Why are medical dramas so popular?

  Why are we so fascinated by medical dramas? From the high drama of Casualty and ER to the squeamish reality of Embarrassing Bodies and One Born Every Minute, it is hard to look away. Books with a medical or health theme are equally popular on best-selling lists.

  When it comes to how our bodies function and malfunction, we are hooked. Without doubt, medical science is a rich source of stories. The popularity of all forms of medical-based drama suggests that we love to watch and read about people dealing with pain and discomfort, facing problems we fear we might face too at some point in our lives. Prof George Ikkos, president of the Royal Society of Medicine’s psychiatry section, says it is more to do with learning about ourselves from other people. The integrity of our body is extremely important. We should be concerned about our own body and that lies at the heart of it. Programmes like Casualty are dramatic and exciting—they involve a lot of ordinary people we can relate to directly. "It’s not like watching something about nuclear physics or stamp collecting."

  Prof Ikkos says: "Well-informed programmes can be helpful but people engage at different levels, from the highbrow to the lowbrow, depending on how people relate to what they are watching." There is, of course, no research to confirm whether these dramas improve our understanding of medical matters or change our knowledge of health issues. Some fly-on-the-wall medical shows may simply be a popular form of voyeurism(窥探者). "But they do give information that is helpful. I would not want to discourage them," Prof Ikkos adds.

  The themes of health, medicine and science are also at the heart of many works of popular fiction and non-fiction. Best-selling novels such as Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes tackle the subjects of long-term memory loss and life as a paraplegic(高位截瘫的人). Thomas Wright, whose new book Circulation—a biography of the 17th Century physician William Harvey—won the Wellcome Trust Book Prize this week, does not need to be convinced about the power of medical history. He was attracted to the story behind Harvey’s discovery that the heart was the principal organ of the body, pumping blood through veins and arteries with an incredible force. During an experiment, Wright says, Harvey cut the aorta(主动脉) of an animal and the blood dashed out with such force and quantity that it splattered the room. "It was so shocking to people who thought blood flowed slowly around the body. It’s an image that stayed in my mind."That dramatic scene opens Wright’s book and he returns to it at the end too. Back then, people did not have much faith in physicians and many did not believe that medicine would be able to help or cure them, if they could afford to go to them in the first place. As a result, Harvey had a tough time convincing people of his theories.

Wright says how we view doctors and their methods has changed greatly since then and that could explain the popularity of medical dramas."Now we look to doctors and scientists for answers—we hope that they can overcome illness and death. We put them on a pedestal. Just the act of going to a doctor makes me feel better, but that builds expectations and pressure too."Wright hopes his book will appeal to the same audience who watch the blood-stained medical dramas on TV.

63. People like to watch and read medical drama because________.

A. they want to form of medical-based drama

B. they want to read a rich source of stories.

C. they want to deal with pain and discomfort

D. they might face the similar situation in their life

64. According to prof Ikkos, which statement is right?

A. We can cure ourselves from dramas.

B. Pro Ikkos will improve medical drama show.

C. Different people can learn from the medical dramas.

D. There is no specific research to confirm medical matters.

65. Harvey’s experiment of cutting the aorta tells us_________.

A. the heart was the principal organ of the body

B. the heart in the animal can press the blood dash

C. in the 17th century, medical knowledge was convinced

D. in the 17th century, animal was used in medical operation

66. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

A.       B.

C.           D.

CP: central Point     P: Point      SP: Sun-point (次要点)     C: Conslusion

Looking for a new weight loss plan? Try living on top of a mountain. Mountain air contains less oxygen than air at lower altitudes, so breathing it causes the heart to beat faster and the body to burn more energy. A handful of studies have found that athletes training at high altitudes tend to lose weight. Doctor Florian Lippl of the University Hospital Of Ludwig-Maximilians-university Munich wondered how the mountain air would affect overweight individuals if they weren’t doing any more physical activity than usual.

Lippl and his colleagues invited 20 overweight men to an environmental research station about 300 meters below the summit of Zugspitze, a mountain around 2,970 meters near the Austrian border. They were allowed to eat as much as they liked. The men also gave blood so that researchers could test for hormones linked to appetite and fatness. At the end of the week, the men, whose mean weight starting out was 105kg, had lost on average about l.5kg. The men’s blood pressure also dropped, which the researchers believed was due to weight lost.

Exactly what caused the weight loss is uncertain. Loss of appetite is common at higher altitudes, and indeed the men ate significantly less than usual—about 700 calories fewer per day. Lippl also notes that because their consumption was being recorded, they may have been more self-conscious about what they ate. Regardless, eating less accounts for just l kg of the l.5 kg lost, says Lippl. He thinks the increased metabolic (新陈代谢的) rate, which was measured, also contributed to weight loss but cannot separate the different effects with the given data.

Appetite loss at high altitudes could certainly be key, notes Damian Bailey, a physiologist at the University of Glamorgan, UK, who recently lost 11 kg during a 3-month expedition to the Andes in Chile.   

Unfortunately, for the average person there is no treatment that can resemble living at high altitude, says Lippl. The only alternative is hypobaric chamber, which exposes subjects to low oxygen and isn’t practical as a treatment. He says, half- jokingly, “If fat people plan their holidays, they might not go to the sea, but maybe to the mountain.”

1.What contributes the most to one’s heart rates according to the first paragraph?

