The drug has several side （).

n.

A．retained

B．endured

C．maintained

D．survived

wonder drug that is proving to be effective in treating a variety of ailments, including virus infections, bacteria infections, and tumors. To date, the new drug has provoked no negative reaction of sufficient significance to discourage its use. But in spite of its success, last year only one gram was produced in the entire world. The reason for the scarcity lies in the structure of interferon. A species specific protein, the interferon produced from one animal species cannot be used in treating another animal species. In other words, to treat human beings, only interferon produced by human beings may be used. The drug is produced by infecting white blood cells with a virus. Fortunately, it is so potent that the amount given each patient per injection is very small. Unlike antibiotics, interferon does not attack germs directly. Instead, it makes unaffected cells resistant to infection, and prevents the multiplication of viruses within cells. As you might conclude, one of the most dramatic uses of interferon has been in the treatment of cancer. Dr. Hans Strander, research physician at Swedens famous Karohnska Institute, has treated more than one hundred cancer patients with the new drug. Among a group of selected patients who had undergone surgical procedures for advanced cancer, half were given conventional treatments and the other half were given interferon. The survival rate over a three-year period was 70 percent among those who were treated with interferon as compared with only 10 to 30 percent among those who had received the conventional treatments. In the United States, a large-scale project supported by the American Cancer Society is now underway. If the experiment is successful, interferon could become one of the greatest medical discoveries of our time.

In what does interferon differ from antibiotics？

A．Interferon has serious side effects, whereas antibiotics do not.

B．Interferon is available in large supply, whereas antibiotics are not.

C．Antibiotics are very potent, while interferon is not.

D．Antibiotics kill germs by attacking them directly, while interferon does not.

n relievers.

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

species of plant and several hundreds thousands types of living things. But only a tiny percentage of these were ever domesticated. Modern shops have hastened a trend towards specialization which began in the earliest days of agriculture. The food of the rich countries has become cheaper relative to wages. It is speedily distributed in supermarkets. But the choice annually becomes less and less great. Even individual foods themselves become more standardized. We live in the world of carrot specially blunted in order to avoid making a hole in the bag, and the tomato grown to meet a demand for a standard weight of weighting tomatoes to a kilo. Siri von Reis asks: "Only the three major cereals （谷物类食物） and perhaps ten other widely cultivated species stand between famine and survival for the world's human population and a handful of drug plants has served Western civilization for several thousand years. A rather obvious question arises: Are we missing something？" After all, there are 800 000 species of plant on earth.

1.In prehistoric times people（）.

A、ate much more than we do today

B、lived mainly on plant food

C、had a wide-ranging diet

D、were more fussy about what they ate

2.The specialization of food was started by（）.

A、the emergence of supermarkets

B、the rise of agriculture

C、the rich countries

D、the modern shops

3.According to the passage, people in the West today survive on（）.

A、carrots and tomatoes

B、several thousand types of plants and cereals

C、a very small number of cultivated foods

D、special species planted one thousand years ago

4.The conclusion seems to be that we（）.

A、could make use of more natural species

B、don't cultivate the right kind of food

C、produce more food than we need

D、cultivate too many different species

5.Most of us have come to expect（）.

A、no variation in our diet

B、a reduction in food supplies

C、a specialist diet

D、food conforming to a set standard

The writer ate a tasteless diet for several days ______.

A．as a result of her failing taste

B．as was warned on the package

C．as a result of taking the drug

D．as was advised by her doctor

Tightened Visa Regulations

According to South Korea's new visa regulations, native speakers of English in South Korea will be required to undergo criminal record checks, medical and drug tests, provide sealed academic transcripts (成绩单)and have their university diplomas inspected, The Korea Times has reported The tightened regulations will affect an estimated 17,000 foreigners that hold E-2 visas-specifically for foreign language teachers.

The most controversial requirement is that English teachers residing (居住) outside South Korea will have to have an interview at a South Korean Embassy before taking up their teaching posts. For applicants living in remote areas in Canada, Australia or the US, this is an additional travel burden. Meanwhile, foreign teachers currently living in South Korea must leave the country after their one-year contracts and renew their visas by visiting a neighboring country and return without additional documentation (文件证据).

The visa changes are a reaction to public concern about the suitability of some foreign teachers. A report from the South Korean Ministry of-Education and Human Resources Development shows between 2001 and August of this year, 1,481 foreign language teachers have been caught for a range of offenses including forged (伪造的) degrees, visa violations and general lawbreaking.

