题目内容

Australia---The vote for euthanasia(安乐死)was finally taken at 3:45 this morning. After six months’ argument and final 16 hours’ hot debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The bill was passed by the vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on through the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Hofsess says, “We posted it all day long, because this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”

The full import may take a while to understand. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical meaning. Some have breathed sighs of relief, but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste(匆忙,急忙) of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to for euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes(多米诺骨牌) to start falling.

Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin man suffering from lung cancer, the law means he can get on with living without the fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.

1.According to the text ,which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Australia now is the only country in the world to pass the law of euthanasia.

B. All people in Australia don’t have the same positive attitude to euthanasia.

C. Many patients will ask their doctors for euthanasia because they are afraid of death.

D. According to the law, if a patient requests death, his or her wish will be met after 48 hours.

2.The underlined sentence in Para 2, “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.” means that observers are waiting to see ___________.

A. the result of the game of dominoes.

B. that people’s attitude to euthanasia will be changed.

C. that the bill about euthanasia in Australia will come to an end.

D. the similar bills will be passed in other countries.

3.Australia was the first country to pass the bill of euthanasia, but not USA or Canada. Which one is NOT the reason ?

A. In Australia, the technology of extending life is advanced.

B. In Australia, it is easy to deal with the moral and practical meaning.

C. In Australia, old people take up great part in the population of the whole country.

D. Australians gradually realize suffering from a terrible disease is worse than immediate death.

4.It can be inferred from the text that _____________.

A. when Lloyd Nickson dies, he will face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia.

B. physicians and citizens in Australia share the same view on euthanasia.

C. other countries are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.

D. under the bill, patients requesting death are sure to be injected by deadly medicine.

5.What’s the author’s attitude to euthanasia?

A. Negative        B. Critical          C. Positive        D. Doubtful

 

【答案】

 

1.B       

2.D

3.B

4.A

5.C

【解析】略

 

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Imagine someone has crossed the seas joining five continents by swimming. It is a major success for anyone. But it is an even greater success for Philippe Croizon, who has no arms, and no legs! His achievements show that we can all achieve great things—no matter who we are.

Philippe Croizon was 26 years old when he had an accident. The doctors had to remove both of his arms and legs. “When they cut off my last leg I wanted to die. I suffered great depression and my spirit was as low as you can get. But you have to choose—and I chose to live!” said Croizon.

While he was recovering in hospital, Croizon saw a television programme about a woman who had been swimming across the English Channel. After watching the programme Croizon decided to do it. He began to exercise every day to make him strong and it took him two years to prepare.

Finally in 2010, Croizon was ready. He entered the cold, grey sea of the English Channel. He was now 42 years old. It took him from early morning until night to swim the distance. He felt a lot of pain. But he had become the first person without arms and legs to swim between France and England. Croizon had achieved his dream, but he did not stop there. He looked for a new goal.

Early in 2012 he planned to swim across the seas that join five major continents. During the next few months he swam between the four continents of Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe and finally in the cold waters of the Bering Strait between the continents of Asia and the Americas.

“We want to show people something. If disabled people have courage and a lot of training they can do the same things as those who are not disabled,” said Croizon.

1.According to the passage, Philippe Croizon _____.

A. was born with disability                      

B. suffered a lot from the accident

C. chose to live because of a TV programme        

D. was fond of swimming since he was young

2.What do we know about Philippe Croizon’s swimming across the English Channel?

A. It took him two years to finish it.            

B. He was the first person to achieve it.

C. It was easy for him to finish the swim.        

D. He spent a lot of time preparing for it.

3.Philippe Croizon’s crossing the seas joining five continents______.

A. lasted a month                             

B. ended in the Bering Strait

C. happened when he was 42 years old       

D. was inspired by a television programme

4.Which of the following can best describe Philippe Croizon’s story?

A. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.           

B. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

C. Actions speak louder than words.          

D. The finest diamond must be cut.

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Hope in the corner                        

B. A disabled man’s dream

C. Challenges to Philippe Croizon              

D. Philippe Croizon’s amazing swim

 

For many blind people, computers are inaccessible. It can cost $1,000 to purchase “screen reader” software, but two blind computer programmers from Australia have solved this problem.

