The cancer death rate in the U.S. fell by the most on record as advances in treatments for lung tumors （肿瘤） like video-assisted surgery helped prolong the lives of patients.
The death rate from cancer has been gradually declining for 26 years, thanks in large part to fewer people smoking cigarettes. But from 2016 to 2017, the most recent period available, it dropped by 2.2%, the most ever in a single year, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society. That compares with an average 1.5% yearly decline over the decade. The drop translates to roughly 2.9 million fewer cancer deaths than would have occurred had death rates remained at their peak. For lung cancer specifically, the death rate declined 4.3% annually from 2013 to 2017.
"It is really lung cancer that is driving this," said Rebecca Siegel, scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, and lead author on the new study. "We found increases in survival for lung cancer at every stage in diagnosis.”, She attributed the lower deaths to improvements in treatments, including video-assisted surgery that enables more patients with early lung tumors to become eligible for operations; more precise radiation treatment; and better scanning technology that allows doctors to better assess the stage of tumor, so the patient gets the best treatment right away. At later stages of illness, new, targeted drugs that aim at specific disease-causing genes are helping patients whose tumors have those genetic flaws （缺陷）.Overall, lung cancer death rates have dropped by 51% for men since their peak in 1990, and by 26% for women since their peak in 2002.
There's the potential for more progress in future reports. That's because the latest death-rate statistics go only through 2017, and likely don't include the potential impact in lung cancer death from immune-therapy drugs. They became widely used in lung cancer only in the past few years.
The report, based on U.S. government data, isn't all good news. Prostate （前列腺）cancer death rates have leveled off recently after a period of decline. That may be because many doctors pulled back on using the controversial prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA, which can spot the disease but can lead to over-treatment of men who may never have died from their tumors.
"Though it was definitely causing harm, it was also contributing to declines in death," Siegel said. What's needed now is better screening tests to detect only the prostate cancers that will go on to cause harm.
Population death rates are considered one of the most reliable ways of measuring progress in cancer treatment and prevention. By contrast, cancer survival rates can sometimes be influenced by improvements in diagnosing tiny, early stage tumors that wouldn't necessarily be deadly.
1.According to paragraph 2, ______.
A.cancer death rate reached its peak in 2017
B.death rate decreases over the past 2 decades
C.2.9 million people die of cancer in America every year
D.most of the cancer patients in America suffer from lung cancer
2.We can learn from the passage that ______.
A.female death rate of lung cancer drops more than that of male
B.targeted drugs have led to rapid increase in cancer death rates
C.better scanning technology will lead to improvement in treating genetic flaws
D.improper use of prostate-specific antigen test can lead to over-treatment of men
3.The underlined expression "level off” in paragraph 5 means ______.
A.remain unchanged B.show up
C.take off D.become sharp
4.What might be the best title of the passage?
A.Medical Progress Prolonging Patients’ Lives
B.Cancer Death Rates Dropping at the Fastest Pace
C.Significant Improvement in Treating Lung Cancer
D.Advanced Technologies Applied in Cancer Treatment
Traveler
My fifteen-year-old son has just returned from abroad with rolls of exposed film and a hundred dollars in uncashed traveler’s checks, and is asleep at the moment．His blue duffel(粗呢) bag lies on the floor where he dropped it．Obviously, he postponed as much sleep as he could: when he walked in and we hugged, his electrical system suddenly switched off, and he headed directly for the bed, where I imagine he beat his old record of sixteen hours.
It was his first trip overseas, so weeks before it, I pressed travel books on him, and a tape cassette of useful French phrases; drew up a list of people to visit; advised him on clothing and other things．At the luggage store where we went to buy him a suitcase, he headed for the duffels, saying that suitcases were more for old people．
During the trip, he called home three times: from London, Paris, and a village named Ullapool．Near Ullapool, he climbed a mountain in a rainstorm that almost blew him off．In the village, a man spoke to him in Gaelic, and, too polite to interrupt, my son listened to him for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to nod in the right places．The French he learned from the cassette didn’t hold water in Paris．The French he talked to shrugged and walked on.
When my son called, I sat down at the kitchen table and leaned forward and hung on every word． His voice came through clearly, though two of the calls were like ship-to-shore communication．When I interrupted him with a “Great!” or a “Really?”, I knocked a little hole in his communication．So I just sat and listened． I have never listened to a telephone so attentively and with so much pleasure．It was wonderful to hear news from him that was so new to me．In my book, he was the first man to land on the moon, and I knew that I had no advice to give him and that what I had already given was probably not much help.
