Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit.As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffectiveand painful. I also know that people in Japanand Sweden,countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthierlives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikelycures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improvepeople’s lives。
59. In contras to the U.S.,Japan and Sweden are funding their medicalcare 。
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finallytaken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentarydebates, Australia’s Northern Territorybecame the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the livesof incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincingvote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and waspicked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Rightto Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group’s on-line service, DeathNET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course thisisn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history。”
The full import may take awhile to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally IIIlaw has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral andpractical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, includingchurches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterlyattacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely toturn back. In Australia-- where an aging population, life extending technology and changing communityattitudes have all played their part -- other states are going to considermaking a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the USand Canada,where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waitingfor the dominoes to start falling。
Under the new Northern Territory law,an adult patient can request death -- probably by a deadly injection or pill --to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill bytwo doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign acertificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For LloydNickson, a 54 year old Darwinresident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally III law meanshe can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: aterrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from aspiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’vewatched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at theirmasks,” he says。
54.The author’s attitude towards euthanasiaseems to be that of ________。
[A]opposition
[B]suspicion
[C]approval
[D]indifference
我們通過閱讀該文，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)文章首段記述了安樂死法案通過以及當(dāng)時(shí)在全球引起的反響，首段作者使用“it is world history”，來表達(dá)他對(duì)該事件的態(tài)度，認(rèn)為它意義重大;緊接著在第二段，作者首先討論世人對(duì)此態(tài)度不一，但是作者通過轉(zhuǎn)折，指出這個(gè)潮流不太可能被逆轉(zhuǎn)了。第三段，作者用一個(gè)肺癌病人為例，該病人認(rèn)為安樂死法案的通過意味著自己可以平靜地度過最后的時(shí)光，不用擔(dān)心臨死前要遭受的折磨。很明顯這個(gè)事例是認(rèn)識(shí)安樂死法案的通過是一件好事。那么文章就作者的態(tài)度命題，答案肯定是approval。作者: 風(fēng)光 時(shí)間: 2014-4-2 10:40
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