A．our bodyweight                        B．the consumption of energy

C．the rates of our breathing                 D．the amount of oxygen provided

2.Hormones are tested in the research because they can affect ______.

A．one’s bodyweight                      B．one’s blood pressure

C．one’s way of living                     D．one’s metabolic rate

3.What was found about the 20 overweight men in the process of the research?

A．They controlled what to eat self-consciously.

B．They took in much fewer calories than usual.

C．They lost appetite because of lack of physical activity.

D．They were provided with a healthier diet than before.

4.Why does Damian Bailey agree with the idea of appetite loss at high altitudes?

A．He experimented with the new weight loss plan in the Andes.

B．He found no other reasons for his loss of weight in the Andes.

C．He researched the related subject in the Andes.

D．He lost much weight in the high altitude Andes.

5.In what manner does Lippl talk about the way of losing weight by spending holidays on mountains?

A．casual            B．inaccurate         C．uncertain         D．confident

The rising house price and the high income tax rate have become the biggest ______ of the ordinary people in China today．

1. A.
   concern
2. B.
   influence
3. C.
   involvement
4. D.
   occupation

Every pet owner loves his pet. There is no argument here.

But when we asked our readers whether they would clone(克隆) their beloved animals, the answers were split almost down the middle. Of the 228 readers who answered it, 108 would clone, 111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion.

Clearly, from readers’ response, this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and final sadness of owning a pet. It speaks, as well, to people’s widely differing expectations over the developing scientific procedure.

Most of the respondents (被调查的人) who liked the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original; many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side, however, held little hope a clone could never truly recreate a pet, many simply didn’t wish to go against the natural law of life and death.

Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More than a few respondents owned “the best dog/cat in the world”. They thought of their pets as their “best friend”, “a member of the family,” “the light of my life.” They told moving stories of pets’ heroism(英勇精神), cleverness and selfless devotion.

“People become very close to their animals, and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies,” says Gary Kowalski, author of Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. “For me, cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away…It’s understandable. Death is always painful. It’s difficult to deal with. It’s hard to accept.”

　　But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seemed to be at the heart of this problem.

71. So far as the cloning of pets is concerned, a recent survey shows that, of all pet owners, __________.

A. a lot more of them are for it  

B. a lot more of them are against it

C. very few of them are willing to tell their opinions

D. about half of them are for it and the other half against it

72. While talking about the respondents from the readers, the underlined expression “final sadness of owning a pet” refers to ___________.

A. the death of one’s pet   

B. the high cost of owning a pet

C. the troubles one has to deal with in keeping a pet

D. the dangers involved in the cloning of a pet

73. In spite of(尽管) their differences on the problem of cloning, it seems that ________.

A. all pet owners try to go against the natural law of life and death

B. all pet owners love their pets very much

C. people who support cloning love their pets more

D. people who dislike cloning love their pets more

74. From what Gary Kowalski says, we can know that he _________.

A. has never thought about the problem of cloning

B. is going to write another book on pets

C. support the idea of cloning pets

D. is all against the cloning of pets

75. What is the key question at the heart of the problem of cloning pets?

A. Can cloning make one suffers less pain when a pet dies?

B. Can pet owners afford the cost of cloning?

C. Does cloning go against the law of nature?

D. Can cloning really produce an exact copy of one’s pet?

阅读理解

　　Yellowstone is the United States' first and most famous national park. This large wilderness area is very high in the Rocky Mountains of the northwestern US. It is bigger than the smallest state in the US.

　　Yellowstone became the world's first national park in 1872.

　　Yellowstone has many different kinds of unusual scenery：Although millions of people visit the park, the land remains unchanged－still a wilderness. The valley of the Yellowstone River has beautiful coloured rocks and three large waterfalls. In the early morning or evening, visitors sometimes see large deer－like animals, or buffalo(水牛)eating grass along the shores of Lake Yellowstone. The high mountains around Yellowstone are covered with evergreen forests.

　　Yellowstone Park has many areas with hot springs. These are caused by heat from the hot centre of the earth. Old Faithful is the most famous. Every 70 minutes, old Faithful sends hot water about 150 feet high into the air.

　　Here, hot spring water runs down over rocks into deep pools. It looks rather like a wonderful white cake.

　　When you visit Yellowstone, why not live like a cowboy? You can stay at an Old West country hotel. You'll enjoy typical cowboy food outdoors. You can ride a horse along one of the many paths or tralils.

　　There are over 1,000 miles of trails around Yellowstone. If you like excitement, take a boat trip down the fast Snake River, or spend a quiet summer day fishing by a river or a blue mountain lake.

　　In winter, Yellowstone Park is covered with heavy snow, but visitors still come to skate. With clouds of steam above them and snow all around, Yellowstone's hot springs look even more wonderful.

1．Which of the following is not true?

[　　]

A．Yellowstone Park has the longest history in US.

B．Yellowstone has a beautiful scenery.

C．There are forests in the park.

D．There are all kinds of birds in the park.

2．Visitors in the park can see animals eating grass ________.

[　　]

A．wherever they go

B．whenever they go

C．from time to time

D．on the top of the mountains

3．In this passage, the writer advises us to ________.

[　　]

A．become a cowboy

B．spend nights outdoors

C．do something as a cowboy did

D．drive along the paths

4．One of the most exciting activities in the park in summer is ________.

[　　]