有限的流感疫苗。政府预计，尽管上周发布了自愿限制公告，仍有9500万人有资格注射疫苗。这个数字几乎是医院临床流感疫苗库存量的两倍。但正常情况下，每年仅有6000万美国人接种流感疫苗。事实上，许多专家希望这次疫苗短缺问题能成为一次提高公民道德意识的活动——鼓励那些确实需要注射疫苗的人们去注射。





Unit 86


It was a big week for Alzheimer’s disease, and not just because PBS aired The Forgetting, a first-rate documentary about Alzheimer’s worth catching in reruns if you missed it the first time. There was also a flurry of scientific news that offered hope to the families already struggling with Alzheimer’s, as well as to the baby-boom generation that’s up next. Unless something dramatic happens, the number of Americans living with this terrifying brain disease could triple, to about 16 million, over the next 50 years. There’s still no cure in sight, but there is progress on several fronts. Among them:

MEGADOSE VITAMINS Doctors knew vitamins E and C, both antioxidants, help stave off Alzheimer’s, at least in folks who haven’t already developed the disorder. ① What they didn’t know—but a big study involving 4,740 participants published in the Archives of Neurology showed—was that the two vitamins taken together in huge daily doses（at least 400 IU of E and more than 500 mg of C） could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s a remarkable 78%.

COMBINATION THERAPY A yearlong study of more than 400 Alzheimer’s patients showed that two drugs that work differently on the brain’s chemistry act well together to help slow down the disease. ② Patients who were being treated with donepezil（sold as Aricept）, an older drug that preserves the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, were also given memantine（Namenda）, a new drug approved by the FDA last October that blocks overproduction of a harmful brain chemical called glutamate. The two drugs worked even better in combination than they did alone, providing substantial benefit for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

BRAIN IMAGING Finally, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh announced that they had successfully developed a procedure that allows them to peer into the brains of Alzheimer’s patients with positron emission tomography（PET）scans to see telltale plaque deposits. Before now, doctors could not track the progress of these plaques until after the patient died, when the brain could be autopsied. Using the new technique, doctors may be able to begin treatment long before the first symptoms appear.

None of these advances is a magic bullet for Alzheimer’s disease. If you or your loved ones are concerned, the first step is careful evaluation by your doctor. Not all memory lapses are Alzheimer’s, and there are reversible causes of forgetfulness that can be treated if caught early. Also, remember the old adage “use it or lose it.” Mental exercise—reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing chess or Scrabble—is as good for preserving your mind as physical exercise is for your body.

注（1）：本文选自Time；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1、3题分别模仿2002年Text 4第1题和Text 3第3题，第2题模仿1994年真题Text 2第3题，第4~5题分别模仿2004年Text 3第4、5题。



1. From the first paragraph, we learn that ______.

A) the baby-boom generation will not suffer from Alzheimer’s disease

B) recent progress brings hope for Alzheimer victims

C) the week was very important for Alzheimer’s, mainly because a documentary about it was shown on PBS

D) the new achievements made on several fronts show that Alzheimer’s disease can be cured

2. The phrase “stave off ” （Line 1, Paragraph 2） most probably means ______ .

A) getting

B) treating

C) curing

D) preventing

3. The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that ______.

A) combination therapy refers to combining two different ways of treatment

B) donepezil helps block overproduction of a harmful brain chemical called glutamate