[originaltext] Malaria, the world’s most widespread parasitic disease, kills

游客2023-07-19  32

问题  
Malaria, the world’s most widespread parasitic disease, kills as many as three million people every year — almost all of whom are under five, very poor, and African. In most years, more than five hundred million cases of illness result from the disease, although exact numbers are difficult to assess because many people don’t (or can’t) seek care. It is unusual for a family earning less than two hundred dollars a year to spend a quarter of its income on malaria treatment, and what they often get no longer works. In countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Gambia, no family, village, hospital, or workplace can remain unaffected for long.
    Malaria starts suddenly, with violent chills, which are soon followed by an intense fever and, often, headaches. As the parasites multiply, they take over the entire body. Malaria parasites live by eating the red blood cells they infect. They also attach themselves to blood vessels in the brain. If it doesn’t kill you, malaria can happen again and again for years. The disease is passed on to humans by female mosquitoes infected with one of four species of parasite. Together, the mosquito and the parasite are the most deadly couple in the history of the earth — and one of the most successful. Malaria has five thousand genes, and its ability to change rapidly to defend itself and resist new drugs has made it nearly impossible to control. Studies show that mosquitoes are passing on the virus more frequently, and there are more outbreaks in cities with large populations. Some of the disease’s spread is due to global warming.
    For decades, the first-choice treatment for malaria parasites in Africa has been chloroquine, a chemical which is very cheap and easy to make. Unfortunately, in most parts of the world, malaria parasites have become resistant to it. Successful alternatives that help prevent resistance are already available, but they have been in short supply and are very expensive. If these drugs should fail, nobody knows what would come next.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. Why don’t many people seek care according to the passage?
27. What do we know about people suffering from malaria?
28. Which may be the reason for the wide spread of the disease?
29. What can be inferred from the passage?

选项 A、Its resistance to global warming.
B、Its ability to pass on the virus frequently.
C、Its outbreaks in cities with large populations.
D、Its ability to defend itself and resist new drugs.

答案 D

解析 预览选项内容可知,Its指Malaria,结合resistance,pass on,outbreak,defend…new drugs等可知,本题很可能考查疟疾的传播。短文中提到,疟疾寄生虫具有自我防护能力,具有抗药性,所以几乎很难控制,故答案为[D]。
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