Reading Week 2
Reading Week 2
Reading Week 2
Question 2: When does the human body begin to lose vigor and the ability to
function efficiently?
A. Soon after reaching adulthood
B. During childhood
C. Early adulthood
D. Past middle age
Question 5: The word “brittle” as used in the second paragraph means _______
A. soft and easily bent
B. hard and endurable
C. hard but easily broken
D. rigid and inflexible
Question 6: According to the passage, what condition is responsible for many of
the diseases of the old?
A. the arteries have become thickened and constricted.
B. the blood vessels lead from the heart.
C. the brain gets smaller in size.
D. bones become lighter and brittle.
Question 10: All of the followings may be the outward signs of aging EXCEPT
_______
A. the graying of the hair
B. the wrinkling of the skin
C. the loss of appetite
D. the decline in hearing and eyesight
Reading 2: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D
on year answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the
questions.
Pandemic Diseases
Diseases are a natural part of life on Earth. If there were no diseases, the
population would grow too quickly, and there would not be enough food or
other resources. So in a way, diseases are nature's way of keeping the Earth
in balance. But sometimes they spread very quickly and kill large numbers of
people. For example, in 1918, an outbreak of the flu spread across the world,
killing over 25 million people in only six months. Such terrible outbreaks of a
disease are called pandemics.
Pandemics happen when a disease changes in a way that our bodies are not
prepared to fight. In 1918, a new type of flu virus appeared. Our bodies had
no way to fight this new flu virus, and so it spread very quickly and killed large
numbers of people. While there have been many different pandemic diseases
throughout history, all of them have a few things in common.
First, all pandemic diseases spread from one person to another very easily.
Second, while they may kill many people, they generally do not kill people
very quickly. A good example of this would be the Marburg virus. The Marburg
virus is an extremely infectious disease. In addition, it is deadly. About 70-80%
of all the people who get the Marburg virus die from the disease. However, the
Marburg virus has not become a pandemic because most people die within
three days of getting the disease. This means that the virus does not have
enough time to spread to a large number of people. The flu virus of 1918, on
the other hand, generally took about a week to ten days to kill its victims, so it
had more time to spread.
While we may never be able to completely stop pandemics, we can make
them less common. Doctors carefully monitor new diseases that they fear
could become pandemics. For example, in 2002 and 2003, doctors carefully
watched SARS. Their health warnings may have prevented SARS from
becoming a pandemic.
Optical fibers can also be used to deliver laser light. By use of laser
beams, physicians can perform surgery inside the body, sometimes
eliminating the need for invasive procedures in which healthy tissue must be
cut through to reach the site of disease. Many of these procedures do not
require anesthesia and can be performed in a physician's office. These
techniques have reduced the risk and the cost of medical care.
Question 1: What is the main topic of the passage?
A. A revolution in communication.
B. The invention of optical fibers
C. New surgical techniques
D. The roles of optical fibers in medicine
Question 2: In line 2, the author uses the expression have opened a window to
indicate that the use of optical fibers
A. has enabled scientists to make amazing discoveries
B. sometimes requires a surgical incision
C. allows doctors to see inside the body without major surgery
D. has been unknown to the general public until quite recently
Question 7: According to the passage, how do the fiberscopes used today differ
from those used in five years ago?
A. They use brighter light
B. They are longer
C. They contain more fibers
D. They are larger in diameter
Question 10: Where in the passage does the author provide a basic description
of a fiberscope?
A. Lines 1-2
B. Line 5
C. Line 9
D. Line 12