For doctors in training, nurses and medical journalists, hypochondria is an occupationaldanger. The feeling usually passes after a while, leaving only a funny story to tell at a dinnerparty. But for the tens ofthousands who suffer from true hypochondria they live in constantterror that they are dying of some awfuldisease, or even several awful diseases at once.Doctors can assure them that there's nothing wrong, but since the cough is real, theassurances fall on deaf ears. And because no physician or test can offer a 100% guaranteethat one doesn't have cancer, a hypochondriac always has fuel to feed Iris .or her worst fears.

　　Hypochondriacs don't harm just themselves; they block the whole healthcare system. Althoughthey account for only about 6% of the patients who visit doctors every year, they tend toburden their physicians with frequent visits that take up excessive amounts of time. And theproblem may be worse, thanks to the popularity of medical information on the Internet. Theygo on the Web and learn about new diseases and new presentations of old diseases that theynever even knew about before. Doctors have taken to calling this phenomenon cyberchondria(網絡疑病癥).

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.According to the passage, if you suffer from hypochondria, ______.

　　A.you must be a medical student, or a medical worker

　　B.you are haunted by a possibly inexistent disease

　　C.you will never get rid of this disease

　　D.you always tell funny stories at dinner parties

　　2.Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

　　A.Hypochondria happens to everybody sooner or later.

　　B.We needn’t worry about hypochondria since it is not dangerous at all.

　　C.Hypochondria originates from too much knowledge of medicine.

　　D.Not only individuals but also the healthcare system might be disturbed by unnecessaryterrors.

　　3.Why can’t doctors convince the suffers that there is nothing wrong?

　　A.Because the doctors can’t cure the minor diseases

　　B.Because the doctors don’t assure them of that

　　C.Because the sufferers are deaf and cannot hear what the doctors say

　　D.Because lack of absolute guarantee makes the patients doubtful

　　4.The problem becomes worse due to _____

　　A.the increasing number of patients

　　B.the widespread medical knowledge on the Internet

　　C.the patients,regular visits to doctors that occupy too much time

　　D.new diseases and symptoms emerge constantly

　　5.What does the author most probably think about hypochondria?

　　A.The author considers that hypochondria is an incurable disease

　　B.The author thinks that the consequences of hypochondria might be disastrous

　　C.The author suggests that the patients who have hypochondria should set their hearts at rest

　　D.The author sympathizes with the patients who suffer from hypochondria

　　1.[B] 事實細節題。仔細讀完第2段后半部分,不難發現hypochondria只是瞎猜疑，故選項B正確。時常懷疑自己生病是醫務人員的職業病，但為此困擾的并不僅僅是他們，因為第2段第3句說：“But... who suffer fromtrue hypochondria...”，說明醫務人員不是真正的疑病癥患者,故選項A不正確。選項C過于極端。選項D是對原文斷章取義。

　　2.[D] 主旨大意題。第1段以舉例方式引入主題，第2段對hypochondria下定義，第3段則論述其對醫療保健體系造成的干擾，選項D正確全面地概括了文章大意，為正確答案。全文的中心詞是hypochondria,在四個選項中，干擾項(選項A、B、C)都出現了該詞，只有正確選項(選項D)沒有直接使用該詞。

　　3.[D] 事實細節題。根據文中的“because no physician or test can offer a 100% guarantee thatone doesn’t have cancer...”即可得出選項D正確。原文雖有表示“咳嗽確實存在”，但這并不意味著醫生不能治好類似的小毛病，因此選項A不正確。誤選C是沒有正確理解短語fall on deaf ears,該固定表達的意思是“充耳不聞”。

　　4.[B] 推理判斷題。句中thanks to是諷刺的用法，引出原因，故選項B正確。本題考查因果關系，要辨別明顯的因果關系，只要關注文中是否有because, reason, due to, thanks to, result等詞即可。

　　5.[C] 觀點態度題。從作者對hypochondria的描述可以看出此病只是源于多疑，并非生理上的不治之癥，因此只要病人們放寬心，此病就能痊愈。故選項C正確。選項A的incurable和B的disastrous都太絕對，比較容易排除。而本文基調較為客觀，作者沒有表露個人情感，故選項D也不正確。

　　Like a needle climbing up a bathroom scale, the number keeps rising. In 1991, 15% ofAmericans were obese(肥胖的); by 1999, that proportion had grown to 27%. Youngsters, whoshould have age and activity on their side, are growing larger as well: 19% of Americans under17 are obese. Waistbands have been popping in other western countries too, as physicalactivity has declined and diets have expanded. By and large, people in the rich world seem tohave lost the fight against flab(松弛).

