2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 90

Unit 90

Watching a child struggle to breathe during an asthma attack is frightening for any parent. So it is only natural that most moms and dads will try just about anything—including spending a lot of money—to keep an attack at bay. Trouble is, more than half of parents are trying strategies that simply don’t work and wasting hundreds of dollars in the process, according to a study published last week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The report, based on interviews with the parents of 896 asthmatic children in 10 different cities, contained some good news. Eighty percent of parents had a handle on at least one of the triggers that worsened their children’s asthma. After that, however, many parents seemed to go astray, taking precautions that weren’t helpful “and made little sense,” according to Dr. Michael Cabana, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan’s C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital, who led the study.

One of the most common mistakes was to buy a mattress cover to protect against dust mites for a child whose asthma was exacerbated instead by plant pollen. Many of those parents then neglected to do what would have helped a lot more: shut the windows to keep pollen out. Another was using a humidifier for a child who was allergic to dust mites; a humidifier tends to be a place where dust mites like to breed. With those allergies, a dehumidifier works better.

Worst of all was the number of smokers with asthmatic children who didn’t even try to quit or at least limit themselves to smoking outdoors rather than just moving to another room or the garage. Second-hand smoke has been proved, over and over again, to be a major trigger of asthma attacks. Many smoking parents purchased expensive air filters that have what Cabana called “questionable utility.”

Part of the problem, Dr. Cabana and his colleagues believe, is that parents are bombarded by television ads that encourage them to buy products such as air and carpet fresheners, ionizers and other remedies that are often expensive but medically unnecessary. And doctors may not always take the time, or have the time, to explain to parents what will and won’t work in their child’s particular case. For example, allergies are usually a problem for older children with asthma, while kids 5 and younger more frequently have trouble with viral respiratory infections. So make sure you understand what’s really triggering your child’s asthma. And remember, the best solutions are not always the most expensive ones.

注（1）：本文選自Time；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. What does the study by Dr. Michael Cabana indicate?

A) Parents are eager to cure their children’s disease.

B) Many parents are wasting money for their children’s frightening disease.

C) Many parents fail to find the effective way for their children’s disease.

D) Parents feel worried about their children’s disease.

2. Which of the following is NOT the trigger of asthma attacks?

A) Humidifier.

B) Second-hand smoke.

C) Plant pollen.

D) Dust mites.

3. The expression “to keep an attack at bay” （Line 3, Paragraph 1） most probably means ______.

A) to ease the attack

B) to lessen the attack

C) to continue the attack

D) to prevent the attack

4. Why are the parents in such a dilemma?

A) The doctors are not responsible enough.

B) Parents are influenced much by ads.

C) Parents are ignorant of the disease.

D) The quality of medical products is not good.

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) Parents shouldn’t spend too much money on the children.

B) The expensive products are not always good.

C) To know the real trigger of the disease is very important.

D) Parents often make mistakes.

篇章剖析

本文采用提出問題—說明問題—分析問題的模式，指出哮喘病患兒的家長在防治哮喘方面存在的問題及錯誤。第一段提出有關(guān)哮喘病的一項研究成果；第二段進(jìn)一步補充第一段的論點，指出很多家長對孩子的病情無計可施這一現(xiàn)象；第三段和第四段指出家長的錯誤做法；第五段分析其原因并提出建議。

詞匯注釋

asthma /??sm?;(US)??zm?/ n. 【醫(yī)】哮喘

keep at bay阻止；擋住

allergy /??l?d?i/ n. 【醫(yī)】敏感癥；〈口〉反感

immunology /?mju??n?l?d?i/ n. 【生】免疫學(xué)

have a handle on理解，明白

trigger /?tr?g?(r)/ n. 能引起反應(yīng)的刺激物

go astray 誤入迷途

pediatrician /?pi?d???tr???n/ n. 兒科醫(yī)師

dust mite 塵螨

humidifier /hju?m?d??fa??(r)/ n. 加濕器

allergic /??l??d??k/ adj. 【醫(yī)】過敏的，患過敏癥的

bombard /b?m?bɑ?d/ vt. 炮轟；轟擊；攻擊；質(zhì)問

ionizer /?a??na?z?/ n. 離子發(fā)生器

respiratory /r??sp?r?t?ri;(US)-t??ri/ adj. 呼吸的

難句突破

Part of the problem, Dr. Cabana and his colleagues believe, is that parents are bombarded by television ads that encourage them to buy products such as air and carpet fresheners, ionizers and other remedies that are often expensive but medically unnecessary.