The unused checks are certainly evidence of that．Youth travels light．No suitcase, not much luggage and a slim expense account, and yet he went to the scene, and came back safely．I sit here amazed．The night when your child returns with dust on his shoes from a country you’ve never seen is a night you would gladly turn into a week．
1.During the trip, the author’s son ______.
A.ran out of money
B.had inadequate sleep
C.forgot to call his mother
D.failed to take good pictures
2.According to the passage, which of the following could best describe the author’s son?
A.Polite and careless．
B.Creative and stubborn.
C.Considerate and independent.
D.Self-centered and adventurous.
3.What does the underlined word “that” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.It is important to listen to your child’s story.
B.It’s easy to interrupt the chat with your child.
C.The author is proud of her son landing on the moon.
D.The son no longer needs much help from his mother.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Good parents should protect their children from potential dangers.
B.The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
C.It’s a win-win choice to give a child space to experience and explore．
D.Communication between parents and children is extremely important.
Video chat is now the go-to outlet for many social distancers longing for social interaction. But having a successful fete isn't only a question of hopping on camera with friends and kicking off. Social grace is a big part of a successful virtual party — and etiquette doesn't go out the door just because you're in your pajamas in front of a camera.
Introduce everyone to the group
Gone are the days during which you can introduce yourself to new people at your leisure. Instead, the second you click 'Join Meeting', you're pushed in front of potentially dozens of faces staring straight at you.
This is particularly problematic if not everyone on the call knows each other — Zoom itself recommends short ice-breaking sessions for everyone to introduce themselves on meetings.
"I like to use the wait room," says Tamiko Zablith, founder of Minding Manners International. "For security reasons, it means outsiders don't come crashing into your meeting. But also, you can let people come in one at a time, and then you can take that time to introduce them to the group as well."
Learn the art of the pause
Another wildly confusing thing about Zoom parties: everyone has to talk one at a time. There's no chance for small groups to organically form, for joking talk to fill a room, or for guests to talk at the same time. The whole group, no matter how large, can only listen to one person at a time.
That's why putting pauses in your speech is critical, especially since low internet speeds or weird audio may mean it's easy for someone to talk over someone else, drowning out what they have to say to the group.
"If the internet is a bit unreliable, you have those unstable signals. If I keep rambling, and the other person starts, there's that delay," says Zablith. "Work those pauses into your conversation."
Know when to change backgrounds
Using Zoom's backgrounds can actually be a courtesy to eliminate distractions behind you.
Hiding those dirty dishes or pizza boxes, or obscuring other members of the household coming and going, eliminates distractions and makes the other people feel like they're getting your full attention.
"Wouldn't it be better if that distraction just wasn't there?" Zablith says, pointing to the advantage of virtual backgrounds being able to hide anything unsightly behind you. For others, virtual backgrounds also provide a sense of comfort or normalcy to the audience.
1.According to the passage, which of the following is considered impolite?
A.To introduce everyone individually to the group.
B.To use virtual backgrounds to avoid distraction.
C.To put several pauses in your online speech.
D.To keep silent when joining in the meeting.
2.According to Tamiko Zablith, ______.
A.Internet speed matters little in Zoom parties
B.the wait room makes it easy to introduce everybody
C.for some, real room background has a comforting effect
D.pauses in speaker's conversation may delay the conference
3.What is the purpose of the passage?
A.To attract more people to use Zoom.
B.To explain how to maintain social manners.
C.To offer guidance on Zoom social etiquette.
D.To compare online meetings with offline ones.
For or Against?—That Is the Question
Andy is the most unreasonable and he makes me so angry that I could even scream sometimes! Of course, I sort of have to love him because he is my twin brother. Andy and Amy （that is me） have the same curly hair and dark eyes and are equally stubborn. Yet, on most issues we usually take opposite positions.
Just this week in our school, there was a heated discussion on whether to adopt a school dress code. Every student would be required to wear a uniform. The teachers are divided: Some are in favor of the uniforms while others are opposed. The principal has asked the students to express their opinions by voting on the issue before decisions are made. But she will have the final word on the dress code.
I think a dress code is a good idea. The reason is simple. The less I have to decide first thing in the morning, the better. I can't tell you how many mornings I look into my closet and just stare, unable to decide what to wear.