　　Meanwhile, poorer nations have enjoyed some success in their battles against malnutrition andfamine. But, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science, it is more a case of being out of the frying pan andinto the fire. The most striking example actually in the poor world comes from the Pacificislands, home of the world's most obese communities. In 1966, 14% of the men on this islandwere obese while 100% of men under the age of 30 in 1996 were obese.

　　This increase in weight has been uneven as well as fast. As a result, undernourished and over-nourished people frequently live cheek by jowl(面頰). The mix can even occur within a singlehousehold. A study of families in Indonesia found that nearly 10% contained both the hungryand the fat. This is a mysterious phenomenon, but might have something to do with peopleof different ages being given different amounts of food to eat.

　　The prospect of heading off these problems is bleak. In many affected countries there arecultural factorsto contend with, such as an emphasis on eating large meals together, or onfood as a form. of hospitality.Moreover, there is a good measure of disbelief on the part ofpolicymakers that such a problem Could existin their countries. Add to that reluctance on thepart of governments to spend resources on promoting dietand exercise while starvation is stilla real threat, and the result is a recipe for inaction. Unless something is done soon, it mightnot be possible to turn the clock back.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.The first sentence of the passage most probably implies that ______.

　　A.many Americans are obsessed with the rising temperature in their bathroom

　　B.more people are overweighed in the United States

　　C.people are doing more physical exercises with the help of scales

　　D.youngsters become taller and healthier thanks to more activities

　　2.As physical exercise declines and diet expands, ______.

　　A.other western countries has been defeated by fat

　　B.obesity has become an epidemic(流行病)of the rich world

　　C.waistbands begin to be popular in other western countries

　　D.western countries can no longer fight against obesity

　　3.Which is NOT the point of the example of the Pacific Islands?

　　A.The poor community has shaken off poverty and people are well-fed now.

　　B.Obesity is becoming a problem in the developing world too.

　　C.Excessive weight increase will cause no less harm than the food shortage.

　　D.The problem of overweight emerges very fast.

　　4.Of tackling obesity in the poor world, we can learn from the passage that____

　　A.the matter is so complex as to go beyond our capacity

　　B.no matter what we do, the prospect will always be bleak

　　C.it is starvation, the real threat, that needs to be solved

　　D.we should take immediate actions before it becomes incurable

　　5.What is the main idea of this passage?

　　A.Obesity is now a global problem that needs tackling.

　　B.The weights increase fast throughout the whole world.

　　C.Obesity and starvation are two main problems in the poor world.

　　D.Obesity has shifted from the rich world to the poor world.

　　1.[B] 推理判斷題。根據第1段第2句可推斷第1句中的the number是指體重增加的人數，故答案為B。

　　2.[B] 推理判斷題。本題需要正確理解借代修飾手法。Waistbands have been popping形象刻畫出其他西方社會急劇肥胖化的過程，故答案為B。本題很明顯是考查因果關系的，第1段倒數第2句明確指出這個因果關系，只要根據該句做出選擇就可以了。如果看得過遠,反而有可能誤選A或D。

　　3.[A] 事實細節題。此處的例子是證明前一句話的，即But后面的內容。同時，兩個年份的比較也突出問題發展的迅猛，從而印證下一段的主題句“This increase in weight has been uneven as well as fast.”說明了貧窮與肥胖是并存的。例子一般是用來證明緊挨著的前面或后面的論述，此處證明的觀點在之前，其中的重點應該是But后面的內容，所以選項A與文中意思不符。注意本題要選的是NOT the point of the example。

　　4.[D] 觀點態度題。文章最后一句扭轉了整段的基調。作者呼吁解決這一問題，前文正是為此作鋪墊，突出問題的復雜性和時間的緊迫性。

　　5.[A] 主旨大意題。本文話題為obesity，作者從美國談到所有西方國家，最后重點討論其在發展中國家的最新發展趨勢以及種種可能的成因，并強調應當盡早解決問題，故選項A正確。肥胖問題的陣營沒有轉移，只是擴大了，故選項D不對。選項B只是片面信息，沒有包括最后一段關于如何解決肥胖問題的內容。選項C中的starvation并非本文討論的主要話題。