66. Which is NOT true of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group in the U. S.?

A. They are mostly baby boomers.

B. They have nothing to complain about.

C. Many of them plan to gradually stop their practice.

D. They account for over one-third of all physicians in the country.

65. What is the practical value of Cerling’s research?

A. It helps analyze the quality of water in different regions.

B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.

C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.

D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.

C

Many Older Doctors Plan to Give up Their Practice

The results of a new survey indicate that 48 percent of physicians between 50 and 65 years of age are planning to reduce or end their clinical practice in the next l to 3 years. The findings also suggest that many older physicians believe that their younger counterparts do not have the work ethic they do.

The survey, which was conducted by Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, a Texas-based physician search and consulting firm, suggests that many older physicians are simply unhappy with the changes that have taken place in medicine over the years.

"When Baby Boom doctors entered medicine, they had control over how they practiced and the fee they charged. But the rules changed on them in mid-stream and now many are looking for a ticket out," Mark Smith, executive vice president of Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, said in a statement. 　"Our study is the only one I am aware of that examines the career plans of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group." This age group represents more than one-third of all physicians in the U. S. If they stop working in the coming years, it will have a "significant impact" on the overall supply of physicians, Smith told Reuters Health.

The results of the survey, which included 1,170 respondents(调查对象), show that 24 percent of older physicians are planning to leave clinical practice all together in the next 1 to 3 years. Specifically, 14 percent said they were planning on retiring, 7 percent said they were looking for a medical job in a non-patient care setting, and 3 percent said they were seeking a job in a non-medical field.

For those physicians not leaving clinical practice, many said they would make changes to reduce the number of patients they treat. For instance, 12 percent said they would begin working part-time, 8 percent said they planned to stop taking new patients or markedly reduce their patient load, and 4 percent expressed a desire to work on a temporary basis.

When asked about the work ethic of physicians entering practice today, 68 percent of the respondents said that these younger doctors are not as dedicated or as hard working as physicians who entered practice 20 t0 30 years ago. Fifty-seven percent of older physicians said they would not recommend medicine as a career to their own children. Similarly, 44 percent said they would not select medicine as a career if they were starting out today. 　

"The most ominous(不祥的)finding is that about one half of physicians surveyed plant to either abandon patient care in the next 1 to 3 years, or significantly reduce the number of patients they see," Smith said. "The U. S. already is facing a widespread shortage of physicians. Should older, ‘workhorse' physicians choose to give up patient care, access to medical services will be further restricted."

64. Cerling’s team produced 　　　　　　in their research?

A. a map showing the regional differences of tap water

B. a collection of hair samples from various barber shops

C. a method to measure the amount of water in human hair

D. a chart illustrating the movement of the rain system

63. Which of the following is true of the rainfall in America’s West?

A. There is much more rainfall in California than in Utah.

B. The water it delivers becomes lighter when it moves inland.

C. Its chemical composition is less stable than in other areas.

D. It gathers more light isotopes as it moves eastward.

62. The underlined sentence “You’re what you eat and drink” (Line 1, Para. 3) means　　　　 .

A. Food and drink affect one’s personality development.

B. Food and drink preferences vary with individuals.

C. Food and drink leave traces in one’s body tissues.

D. Food and drink are indispensable to one’s existence.

61. According to the passage scientists’ new discovery is that　　　　　 .

　 A. One’s hair growth has to do with the amount of water they drink.

　 B. A person’s hair may reveal where they have lived.

　 C. Hair analysis accurately identifies criminal suspects.

　 D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.

60. What can be the best title for the text?

A. New England’s dark day.　　　 B. Voices of angry prediction.

C. There is no smoke without fire.　　　　　　　　 D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.

B

Scientists have devised a way to determine roughly where a person has lived using a strand (缕) of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

The method relies on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people’s hair.

“You’re what you eat and drink, and that’s recorded in your hair,” said Thure Ceiling, a geologist at the University of Utah.

While U.S. diet is relatively identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as rain clouds move.

Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes (同位素). The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.

Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can construct a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds to about two months.

Cerling’s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a map of the regional differences. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops.

They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad regions roughly corresponding to the movement of rain systems.

“It’s not good for pinpointing (精确定位),” Ceding said. “It’s good for eliminating many possibilities.”

Todd Park, a local detective, said the method has helped him learn more about an unidentified woman whose skeleton was found near Great Salt Lake.

The woman was 5 feet tall. Police recovered 26 bones, a T-shirt and several strands of hair.

When Park heard about the research, he gave the hair samples to the researchers. Chemical testing showed that over the two years before her death, she moved about every two months.

She stayed in the Northwest, although the test could not be more specific than somewhere between eastern Oregon and western Wyoming.

“It’s still a substantial area,” Park said. “But it narrows it way down for me.”

59. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?

A. They focused on causes of the event.

B. They swept throughout the Western world.

C. They were organized by scientific institutions.

D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.

58. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was 　　　　.

A. an east wind　　　　　　　　　 B. a severe drought

C. some burning fuel　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. low barometric pressure

57. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?

A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.

B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.

C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.

D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.