题目内容
Parkinson’s is a disease of the central nervous system. It is a progressive disorder, meaning it gets worse over time. The disease affects a small area of cells in the middle of the brain. This area is called the substantial nigra(黑质). The cells slowly lose their ability to produce a chemical called dopamine（多巴胺）. The decrease in the amonnt of dopamine can result in one or more general signs of Parkinson’s disease. These include shaking of the hands, arms and lege. They also include difficulty moving or keeping balanced while waslking or standing. Also, there may be emotional changes, like feeling depressed or worried. The symptoms（症状）of Parkinson’s differ from person to person. They also differ in their intensity（剧烈强度）.
The disease is named after James Parkinson. He was a British doctor who first described this condition in 1817. During the 1960s, researchers discovered changes in the brains of people with the disease These discoveries led to mediums to treat the effects of the disease. There is no cure for Parkinson’s and no way to prevent it. And doctors still are not sure what causes Parkinson’s.
The United States National Institute of Health says at least 500,000 people in the country are believed to have Parkinson’s disease. About 50,000 new eases are reported each year. That number is expected to grow as the average age of the population increases.
Parkinson’s appears most often in people over the age of fifty. Some researchers believe that almost every one would develop Parkinson’s eventually if they lived long enough. Most patients have what is called idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Idiopathic（先天）means the cause is unknown. People who develop the disease often want to link it to something they can identify. This might be a medieval operation or extreme emotional tension.
Yet many doctors reject this idea of a direct link to Parkinson’s. They point to people who have similar experiences and do not develop the disease.
47．If anyone has got the disease, he may have some trouble in .
A．common rolling B．physical actions
C．formal communicating D．daily eating
48．The disease, Parkinson usually takes place in .
A．nerve system B．the bone
C．blood system D．the skin
49．From the passage, we could know that it is possible to develop Parkinson’s for .
A．a teenager B．a young person
C．an aged person D．a kid
50．The passage tells us that the disease .
A．usually has the similar symptom B．was first discovered by an Asian
C．is really easy to infect D．is really hard to cure at present
BACD
百年学典课时学练测系列答案Mr. Parkinson stood up and left the room, the door behind her.
A．closing B．closed C．close D．to close
Surgeons in Spain have successfully carried out the world’s first organ transplant using new stem cell technology. Some people are calling it the greatest medical breakthrough so far this century.
But what are stem cells? As we know, most cells in our bodies are designed to serve specific purposes – for example, a liver cell develops to work in the liver and cannot become a heart cell. But stem cells are different. They are very young, and in the laboratory scientists can grow them into different types of cell.
Claudia Castillo needed a new windpipe after getting a serious disease. Scientists from the University of Bristol in the UK took a donor windpipe, or trachea, from someone who had recently died. They used strong chemicals to remove the donor’s cells, leaving a tissue scaffold(组织支架). This was refilled with cells from Ms Castillo’s windpipe, and stem cells from her bone. After four days the cells had grown sufficiently for the windpipe to be transplanted into Ms Castillo.
Currently, transplant patients have to take drugs for the rest of their lives to prevent their bodies rejecting the new organs. These drugs can have bad side-effects, and do not always prevent rejection. But by using Ms Castillo’s own cells, doctors were able to trick her body into thinking the new windpipe was her own organ. Five months on, Claudia Castillo is in perfect health.
This ground-breaking procedure could be used in other transplant operations in the future. Scientists also believe stem cells might be used to treat Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, burns and so on.
However, stem cell research is extremely controversial. The most effective stem cells do not come from adults but from embryos created in laboratories and which are just a few days old. Many people have religious or ethical objections to growing embryos, even if they can be used to cure diseases.
【小题1】This transplant is considered the greatest medical breakthrough because _________.
| A．this is the first organ transplant in the whole world |
| B．the patient is in perfect health after the operation |
| C．it is the first success with new stem cell technology |
| D．the stem cells are from an embryo developed in a lab |
| A．they are grown in the lab only |
| B．they can grow into different types of cell |
| C．they are designed for a specific purpose |
| D．they can work in the liver not in the heart |
| A．How Claudia survived in the operation |
| B．How to remove the cells from the donor’s organ |
| C．Why stem cells are needed in the transplant |
| D．How the windpipe is transplanted |
| A．Human bodies always reject transplanted organs even with their own cells |
| B．The donor’s cells had to be removed because they were unhealthy |
| C．The transplanted organ was refilled with the stem cells only |
| D．Claudia will not have to take drugs to prevent rejection. |
| A．controversial | B．confident |
| C．conservative (保守的) | D．critical |
Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live. "Many family members take some comfort from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia (痴呆) unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
"Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work here," said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish color, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought bis streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill that they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a predictor of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat senses mysterious scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nursing home staff aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. The staff recently gave Oscar a wall sign publicly praising his "sympathetic care."
【小题1】What makes Oscar the cat so special?
| A．He observes the cases of dying patients. |
| B．He curls up next to the patients. |
| C．He calls family members to the hospital. |
| D．He senses when patients are to die. |
| A．would go round and observe patients |
| B．may sometimes fail to predict death |
| C．is friendly and liked by every nurse |
| D．was born and grew up in the hospital |
| A．his bones were severely injured |
| B．his magic power stopped working |
| C．his devotion to work got changed |
| D．his friendship with patients ended |
| A．Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant |
| B．Oscar can read something of the nurses' behavior |
| C．Oscar might like to stay with the dying patients |
| D．Oscar is sympathetic to the dying patients |
| A．Cats Can Be Used for Looking After Patients |
| B．Oscar, the Sweet-Faced, Gray-and-White Cat |
| C．As Death Comes Calling, So Does Oscar the Cat |
| D．Oscar the Cat, the Best Helper of Our Hospital |