LONDON (Reuters) — Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.
More than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters.
The problem is even worse in developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children die each year from treatable conditions.
In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric therapies（儿科的疗法）developed for children generally cost three times more than adult ones.
As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.
Fortunately, the WHO has drawn up the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing 206 products considered safe for children.
“But a lot remains to be done. There are priority medicines that have not been adapted for children’s use or are not available when needed,” said Dr Hans, the U.N. agency’s director of medicines policy and standards.
Medicines that need to be adapted to children’s needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The agency is building an Internet entrance linking to clinical trials carried out in children and will launch a Web site with the information early next year.
Testing medicines on children has always been a controversial issue, since good ethical（伦理的）practice requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which is difficult to obtain in the case of children.
As a result, research-based drug companies have been wary of developing child-friendly medicines and general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.
In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for drugs that have been tested on children. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．A Global Campaign to Promote Research into AIDS Medicine |
| B．WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized Drugs |
| C．Many People are Concerned about Children’s Drugs |
| D．Measures Taken to Develop Child-friendly Medicine Quickly |
Which of the following medicine is not needed to be adapted to children’s need according to the passage?
| A．Pain killers. | B．Tuberculosis. |
| C．AID pills. | D．Flu pills. |
Why has testing medicines on children always been a controversial issue?
| A．It is against good ethical practice |
| B．Children shouldn’t take part in clinical trials. |
| C．It is hard to get informed agreement from children tested. |
| D．Parents don’t allow their children to be tested on medicine. |
The underlined word “wary” in the last but one paragraph means _________.
| A．fast | B．fond | C．cautious | D．uninterested |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．There is still a long way to go on children’s medicine. |
| B．An Internet entrance is being built to link to clinical trials carried out in children. |
| C．Both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for children’s drugs. |
| D．Less than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters |
Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. We go fishing, sit in the garden, have a picnic, live in the suburbs or go to the seaside. The most popular leisure activity in Britain is going for a walk. When joggers jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them tend to go to the park or the river.
But despite this, our children are growing up nature deprived(剥夺). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.
The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (多动症). Those whose accommodation had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.
ADHD is one of the great problems of modern childhood. One study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.
The life of old people is measurably better when they have access to nature. The increasing concern for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.
We need the wild world. It is essential to our well-being, our health and our happiness.
What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Access to nature improves our life.
B. Nature treats children with ADHD.
C. Getting close to nature reduces crime.
D. Man can’t live without natural areas.
When there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOS One, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces．Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry．The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling．
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments．
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking．
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest．However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted．
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them．Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted．
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices．They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces．
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them．The temptation to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist．”
Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?
| A．What kind of face do you trust? |
| B．Who did the experiments? |
| C．Why do you trust him or her? |
| D．Why did they do the experiments? |
My 3-year-old son and I lived a very hard life because I had been out of work since two years ago. Being poor is a terrible feeling when your 3-year-old finishes his meal and says: “Can I have some more bread and jam （果酱） please, Mummy?” And you break down in tears, because you don’t know how to tell him that there is no more food. With ￡6, I went to the supermarket, picked up some food and started to cook at home. It was time for me to make a change and get back on my feet. I began to write a series of articles for the website named Hunger Hurt in July 2011.
A few months later, local food bank gave me some help-- with some free vegetables every month, which made my life a little easier. I began to write recipes（食谱）, posting them on my blog. To my surprise, families, students and those poor people told me how much it helped to see healthy recipes made from affordable supermarket vegetables.
My Life took unexpected turns. I was invited to give a speech on food , interviewed for an Oxfam report on food banks and asked to write a cookery book.
When I got the money from the book, for the first night in almost two years, I went to bed without worrying. Now, I have a well-paid job and a beautiful home, and I’ll never forget the days when I worked hard for a good life.
Which could be the best title?
| A．what a loving mother |
| B．A lesson hard life teaches me |
| C．A mother’s dream job |
| D．Success lies in your own hands |
Sometime in the next century, the familiar early-newspaper on the front porch (门廊) will disappear. And instead of reading your newspaper, it will read to you. You'll get up and turn on the computer newspaper just like switching on the TV. An electronic voice will distribute stories about the latest events, guided by a program that selects the type of news you want. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Do you want more information on this brief story? A simple touch makes the entire text appear. Save it in your own personal computer if you like. These are among the predictions from communication experts working on the newspapers of the future. Pictured as part of broader home-based media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers will unite print and broadcast reporting, and offer news and analysis with video images of news events.
Most of the technology is available now, but convincing more people that they don't need to read a newspaper is the next step. But resistance to computer newspapers may be stronger from within journalism. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be that the present generation of journalists and publishers will have to die off before the next generation realizes that the newspaper industry is no longer a newspaper industry. Technology is making the end of ' traditional newspapers unavoidable.
Despite technological advances, it could take decades to replace newsprint with computer screens. It might take 30 to 40 years to complete the changeover because people need to buy computers and because newspapers have established financial interests in the paper industry.
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Computer newspapers are well liked. |
| B．Newspapers of the future will be on the computer. |
| C．Newspapers are out of fashion. |
| D．New communications technology. |
Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive; to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable．
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful．When I first learned to cook, I used recipes （菜谱）and turned out some tasty dishes．But soon I grew bored．Why did you follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them．
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously（下意识地）hold poor role models．If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others．
In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities．Those stars look great on screen．But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors．
Bless is that the person is willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply．They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation．The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them．Creative people have an endless resource of ideas．The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination．
Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve．Then you can say, “I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors’ tragedies and declare victory, and know that they are cheering me on．
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To highlight the importance of creatively． |
| B．To criticize the characters of role models． |
| C．To compare imitation with creation． |
| D．To explain the meaning of success． |