(NEW YORK)---Scientists have discovered small signs of awareness in some vegetative(植物人的) brain injury patients and have even municated with one of them---findings that are beneficial to how to assess and care for such people.
The new research suggests that standard tests may ignore patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of munication may be possible.
In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by picturing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine.
“We were stunned when this happened,” said one study author, Martin Monti of the Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. “I find it really amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years.”
Ever since a research paper four years ago described obvious signs of awareness in a vegetative patient, families of patients have been demanding brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat, a spokesman for the American Academy for Neurology.
But experts said more study is needed before the specialized brain scans could be used in medical treatment. “It’s still a research tool,” Bernat said.
Experts also pointed out that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness. And they said it is not clear what degree of consciousness and mental abilities the signs imply.
They also noted that the positive signals appeared only in people with traumatic(外伤的) brain injury---not in patients whose brains had been lacking in oxygen, as can happen when the heart stops.
The new study used brain scanning called functional MRI, for 23 patients in a vegetative state and 31 that are minimally(极微地) conscious.
Patients are said to be in a vegetative state if they are tested and found unable to do such things as move on mand or follow a moving object with their eyes. Minimally conscious patients show signs of awareness, but they are minimal and discontinuous.
【小题1】 What is the practical use of the research?A．It leads to studying how to cure vegetative patients.B．It attracts society to pay more attention to vegetative patients.C．It helps doctors know whether patients are vegetative or not.D．It drives the government to care about vegetative patients.【小题2】What does the underlined word “stunned” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?A．RelaxedB．AmazedC．ExcitedD．Worried【小题3】One is considered vegetative if .A．his eyes can’t follow a moving thingB．his brain only has a little oxygenC．he has a traumatic brain injuryD．his heart stops beating【小题4】The passage mainly deals with .A．how to recognize a vegetative patientB．the significance of a new scientific findingC．how family members look after a vegetative patientD．the latest findings on awareness in some vegetative patientsC
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(答案→)C
解析：
【小题1】根据第一段描述，可知这个研究的作用就是帮助医生知道病人是否是植物人。故选C。
【小题1】联系下文“I find it really amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years.”可知这个单词，是惊讶的意思，故选B。
【小题1】根据最后一段Patients are said to be in a vegetative state if they are tested and found unable to do such things as move on mand or follow a moving object with their eyes.描述，可知选A。
【小题1】这篇短文主要介绍了在一些植物人病人的意识问题上的新发现，故选D。