主體句式：Part of the problem is that...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句有一個表語從句。句子主語是part of the problem，Dr. Cabana and his colleagues believe是插入語，that引導(dǎo)表語從句；在從句中，又有that引導(dǎo)的定語從句修飾ads；在定語從句中又有that引導(dǎo)的定語從句修飾remedies。

句子譯文：卡巴娜博士和他的同事認(rèn)為，部分問題在于家長經(jīng)不住電視廣告的狂轟濫炸。這些電視廣告慫恿他們購買那些往往昂貴卻沒有醫(yī)療效果的產(chǎn)品，比如空氣和地毯清潔劑、離子發(fā)生器和其他一些藥品。

題目分析

1. C 推理題。原文對應(yīng)信息是首段的“Trouble is, more than half of parents are trying strategies that simply don’t work and wasting hundreds of dollars in the process.”在第二段中，作者又進(jìn)一步論證了這一點，指出家長采取的預(yù)防措施是“ weren’t helpful ‘a(chǎn)nd made little sense’”。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段提到了兩種過敏源：塵螨和花粉；第四段提到的過敏源是二手煙；加濕器不是過敏源，而是在某種情況下會為過敏源提供滋生地，從而誘發(fā)哮喘。

3. D 語義題。本文開頭第一、二句為因果關(guān)系。第一句提到“Watching a child struggle to breathe during an asthma attack is frightening for any parent. ”那么家長為了避免孩子哮喘病發(fā)作想盡一切辦法甚至花費大筆錢財?shù)淖龇ㄊ窃僮匀徊贿^的了。根據(jù)短語所在的語境可猜出語義。

4. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是“Part of the problem is that parents are bombarded by television ads that encourage them to buy products such as... that are often expensive but medically unnecessary.”做父母的愛子心切，只要是對孩子的病情有用的東西真是不惜一切代價弄到。廣告的強大攻勢更是對父母產(chǎn)生了較強的影響，加之對孩子的病情又不是特別了解，從而喪失了判斷力。

5. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是末段的“So make sure you understand what’s really triggering your child’s asthma.”

參考譯文

對每一位家長來說，看到自己的孩子哮喘病發(fā)作而掙扎著呼吸真是令人膽戰(zhàn)心驚。因此，大多數(shù)父母想盡一切辦法甚至不惜花費大筆錢財來預(yù)防其子女哮喘病發(fā)作的做法也就再自然不過了。但問題是，有一多半父母采取的應(yīng)對措施并沒有發(fā)揮效應(yīng)，他們只是在浪費大把的錢財——這個結(jié)論是依據(jù)上周出版的《過敏癥和臨床免疫學(xué)》雜志上刊載的一項研究結(jié)果得出來的。

這篇報道采訪了10個不同城市的896名哮喘患兒的父母，其中還是有好消息的。80%的父母至少知道一種使孩子病情惡化的誘因。但是，除此以外，很多家長就無計可施了，采取的預(yù)防措施幫助不大，“而且毫無道理”，邁克爾·卡巴納博士如是說。他是牽頭這一研究的密歇根大學(xué)C. S. Mott兒童醫(yī)院的兒科醫(yī)生。

其中一種最為常見的錯誤就是為由于植物花粉過敏而導(dǎo)致哮喘病加重的孩子購買床褥保護套去抵擋塵螨的侵?jǐn)_。很多家長忘記了一個更為有效的辦法：關(guān)緊窗戶，避免花粉干擾。另一種常見錯誤就是為對塵螨過敏的孩子購買加濕器；殊不知加濕器是塵螨最易于繁殖的地方。對于這類過敏癥，使用干燥器作用會更大些。

最糟糕的一種情況是家有患哮喘病的孩子，可抽煙的家長不但不戒煙，還不到外面抽，也不換個房間或到車庫去抽。吸二手煙一次又一次地被證實是哮喘病發(fā)作的主要誘因。很多抽煙的家長不惜花大價錢購買被卡巴納稱為“值得懷疑的器具”的空氣過濾器。

卡巴納博士和他的同事認(rèn)為，部分問題在于家長經(jīng)不住電視廣告的狂轟濫炸。這些電視廣告慫恿他們購買那些往往昂貴卻沒有醫(yī)療效果的產(chǎn)品，比如空氣和地毯清潔劑、離子發(fā)生器和其他一些藥品。醫(yī)生可能也不會花時間，或者說有時間去向父母解釋對于孩子的具體病例什么有用、什么沒用。比如說，大齡哮喘病兒童患者通常是過敏癥，而五歲或五歲以下的兒童常常是病毒性呼吸道感染疾病。所以你一定得弄清楚孩子患哮喘病的真正誘因，并且記住，花錢最多的辦法并不一定就是最好的辦法。