D
The technology is great. Without it we wouldn’t have been able to put a man on the moon, explore the ocean’s depths or eat microwave sausages. Computers have revolutionized our lives and they have the power to educate and pass on knowledge. But sometimes this power can create more problems than it solves.
Every doctor has had to try their best to calm down patients who’ve come into their surgery waving an Internet print-out, convinced that they have some rare incurable disease, say, throat cancer. The truth is usually far more ordinary, though: they don’t have throat cancer, and it’s just that their throats are swollen. Being a graduate of the Internet “school” of medicine does not guarantee accurate self-health-checks.
One day Mrs. Almond came to my hospital after feeling faint at work. While I took her blood sample and tried to find out what was wrong, she said calmly, “I know what’s wrong; I’ve got throat cancer. I know there’s nothing you doctors can do about it and I’ve just got to wait until the day comes.”
As a matter of routine I ordered a chest X-ray. I looked at it and the blood results an hour later. Something wasn’t right. “Did your local doctor do an X-ray?” I asked. “Oh, I haven’t been to the doctor for years,” she replied. “I read about it on a website and the symptoms fitted, so I knew that’s what I had.”
However, some of her symptoms, like the severe cough and weight loss, didn’t fit with it—but she’d just ignored this.
I looked at the X-ray again, and more tests confirmed it wasn’t the cancer but tuberculosis (肺结核)—something that most certainly did need treating, and could be deadly. She was lucky we caught it when we did.
Mrs. Almond went pale when I explained she would have to be on treatment for the next six months to ensure that she was fully recovered. It was certainly a lesson for her. “I’m so embarrassed,” she said, shaking her head, as I explained that all the people she had come into close contact with would have to be found out and tested. She listed up to about 20, and then I went to my office to type up my notes. Unexpectedly, the computer was not working, so I had to wait until someone from the IT department came to fix it. Typical. Maybe I should have a microwave sausage while I waited?
63. Mrs. Almond talked about her illness calmly because ______.
A. she thought she knew it well
B. she had purchased medicine online
C. she graduated from a medical school
D. she had been treated by local doctors
64. It was lucky for Mrs. Almond ______.
A. to have contacted many friends
B. to have recovered in a short time
C. to have her assumption confirmed
D. to have her disease identified in time
65. Mrs. Almond said “I’m so embarrassed” (Para. 7) because ______.
A. she had distrusted her close friends
B. she had caused unnecessary trouble
C. she had to refuse the doctor’s advice
D. she had to tell the truth to the doctor
66. By mentioning the breakdown of the computer, the author probably wants to prove ______.
A. it’s a must to take a break at work
B. it’s vital to believe in IT professionals
C. it’s unwise to simply rely on technology
D. it’s a danger to work long hours on computers
E
A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
T Pessimism gurantees chances of survival.he authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
67. According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?
A. Optimistic adults.
B. Middle-aged adults.
C. Adults in poor health.
D. Adults of lower income.
68. Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.
A. to fully enjoy their present life
B. to estimate their contribution accurately
C. to take measures against potential risks
D. to value health more highly than wealth
69. How do people of higher income see their future?
A. They will earn less money.
B. They will become pessimistic.
C. They will suffer mental illness.
D. They will have less time to enjoy life.
70. What is the clear conclusion of the study?
A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.
B. Good financial condition leads to good health.
C. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.
D. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.
