Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression(沮丧) to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.

    Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support money aid, material resources, and needed services - that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.

Interpersonal relationships are important because they can ________

    A. make people live more easily        

    B. smooth away daily problems

    C. deal with life changes                  

    D. cure types of illnesses

Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "cushions"?

   A. takes place of                       B. makes up of

   C. lessens the effect of                    D. gets rid of

What is the subject discussed in the text?

    A. Interpersonal relationships.            

    B. Kinds of social support.

    C. Ways to deal with stress.               

    D. Effects of stressful condition.

If you travel to a new exhibition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, you will have chances to see some meat-eating plants. Take bladderworts, a kind of such plant, for example. They appear so small and grow in a quiet pond. "But these are the fastest known killers of the plant kingdom, able to capture a small insect in 1/50 of a second using a trap door!"

Once the trap door closes on the victim, the enzymes (酶)similar to those in the human stomach slowly digest the insert. When dinner is over, the plant opens the trap door and is ready to trap again.

Meat-eating plants grow mostly in wet areas with soil that doesn't offer much food nutrition. In such conditions, these amazing plants have developed insect traps to get their nutritional needs over thousands of years. North America has more such plants than any other continents.

Generally speaking, the traps may have attractive appearance to fool the eye, like pitcher plants, which get their name because they look like beautiful pitchers full of nectar (花蜜).

Hair-like growths along the pitcher walls ensure that nothing can escape, and the digestive enzymes can get to work. A tiny insect can be digested in a few hours, but a fly takes a couple of days.

Some of these pitchers are large enough to hold 7.5 liters. Meat-eating plants only eat people in science fiction movies, but sometimes a bird or other small animals will discover that a pitcher plant isn't a good place to get a drink.

From Paragraph 1,we learn that bladderworts can_  .

A. kill an insect in a second   B. digest a fly in a few hours

C. be found floating on a quiet lake    D. capture an insect in 1/50 of a second

If the trap door of a meat-eating plant is closed, the plant is

A. fooling insects into taking a sip    B. producing nectar

C. tempting insects to come close   D. enjoying a dinner

Meat-eating plants can grow in wet and poor soil because they  .

A. can get nutrition from animals   B. don't need much food nutrition

C. can make the most of such conditions D. have developed digestive enzymes

What can be captured by meat-eating plants for food?

A. A child. B. A dog.   C. A little bird.   D. A little fish.

Treatment for HIV has become more widespread, especially in poorer countries. It's also become cheaper, as medicine companies have lowered their prices for life-saving anti-retroviral drugs(抗逆转录病毒药物). But these drugs are still expensive and many countries are looking to create the biggest impact with limited resources. That's where World Health Organization guidelines come in, says Rochelle Walensky, a disease researcher from Harvard.

Walensky and her colleagues used computer programs to model the most cost-effective disease interventions(干预), as well as collected data from clinics in Africa and India about what works best. They found that among the choices of what to do first, earlier anti-retroviral therapy (疗法)improved five-year survival dramatically and resulted in the longer life expectancy. But cost-effective doesn't always mean affordable, especially for governments in poor countries. Countries still have to make difficult choices about how much treatment they can afford.

People in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, protest a potential free trade area agreement between the EU and India that could see cheap anti-AIDS drugs phased out(逐步淘汰). However, Walensky notes that first-line anti-retrovirals—those medicine given to newly diagnosed patients that can keep away from symptoms for years - are much cheaper than they were a decade ago. "Second-line therapy have come down quite a bit but not to the level of first-line and countries are having a hard time affording them and increasingly over time, people are going to fail first-line therapy and they're going second-line therapy and then, eventually, they're going to need third-line therapy, some of them."

According to Walensky, history has shown that drug prices can come down when international pressure is applied to drug makers. But for now, she says, countries should focus on treating as many people as they can, as early as possible

Her paper is published in the online journal PLoS Medicine.

Which is the best title for the passage?

A. HIV Has Spread in Poorer Countries       B. Rochelle Walensky’s Life

C. International Pressure to Drug Makers        D. Early HIV Treatment Saves Lives

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Anti-retroviral drugs have become cheap now.

B. The cost-effective treatment may be a heavy expense.

C. Cheap anti-AIDS drugs have been phased out .

D. First-line therapy deals with the most severe disease.

The research is done by          .

A. using computer programs and collecting data from clinics

B. giving medicine to newly diagnosed patients with AIDS

C. urging countries to focus on treating more patients earlier

D. publishing her paper in the online journal PLoS Medicine

The passage serves as a(n)___________ to Rochelle Walensky 's study.

A. assessment           B. comment          C. introduction     D. background   

 0  28771  28779  28785  28789  28795  28797  28801  28807  28809  28815  28821  28825  28827  28831  28837  28839  28845  28849  28851  28855  28857  28861  28863  28865  28866  28867  28869  28870  28871  28873  28875  28879  28881  28885  28887  28891  28897  28899  28905  28909  28911  28915  28921  28927  28929  28935  28939  28941  28947  28951  28957  28965  151629 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网