How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know？Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease？These days that’s more than an academic question，as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.
There are now more than a thousand genetic(基因的) tests，for everything from baldness to breast cancer，and the list is growing.Question is，do you really want to know what might eventually kill you？For instance，Nobel Prizewinning scientist James Watson，one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup，is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s(老年痴呆症)．
“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease，that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious，through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you.It could really mess you up.” said Dr.Robert Green，a Harvard geneticist.
“Every ache and pain，” Smith suggested，could be understood as “the beginning of the end.”“That’s right.If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer’s disease，then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot，you think the disease has started.”
Dr.Green has been thinking about this issue for years.He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s.It was thought that people who got bad news would，for lack of a better medical term，freak_out.But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference” between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives.In fact，most people think they can handle it.People who ask for the information usually can handle the information，good or bad，said Green.
【小题1】The first paragraph is meant to .A．ask some questionsB．introduce the topicC．satisfy readers’ curiosityD．describe an academic fact【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE of James Watson?A．He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.B．He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.C．He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.D．He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.【小题3】According to Paragraphs 3 and 4，if a person is at a higher genetic risk，it is .A．advisable not to let him knowB．impossible to hide his diseaseC．better to inform him immediatelyD．necessary to remove his anxiety【小题4】The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “ ”．A．break downB．drop outC．leave offD．turn awayB
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(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】 B
解析 在第一段中通过两个问题引出本文要谈论的话题。
【小题2】 D
解析 根据第二段“Nobel Prizewinning scientist James Watson，one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup，is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s(老年痴呆症)．”可知，James Watson要求如果他的基因表明他有很高的老年痴呆症的可能性不要告诉他。
【小题3】 A
解析 根据这两个自然段可知，如果你提前被告知你将来可能患某种可怕的疾病，你可能会心情焦虑甚至精神崩溃。故A项符合。
【小题4】 A
解析 根据划线词所在句子及后一句可知，freak out的意思是break down(精神垮掉)。