Unit 94
I had two routine checkups last week, and both the eye doctor and the dentist asked me to update my health history for their records. Their requests made sense. Health-care providers should know what problems their patients have had and what medications they’re taking to be on the lookout for potential trouble or complications.
On each history, however, the section labeled FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY gave me pause. Few diseases are purely genetic, but plenty have genetic components. If my father suffered from elevated LDL, or bad cholesterol, my doctor should know that, because I’m probably at higher risk. If my mother had breast cancer, my sister (if I had one) would want her physician to be especially vigilant.
While I know something about the history of my parents’ health—my father had prostate cancer at a relatively young age and suffered from macular degeneration and Parkinson’s disease, and my mother died of lung cancer—there’s plenty I don’t know. What were my parents’ cholesterol numbers and blood pressures? I assume I would have known if either suffered from diabetes, but I can’t swear to that. And when it comes to my grandparents, whose genes I also have, I’m even more in the dark.
That makes me fairly typical. According to Dr. Richard Carmona, the U. S. Surgeon General, only about a third of Americans have even tried to put together a family-health history. That’s why he has launched the Family History Initiative and declared Thanksgiving National Family History Day. Sitting around the turkey talking about cancer and heart disease may seem like a grim thing to do when you’re supposed to be giving thanks for everything that’s going right. But since many families will be gathering for the holiday anyway, it’s a perfect time to create a medical family tree.
And the Surgeon General is making it easy: if you go to hhs.gov/familyhistory, you can use the Frequently Asked Questions link to find out which diseases tend to run in families, which ones you should be most and least worried about, and what to do if, like me, your parents and grandparents have passed away. You can also download a free piece of software called My Family Health Portrait, which helps you organize the information. The program prints that out in an easy-to-read form you can give to your doctors.
The website insists the software is “fun,” but that may be going a bit far. In any case, it’s available only for Windows machines, so Mac users and people without computers have to use a printed version of the tree. It’s worth it, though, since it could help save your life or the life of your children someday.
注(1):本文選自Time;
注(2):本文習題命題模仿對象為2005年真題Text 1。
1. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by ______.
A) posing a contrast
B) justifying an assumption
C) explaining a phenomenon
D) making a comparison
2. The statement “I assume I would have known if either suffered from diabetes”(Line 4, Paragraph 3) implies that ______.
A) only one of them suffered from diabetes
B) neither of them suffered from diabetes
C) both of them suffered from diabetes
D) it’s uncertain whether they suffered from diabetes or not
3. Family health report is very important because ______.
A) you can be careful about some diseases and keep fit
B) you are connected with your parents and your grandparents
C) many diseases are genetic and should be noticed
D) you should be considerate and care about your parents
4. Dr. Richard Carmona suggests that ______.
A) you should present your doctor with a medical history
B) you should print out your family’s medical history
C) you should gather your family’s medical history
D) you should give thanks for everything that is going right
5. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A) The software is fun enough.
B) Family medical tree shouldn’t be neglected.
C) The software is not available anywhere.
D) It is worthwhile to draw a family tree.
篇章剖析
本文采用提出問題——分析問題——解決問題的模式,指出建立家庭醫療健康記錄的重要性和必要性。第一段指出通常要求就醫的人提供最新的健康記錄;第二段指出了解家庭健康史的重要性;第三段指出作者在這方面的欠缺;第四段指出美國公共衛生部部長倡議收集家庭醫療信息的初衷;第五段指出一些簡單易行的辦法;第六段指出這一做法的意義。
詞匯注釋
medication /med??ke??(?)n/ n. 藥物治療,藥物
on the lookout for尋找,注意,警戒
complication /k?mpl??ke??(?)n/ n. 【醫】并發癥
LDL 【生】低密度脂蛋白
cholesterol /k??lest?r?l/ n. 膽固醇
vigilant /?v?d??l?nt/ adj. 警惕著的,警醒的
prostate /?pr?ste?t/ adj. 前列腺的n. 前列腺
macular degeneration 黃斑變性
Parkinson’s /?pɑ?kins(?)nz/ disease 【醫】帕金森氏癥,震顫性麻痹
grim /gr?m/ adj. 不愉快的,討厭的
family tree 系譜,系譜圖,族譜,族譜圖
download /daun?l??d/ v. 下載
難句突破
While I know something about the history of my parents’ health—my father had prostate cancer at a relatively young age and suffered from macular degeneration and Parkinson’s disease, and my mother died of lung cancer—there’s plenty I don’t know.