But the changes are likely to slow up the supply of teachers to South .Korea's English language education sector. According to Michael Duffy, manager of a teacher placement service in South Korea, applicants have to spend a few hundred dollars and several months on getting affidavits (书面陈述书) for documents. "South Korea-has put up too many hoops (圈) to jump through," he said, adding that foreigners would seek work elsewhere. Most foreigners wonder if the experience of working in South Korea will be worth the burden of the paper work and increasing restrictions. "I don't think (South) Korea has thought this through," said Scott Mclnnis, a Canadian teacher based in Incheon near Seoul. "This is a reactionary move by the government that will have strong implications for the EFL community."

As part of the efforts to ease the discontent (不满), the South Korean Ministry of Justice has granted a three-month grace period for current E-2 visa holders to prepare the necessary documents.

Which of the following is NOT required of an E-2 visa applicant？

A．To pass a Korean language test.

B．To undergo a medical test.

C．To provide sealed school reports.

D．To undergo a drug test.

Acetaminophen(乙酰氨基酚), the Unawared Poisoning

Despite more than a decade's worth of research showing that taking too much of a popular pain reliever can ruin the liver, the number of severe, unintentional poisonings from the drug is on the rise, a new study reports. The drug, acetaminophen, is best known under the brand name Tylenol. But many consumers don't realize that it is also found in widely varying doses in several hundred common cold remedies and combination pain relievers.

The authors of the study, which is appearing in the December issue of Hepatology(肝病学), say the combination of acetaminophen can make it too easy for some patients to swallow much more than the maximum recommended dose carelessly.

"It's extremely frustrating to see people come into the hospital who felt fine several days ago, but now need a new liver," said Dr. Tim Davern, one of the authors and a doctor with the liver transplant program of the University of California at San Francisco. "Most of them had no idea that what they were taking could have that sort of effect." The numbers of poisonings, however, are still tiny in comparison with the millions of people who use overthe-counter and doctor prescription drugs with acetaminophen.

Cases of Acetaminophen Poisoning

Dr. Davern and a team of colleagues from other centers led by Dr. Anne Larson at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, tracked the 662 consecutive patients who showed up with acute liver failure at 23 transplant centers across the United States from 1998 to 2003.

Acetaminophen poisoning was to blame in nearly half the patients, the scientists found. The proportion of cases linked to the drug rose to 51 percent in 2003 from 28 percent in 1998. Not all the poisonings were accidental. An estimated 44 percent were suicide attempts by people who swallowed fistfuls of pills. "It's a horrible way to die," Dr. Davern said, adding that patients who survive sometimes suffer profound brain damage.

But in at least another 48 percent of the cases studied, the liver failed after a smaller, unintentional attack by the drug over several days. "I see some young women who have been suffering flu like symptoms for the better part of a week, and not eating much." Dr. Davern said. "They start with Tylenol, and maybe odd an over-the-counter flu medicine on top of that, and pretty soon they've been taking maybe six grams of acetaminophen a day for a number of days. In rare cases that can be enough to throw them into liver failure."

The Labeling Must Be Improved

Each Extra Strength Tylenol tablet contains half a gram, or 500 milligrams, of acetaminophen. One dose of Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe contains 1,000 milligrams. The recommended maximum daily dose for adults is 4 grams, or 4,000 milligrams.

"Part of the problem is that the labeling on many of these drugs is still far from satisfactory," said Dr. William Lee, a liver specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who for years has been lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to make manufacturers put "acetaminophen" in large letters on the front of any package that contains it, so that as they reach for the bottle, patients will be more likely to pause and keep track of exactly how much they are swallowing.

Some companies have voluntarily added new warnings about acetaminophen's risk to the liver, and they should be given credit for that, said Dr. Charles Ganley, director of the F.D.A's Office of Nonprescription Products. "But labeling isn't where I would like it to be." Dr. Ganley added.

Dr. Lee said he was disturbed by a pattern: "that acetaminophen is always billed as the one to reach to for safety, probably even more so now, with other pain relievers pulled from the market."

Safe Use of Acetaminophen

In fact, the drug, when giv

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

t ______.

A．doctors have not found the best drug to treat depression

B．doctors can prescribe several drags to the patient

C．the brain mechanism of depression is very complicated

D．depression is caused by the imbalance of brain

ke, was forced to resign in May after admitting that some 1,000 foreign prisoners who ought to have been considered for deportation had been freed. This week Mr. Reid faced a prison crisis of his own, made worse by new figures showing that offenders released early from jail on electronic tags have committed more than 1,000 serious crimes.