Andy is shocked at my opinion. Last night, he even dragged out my parents' high school photo albums to show me how brilliant they looked without uniforms! He also declared, "Bruce Springsteen never wore a school uniform. Bob Dylan wouldn't have been caught dead in a school uniform! Besides, when I am feeling political, I want to be able to wear clothes made of natural, undyed fibers, sewn or assembled in countries that do not pollute the environment or exploit child labor. If I have to wear a uniform, I won't feel like me!"
To that I replied, "So your personal heroes didn't wear school uniforms. But they went to high school about a million years ago! I feel sorry for you since I had no idea that your ego（自我）is so fragile that it would be completely destroyed by a uniform." That really made him angry and he shouted, "You're just copying what you hear that new music teacher saying because you are crazy about him!"
Fortunately, the bell rang before we could do each other physical harm, and we went to our separate classes. The vote for or against uniforms took place later that day. The results of the vote and the principal's decision will be announced next week. I wonder what it will be. I know how I voted, and I'm pretty sure I know how Andy voted. How would you vote---for or against?
1.Amy and Andy often get angry with each other because ______ .
A.they're both stubborn B.they like different teachers
C.they always hold different views D.they don't like each other very much
2.Amy holds the idea that ______.
A.school clothing should reflect parents' values
B.teenagers should never follow the latest clothing fashion
C.the way one dresses should be an expression of one's personality
D.wearing school uniforms means one makes less decision every morning
3.Who will decide whether the students should wear uniforms?
A.The principal. B.Their parents.
C.Their teachers. D.Students themselves.
4.In Paragraph 5, Amy aims to say that ______.
A.Andy shouldn't look up to his heroes so much
B.our clothes should decide people's attitudes towards us
C.Andy's lack of self-confidence is reflected in his clothing
D.our clothes shouldn't determine how we feel about ourselves
I moved to a new city and took a job in marketing. I didn't really understand whether it_________me. I enjoyed doing things that I felt had_________—I could see their benefit and feel their impact. As the months passed, I felt it just wasn't for me. I needed to find a way out.
A job advertisement for a(n)_________for a new youth magazine came at exactly the right time. I applied and was_________. My role was to help teams of young people edit their_________and help them with their work. I had assumed the magazine would be a(n)_________of games and dull reviews, so I was_________when one of the first pieces written was about social welfare._________, I found something I was interested in.
I felt a_________in me straight away. I had a purpose again. Days were lost to discussing hot topics and__________the words of their strong and opinionated (坚持己见的) voices.__________in their world, I could see myself making a difference to the team's__________ability. As our website__________increased and the work shifted to reflect what our__________wanted, I developed a greater__________of what young people might want to read.
The biggest change the job brought, __________,was to my well-being. It is rare you find yourself in a job you love, one that you are happy to__________each day. I was thriving (充实）in this__________environment, inspired by the talented young people I was helping to__________their careers. Now, I realize that there are jobs that will keep you happy,__________and inspired.
1.A.messed with B.applied to C.relied on D.waited for
2.A.purpose B.convenience C.restriction D.entertainment
3.A.reporter B.lawyer C.editor D.typist
4.A.independent B.intelligent C.successful D.ambitious
5.A.courses B.references C.software D.content
6.A.replacement B.mixture C.innovation D.symbol
7.A.amused B.embarrassed C.touched D.surprised
8.A.Naturally B.Generally C.Frequently D.Finally
9.A.contrast B.shock C.change D.shame
10.A.reading B.translating C.spelling D.copying
11.A.Trapped B.Hidden C.Invested D.Imagined
12.A.gaming B.marketing C.writing D.communicating
13.A.hits B.pages C.profits D.advertisements
14.A.monitors B.sponsors C.colleagues D.audiences
15.A.distinction B.understanding C.expectation D.recording
16.A.though B.instead C.otherwise D.therefore
17.A.go into B.leave behind C.refer to D.set aside
18.A.troublesome B.creative C.tough D.conservative
19.A.transfer B.rescue C.discipline D.further
20.A.lucky B.popular C.energetic D.honest
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空，在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Our school produces a lot of rubbish every day, such as leftover food, waste paper and plastic bottles, 1. brings a wide range of environmental problems as well as the waste of resources. Therefore, it's time we took immediate action to change the situation.
First of all, it is necessary for us to raise 2. (aware) of environmental protection and develop the good habit of garbage sorting. What's more, we should voluntarily differentiate recyclable rubbish from non-recyclables in our daily life.
In a word, if everyone does his bit responsibly in garbage sorting, our school 3.(become) better and better.
