It seems that politicians around the world are thinking about the health of their countries. While in China, Chen Zhu has announced his plans for a universal（全体的，普遍的）health service and reform across health services. Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, has also announced he is planning to make some changes in our health service.
The crux（关键）of Mr. Brown's proposals are related to giving the NHS (National Health Service) a greater focus on prevention, rather than just curing patients.
He is planning to introduce increased screening for mon diseases such as heart disease, strokes（中风）, and cancer, for example, breast cancer. In Britain there are 200,000 deaths a year from heart attacks and strokes, many of which might have been avoided if the condition had been known about.
Initially, the diagnostic (诊断的) tests will be available for those who are vulnerable, or most likely to have the disease. One example is a plan to offer all men over 65 an ultrasound test to check for problems with the main artery (动脉), a condition which kills 3,000 men a year.
The opposition have criticized Mr. Brown's proposals, saying that they are just a trick, and claiming that there is no proper timetable for the changes. They also say that Mr. Brown is reducing the money available for the treatment of certain conditions while putting more money towards testing for them.
The NHS was founded in 1948, and is paid for by taxation. The idea is that the rich pay more towards the health service than the poor. However in recent years there has been a great increase in the use of private healthcare, because it’s much quicker. NHS waiting lists for operations can be very long, so many people who can afford it choose to pay for medical care themselves.
【小题1】The underlined word vulnerable in the fourth paragraph probably means .A．sickB．weakC．woundedD．old【小题2】All the following statements are true except that .A．all people should pay for their healthcare at the NHS.B．some people are against the reform of the healthcare.C．the writer is likely to e from Britain.D．more money will be spent on testing people than before.【小题3】Which of the following is the reason for the increasing private healthcare?A．People are paying more attention to their own health.B．People are well off enough to pay their healthcare.C．The NHS was not available for most of the people.D．It’s not so convenient for people to go to the NHS for their healthcare.【小题4】According to the passage, the purpose of the health reform plan in the UK is to A．encourage more private healthcare.B．focus on the prevention rather than on curing the patient.C．deal with the main artery problems.D．fight against the opposition in the UK.【小题5】The author of this passage intends to tell us .A．the NHS should be reformed right away.B．more and more people are dying from diseases.C．the plan to reform the NHS in the UK.D．the criticism of Mr. Brown's proposals.B
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(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】词意猜测题。根据其后一句“or most likely to have the disease”可知为“体弱者”。
【小题2】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段可知，能够自己负担地起费用的人们常常自己花钱去看病，这也就是说人们本来可以不用花钱的。故选项A不正确，为答案。选项B根据文章倒数第二段可知，反对党对这个建议进行了批判；选项C根据文章第一段最后一句可知；选项D根据文章倒数第二段最后一句可反推出来。
【小题3】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段可知，人们自己掏钱看病的原因是因为在NHS的等待时间太长，所以对人们来说不方便，故答案为D。
【小题4】细节理解题。根据文章第二可知。
【小题5】主旨大意题。根据文章第一段最后一句可知。事实上，本文作者重点介绍了英国的医疗改革计划，文章大量篇幅都在说明英国的医疗状况。