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) graduate James Teh and business partner Michael Curran developed a free, open-source program, called NVDA, which provides a voice to read the words on a computer screen as the cursor(光标) moves over them. NVDA won the blind inventors an award in the grand final program of the ABC’s New Inventors, which aired on September 23. They took home the award for an invention that “might make a real difference to people’s lives or the environment.”

“A sighted person takes for granted that they can sit down at any computer and use it,” Mr Teh said. “We really are in the information age — everything is online these days. So access to computers for the blind is very important, which is why we wanted our software to be free.”

Mr Teh, who majored in software engineering at QUT, said blind students typically didn’t have the money to purchase “screen reader” technology, at the time in their life when they most needed it. Now NVDA could be downloaded on to anyone’s personal computer free of charge.

“It can also be copied to a USB stick, which can be used on any PC at school or university, with no installation required,” he said.

Mr Teh and Mr Curran have drawn on their own experience as blind computer users to develop a product which has some unique features. For example, as the mouse moves up and down the screen, a sound becomes higher and lower to let you know where the cursor is located.

NVDA has been translated into 27 languages, thanks to volunteer translators. To date, there have been over 50,000 downloads.

Mr Teh and Mr Curran have been working on the project since 2006. They worked on their product without any pay for two years. When Mozilla offered some funding in 2008, Mr Teh was able to quit his day job and work full-time developing NVDA.

1.NVDA won an award in the program of the ABC’s New Inventors because it _____.

A.causes no harm to the environment         B.influences people’ s lives

C.is aiming at blind people                  D.is easy to use

2.Why did James Teh and Michael Curran want their software to be free?

A.They got funding from Mozilla.

B.They belonged to a volunteer group.

C.They wanted to help the blind.

D.They wanted people to give up “screen reader” software.

3.What do we know about Teh and Curran?

A.They are studying at QUT.                 B.They are good at translating.

C.They know how the blind feel.              D.They began to develop NVDA in 2008.

 

On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with great force. Fifty cubic kilometers of magma (岩浆) flew from its peak (山顶) and a blanket of ash as thick as one centimeter fell over more than 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. The eruption destroyed Tambora’s peak and formed a hole six by seven kilometers wide. The eruption and resulting tsunamis killed 10,000 people. The agricultural loss and disease brought about by the thick ash caused the deaths of 82,000 more.

Indonesia was rocked again in 1883. On August 26, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java, erupted. The eruption produced an ash cloud 80 kilometers high and was heard in Australia—4,800 kilometers away. The eruption also caused a tsunami, which pounded (击打) the shores of Java and Sumatra—killing 36,000 people.

In 1902, St. Pierre was a thriving (兴盛的) community and the largest town on the French colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea. Mont Pelee cast a shadow over the town from where it stood, eight kilometers to the north. The townspeople were used to the light continuous sounds of the mountain, but in May, 1902 Pelee started to get really unstable. Clouds of steam and ash poured from the volcano and on May 8, Pelee erupted. Superheated gas and steaming volcanic ash flew out, pouring down the mountain at high speed. Within seconds, the deadly gas cloud had destroyed the town of St. Pierre and incinerated everyone in it — except one prisoner in a basement cell. It was the worst volcano disaster of the 20th century.

1.How many people died because of the eruption on April 10, 1815 ?

A.About 10,000.

B.More than 82,000.

C.About 36,000.

D.More than 92,000.

2.The underlined word “incinerated” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.

A.brought up

B.burned up

C.woke up

D.shut up

3.Only one prisoner survived the volcano eruption of Mont Pelee on May 8 because _____.

A.he was on a ship then

B.he was kept underground

C.he stayed in the water

D.he was hidden in a well

4. We can know from this article that _____.

A.no measures can be taken to protect people from a volcano eruption

B.volcanoes usually caused a series of earthquakes

C.sometimes a volcano can completely destroy a city

D.volcanoes are much more violent than the earthquakes

 

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