主體句式:While I know ... , there’s plenty I don’t know.
結構分析:“while”在此句中表讓步,意為“雖然;盡管”;引導的從句應位于主句“there’s plenty I don’t know”之前。破折號之間的部分是“the history of my parents’ health”的同位語,旨在給出詳細信息。
句子譯文:雖然我了解一些有關我父母的健康狀況——父親很年輕的時候得了前列腺癌,并且還得了黃斑變性和帕金森氏癥;母親死于肺癌——但是還有很多我不了解的。
題目分析
1. C 論證方式題。文章以闡述自己的經歷入手引出論題。
2. D 語義題。做好本題的關鍵是對“swear to”這一短語的理解。“swear to sth.”意為“斷定,確信某事”,句子譯文為“如果他們倆有人得了糖尿病的話,我想我可能會知道,但我也不敢保證。”作者表達的意思是他對父母是否患糖尿病并無十分把握。
3. A 細節題。原文對應信息在第二段“If my father suffered from elevated LDL, or bad cholesterol, my doctor should know that, because I’m probably at higher risk. If my mother had breast cancer, my sister (if I had one) would want her physician to be especially vigilant. ”
4. C 推理題。原文對應信息是“That’s why he has launched the Family History Initiative and declared Thanksgiving National Family History Day.”從文中可知了解家族醫學病史非常重要,但在美國卻只有三分之一的家庭試圖做此記錄。這就是他為什么發起家族歷史倡議并宣布感恩節為全國家庭歷史紀念日的原因。
5. B 推理題。原文對應信息是“It’s worth it, though, since it could help save your life or the life of your children someday. ”
參考譯文
上周,我做了兩項常規體檢,體檢的眼科醫生和牙醫讓我為他們寫的病歷提供新的健康記錄。他們的要求是有道理的。保健服務人員確實應該知道他們的病人得過什么病,還在服用別的什么藥。這樣做的目的是為了預防潛在的病癥或者是并發癥。
然而,在每一項記錄中,唯獨“家族健康史”這一欄讓我感到躊躇。盡管沒有哪種疾病完全是遺傳的,但是很多疾病都有遺傳的因素。如果我的父親患過低密度脂蛋白升高或是膽固醇不好這樣的病的話,我的醫生應該知道這些情況,因為我患此病的可能性較高。如果我的母親曾患過乳腺癌的話,我的姐姐(如果我有一個姐姐的話)會讓醫生格外留心她這方面的問題。
雖然我了解一些有關我父母的健康狀況——父親很年輕的時候就得了前列腺癌,并且還得了黃斑變性和帕金森氏癥;母親死于肺癌——但是還有很多我不了解的。我父母的膽固醇指數和血壓是多少?如果他們倆有人得了糖尿病的話,我想我可能會知道,但也不敢保證。我身上也有我祖父母的基因,有關他們的健康情況,我就更是一無所知了。
我的這些情況都是相當典型的。據美國公共衛生部部長理查德·卡莫納博士所說,只有三分之一的美國人試圖整理他們的家族健康記錄。這就是他為什么發起家族歷史倡議并宣布感恩節為全國家庭歷史紀念日的原因。圍坐在火雞旁,本應該去感謝所有一切順利的事情,但現在卻要談論癌癥、心臟病什么的,這真令人生厭。然而,由于許多家庭都會設法聚在一起過節日,所以這真的是譜寫家族醫學病史的絕好時機。
這位公共衛生部部長簡化了操作程序:登錄網站hhs. gov/familyhistory,使用Frequently Asked Questions(常見問題)這一鏈接來尋找以下信息:哪些疾病容易在家族里傳播;哪些疾病最應該擔心,哪些最不用擔心;像我這樣,如果父母和祖父母都已去世了,該怎么辦。同時,用戶還能免費下載一個叫做“我的家族健康描述”這樣的軟件。它能夠幫助整理信息,并以簡單易讀的形式把這些信息打印出來,以便提供給你的醫生。
這個網址強調這個軟件具有“趣味性”,但它的作用不止于此。不管怎么樣,這個軟件只適用于裝有Windows的機器。因此Mac用戶和沒有電腦的人只能使用打印樣本。但這還是值得去做的,因為將來某一天這可能會挽救你自己或者是你的孩子的生命。