In theory, the jails of England and Wales can accommodate just over 80,000 people. By October 6th they were just 210 short of that limit. The obvious remedies—cramming two people into cells built for one, letting more prisoners out on probation and moving convicts far from their families—have already been taken. So, last-ditch measures were put in place this week. Some 500 police cells will be used for prisoners. Foreign convicts' appeals against deportation will no longer be contested, in order to liberate their beds. Others will be paid to go home.

This is one of history's less surprising crises. By the late 1990s Home Office statisticians were not only predicting a rapid rise in prisoner numbers, but also erring on the side of pessimism. Eight years ago, when the prison population was just above 65,000, the department predicted that it would rise to 83,000 by 2005. In 2002 the statisticians' forecasts were also too pessimistic. Yet the politicians still appear to have been caught by surprise.

One reason the prisons are full is that there are more police officers—141,000, compared with 122,000 in 2000. They can now go after crimes that are hard to crack but attract long sentences, such as drug trafficking. The number of people in prison for drug offences has trebled since 1994. And, while the overall crime rate in England and Wales is improving, it may be that some criminals are worse. Cindy Barnett, a London magistrate, reckons the defendants she sees are more violent and have graver drug problems these days. That helps to explain why magistrates sent 27% of robbers straight to prison in 2004—up from just 10% in 1993.

In the past few years, the Home Office has prodded judges and magistrates to punish serious, violent offenders more heavily, while encouraging them to go easier on petty thieves. The former has certainly happened: the number of life sentences has more than doubled since the early 1990s. The latter has not. Populist politicians forgot that judges tend to have fixed ideas about the relative seriousness of offences. Force them to increase sentences for murder, and they will also hand out longer terms to armed robbers.

Finally, there is media pressure. Tabloid newspapers such as the Sun and the Daily Mail hound judges who pass, or even seek to justify, lenient sentences. This week the Sun accused one wig of "living in an ivory tower". Because most people's experience of the criminal-justice system is rare and intermittent, such coverage strongly influences the public mood. Ivory towers notwithstanding, it also stings judges. Penny Derbyshire, an academic who has been following wigs for several years, says they pore over press coverage. "And many of them have wives who read the Daily Mail," she says.

How serious is the problem of crowdedness in prisons of England and Wales？ What are the solutions taken by the authority？

Cancer Drug Trials Often Halted Early

An increasing number of clinical trials for new cancer treatments are being halted before the risks and benefits have been fully evaluated, say Italian researchers, who warn that this growing trend could put patients at risk of harm from new therapies rushed into use.

The researchers looked at 25 randomized, controlled clinical trials that were stopped early because the treatments had started to show benefit to patients.

"When we analyzed 25 trials over a 10-year period between 1997 and 2007, we found a consistent increase in prematurely stopped trials—more than 50 percent were stopped within the last three years", study co-author Giovanni Apolone said at a news conference Tuesday.

Of 14 trials halted early and published between 2005 and 2007, the researchers found that 11(79 percent) of them were used to support drug approval applications submitted to the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"This suggests a strong commercial component in stopping trials prematurely. In fact, this strategy could guarantee quicker access to the market for companies. On the other hand, a quicker clinical drug development may lead to an ' immature' benefit/risk balance of new drugs", Apolone said.

He and his colleagues "are aware that trials stopped early because they are showing benefit may result in identification of promising new treatments for patients. However, findings obtained following this strategy should be considered to be preliminary results that require subsequent confirmation".

It can take several years for the long-term benefits or harmful side effects of a new treatment to become apparent, Apolone noted, but the average duration(持续时间) of the 25 studies he and his colleagues analyzed was 30 months, with a range from 12 to 64 months.

They also found that at the time five of the studies were stopped, they'd enrolled less than 40 percent of the total number of patients planned for final analysis.

"Clinical trials need to stop early for superior benefit whenever there's proof beyond reasonable doubt that the new treatment really is superior. That would be an ethical obligation", Stuart Pocock, a professor of medical statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, said at the news conference. "However, too many trials are stopped early claiming efficacy(功效) without strong evidence being available".

The number of prematurely stopped clinical trials has increased recently.

A．Right

B．Wrong

C．Not mentioned