It happens to every medical student sooner or later. You get a cough that persists for a while. Ordinarily,you would just ignore it--but now, armed with your rapidly growing medical knowledge, you can’t help worrying. The cough could mean just a cold, but it could also be a sign of lung cancer.
For doctors in training, nurses and medical journalists, hypochondria is an occupational danger. The feeling usually passes after a while, leaving only a funny story to tell at a dinner party. But for the tens ofthousands who suffer from true hypochondria they live in constant terror 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, the assurances fall on deaf ears. And because no physician or test can offer a 100% guarantee that 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. Although they account for only about 6% of the patients who visit doctors every year, they tend to burden their physicians with frequent visits that take up excessive amounts of time. And the problem may be worse, thanks to the popularity of medical information on the Internet. They go on the Web and learn about new diseases and new presentations of old diseases that they never even knew about before. Doctors have taken to calling this phenomenon cyberchondria (网络疑病症).
练习题:
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 unnecessary terrors.
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] 事实细节题。仔细读完第2段后半部分,不难发现hypochondria只是瞎猜疑,故选项B正确。时常怀疑自己生病是医务人员的职业病,但为此困扰的并不仅仅是他们,因为第2段第3句说:“But... who suffer from true hypochondria...”,说明医务人员不是真正的疑病症患者,故选项A不正确。选项C过于极端。选项D是对原文断章取义。
2.[D] 主旨大意题。第1段以举例方式引入主题,第2段对hypochondria下定义,第3段则论述其对医疗保健体系造成的干扰,选项D正确全面地概括了文章大意,为正确答案。全文的中心词是hypochondria,在四个选项中,干扰项(选项A、B、C)都出现了该词,只有正确选项(选项D)没有直接使用该词。
3.[D] 事实细节题。根据文中的“because no physician or test can offer a 100% guarantee that one doesn’t have cancer...”即可得出选项D正确。原文虽有表示“咳嗽确实存在”,但这并不意味着医生不能治好类似的小毛病,因此选项A不正确。误选C是没有正确理解短语fall on deaf ears,该固定表达的意思是“充耳不闻”。
4.[B] 推理判断题。句中thanks to是讽刺的用法,引出原因,故选项B正确。本题考查因果关系,要辨别明显的因果关系,只要关注文中是否有because, reason, due to, thanks to, result等词即可。
5.[C] 观点态度题。从作者对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症,因此只要病人们放宽心,此病就能痊愈。故选项C正确。选项A的incurable和B的disastrous都太绝对,比较容易排除。而本文基调较为客观,作者没有表露个人情感,故选项D也不正确。