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  3. It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in Ca

It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in Ca

游客2025-03-22  14
问题     It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans’ life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
    Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it’s useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
    In 1950, the U. S. spent $ 12. 7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be $ 1,540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way" so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
    I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78 Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
    Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while under-funding research on humbler therapies that could improve people’s lives. [br] The author’s attitude toward Richard Lamm’s remark is one of______.
选项 A、strong disapproval
B、reserved consent
C、slight contempt
D、enthusiastic support
答案 B
解析 作者态度题+综合理解。该题考查的是作者对于Lamm所说的话的态度。Lamm所说的话也是作者引用的一个论据。Lamm认为老年人有义务死亡，以免挡住(年轻人的)道路。在接下来的一段，作者对于Lamm的观点发表了看法：“I would not go that far．”(我不会那么极端)。接着，作者举出了许多例子，说明老年人也可以活得有生气，还能为社会作贡献。有的考生看到这里就匆匆地选择了A，认为作者极力反对Lamm的观点，这就有点断章取义了。因为在接下来的一段中，作者用“Yet”表示了转折，表述了另外一个角度的意见，即一个社会在这方面(追求高质量的老年生活)的花费是有限的。从作者的论述中我们可以推断出，作者希望人们接受新陈代谢的自然规律，所以在一定程度上与Lamm所提倡的是一致的。所以选B，作者对Lamm的观点基本同意，但有所保留。
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