Each year millions of babies are born too soon and too small. Premature or preterm births mean births at less than thirty-seven weeks.
Prematurity is the leading cause of death in newborn babies. More than one-fourth of the four million newborns who die each year around the world were born too early.
Preterm babies that survive can suffer a lifetime of serious health conditions. The examples include cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing problems and learning disabilities. Families and communities face emotional, physical and financial costs.
Christopher Howson is the vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes. His group and the World Health Organization recently published a report called “The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth.”
Christopher Howson: “Frankly the problem of preterm birth is under-recognized and undervalued. People fail to recognize how serious the problem is. I mean, this report shows that thirteen million babies are born every year preterm, and that over a million of those babies die as a result of being born too early.”
And these are just estimates; the true numbers could be even higher. More than eighty-five percent of preterm births happen in Africa and Asia. Africa has the highest rate, with about four million cases each year.
Christopher Howson says many of the causes of preterm births are related to poverty and weak health-care systems.
Christopher Howson: “For example, the poor overall health and nutritional status of women. A high burden of infectious diseases. A lack of family planning – allowing a woman to decide when to start and end having children. And also the lack of good prenatal(产前) care programs that might identify problems early on in pregnancy.”
Preterm births are a problem not just in the developing world. The combined rate in the United States and Canada is the second highest in the world. Preterm birth rates in the United States have increased thirty-six percent in the last twenty-five years.
This has been largely the result of two reasons. One is an increase in pregnancies among women over age thirty-five. The other is an increase in the use of reproductive therapies(生殖治疗).
32. This passage is mainly about ______.
A. the causes of people’s bad health throughout the world
B. how to improve people’s health throughout the world
C. premature or preterm births throughout the world
D. Christopher Howson, vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes
33. All of the following are causes of preterm births EXCEPT______.
A. too many deaths of newborn babies B. poverty
C. Lack of family planning D. the lack of good prenatal care programs
34. Which of the following is a TRUE statement according to the passage?
A. Preterm birth rates in developing countries are dropping and they are increasing in some developed countries like the US and Canada.
B. The increase in pregnancies among women over age thirty-five and the increase in the use of reproductive therapies result in the increase of preterm birth rates.
C. Fortunately, many people have already realized the seriousness of the problem of preterm births.
D. Preterm births must be a problem for only poor areas because of poverty.
35. Where can we probably read this article?
A. International news reports B. History and political papers
C. Science magazines D. World trade guides
CABC
健康环保累阅读概念:
健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。体裁有记叙文、 说明文、议论文和各种应用文。
健康环保类文章阅读技巧:
健康环保类文章常是介绍科学知识、生活常识和环境保护方面的短文。阅读此类短文要以现象或事物为中心进行思考,理解现象产生的原因、条件和客观规律等。同时要抓住事物的特征、用途和相互关系等。科普环保类文章一般为说明文,从结构上看大致可分为三个部分:
第一部分一般是文章的首段,主要用来提出文章的主题,即文章想要阐述、说明的主要内容;
第二部分是文章的主体,可由若干个段落组成,对文章的主题进行展开说明;
第三部分是结尾段,对文章的主题进行归纳总结。这类文章多用一般现在时,而且一般多使用客观性词语表述。有时为了强调客观性,也常使用被动语态。
从近几年的考试题来看,科普环保类的文章越来越与人们的实际生活相接近。由于此类文章缺乏故事情节,很多同学对此类文章感到费解。但一般的科普类文章都是就事论事,需要逻辑推理和想象的时候较少,因此此类阅读题也没有同学们想象中的那么难,只要多加训练,就能较好地答题。
【阅读策略】
1、概要(Summarizing):
阅完材料后,将所阅材料浓缩,摘要,做出所阅材料的书面或口头梗概。
2、组织(Organization):
阅读后根据阅读内容,识别观点、人物、事件之间的关系以及文章的结构关系。如:时间关系、比较或对比关系、相关关系及因果关系等。
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A. The effects of flu and its symptoms B. Types of virus to cause flu C. People’s attitudes toward flu D. The cause of flu E. The way that flu spreads F. The methods to fight flu |
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Flu (which is short for influenza) is a highly infectious disease, the cause of which is a very tiny organism known as a virus. Several types of flu are recognized, depending on the type of virus that causes the disease.
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Flu can often cause problems in breathing, and general infection of the lung. With elderly and weak people, these added complications often produce serious results. The virus, if not properly treated, can weaken the body so that patient may develop more serious illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. When people catch flu, they often complain of a headache or a sore throat. They usually have a fever and their temperature rises from the normal 37℃ (98.6) to about 39.5℃ (103). Sometimes a person has a dry hacking cough and aching joints.
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Today many doctors use drugs that fight the disease. And scientists have also developed vaccines that help to prevent it. If the patient has proper treatment, and complete rest in bed, the virus is normally beaten within a week to ten days.
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How does flu spread so quickly? When the infected person breathes out, sneezes or coughs, he gives out droplets of moisture in the breath from his mouth or nose. These remain in the air for some time. Flu viruses are present in these droplets. If a person sneezes in a crowd or poorly ventilated place, such as a lift, viruses can easily be carried from an infected person to a healthy person. This is known as droplet infection. The healthy person will breathe in the viruses given out by the infected person.
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There are three main types of virus that cause flu, which are called type A, B and C. type A is the most powerful of the three, and undergoes minor changes in its genetic material every few years. The new form of the virus is called a strain. The new strain is not affected by the current vaccines. It is said to be “resistant” to them. So doctors must be continually producing new vaccines to combat the new strains of virus.