历年考研英语阅读理解mp3(03-4)

[00:00.00]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[00:05.80]2003 Text4
[00:08.08]It is said that in England death is pressing,
[00:11.41]in Canada inevitable¹ and in California optional.
[00:16.91]Small wonder.
[00:18.32]Americans' life expectancy² has nearly doubled
[00:21.43]over the past century.
[00:24.06]Failing hips³ can be replaced,
[00:26.28]clinical depression controlled,
[00:28.80]cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical⁴ procedure.
[00:32.73]Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life
[00:36.80]that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago.
[00:41.84]But not even a great health-care system
[00:44.22]can cure death--and our failure to confront
[00:47.45]that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
[00:52.29]Death is normal;
[00:53.49]we are genetically⁵ programmed to disintegrate⁶ and perish,
[00:57.32]even under ideal conditions.
[01:00.34]We all understand that at some level,
[01:03.37]yet as medical consumers we treat death
[01:05.99]as a problem to be solved.
[01:08.21]Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care,
[01:12.75]we demand everything that can possibly be done for us,
[01:16.28]even if it's useless.
[01:18.19]The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care.
[01:22.83]Physicians--frustrated by their inability
[01:25.56]to cure the disease and fearing
[01:27.67]loss of hope in the patient
[01:29.89]--too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond
[01:33.71]what is scientifically justified⁷.
[01:36.84]In 1950, the U.S. spent $12.7 billion on health care.
[01:42.91]In 2002, the cost will be $1,540 billion.
[01:50.27]Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable.
[01:53.80]Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it.
[01:57.12]Some scholars conclude that a government
[01:59.65]with finite resources should simply
[02:01.70]stop paying for medical care
[02:03.91]that sustains life beyond a certain age--say 83 or so.
[02:09.56]Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm
[02:12.21]has been quoted as saying
[02:14.33]that the old and infirm
[02:16.24]"have a duty to die and get out of the way"
[02:19.26]so that younger, healthier people can
[02:21.28]realize their potential.
[02:23.80]I would not go that far.
[02:26.31]Energetic people now routinely work
[02:28.80]through their 60s and beyond,
[02:31.02]and remain dazzlingly productive.
[02:33.84]At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly
[02:37.98]claims to be 53.
[02:40.60]Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
[02:44.02]is in her 70s,
[02:45.43]and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs
[02:49.03]an Internet start-up in his 80s.
[02:52.16]These leaders are living proof
[02:54.25]that prevention works and
[02:56.08]that we can manage the health problems
[02:58.19]that come naturally with age.
[03:00.51]As a mere⁸ 68-year-old, I wish to age
[03:03.74]as productively as they have.
[03:05.93]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[03:07.05]Yet there are limits to
[03:08.31]what a society can spend in this pursuit.
[03:11.73]As a physician,
[03:12.94]I know the most costly⁹ and dramatic measures
[03:16.16]may be ineffective and painful.
[03:19.50]I also know that people in Japan and Sweden,
[03:22.92]countries that spend far less on medical care,
[03:25.84]have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have.
[03:30.18]As a nation,
[03:31.31]we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures
[03:34.95]while underfunding research on humbler therapies
[03:38.48]that could improve people's lives.

1 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

2 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

3 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

5 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

6 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

7 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。