Beyond the Pap

    Scientists have known for some time that virtually all cases of cervical cancer are triggered by a family of viruses called human papillomavirus, or HPV. ¹Most women who become infected with HPV are able to shake off the virus and suffer no apparent long-term consequences to their health. But a few women develop a persistent infection that can, for reasons that are not entirely clear, eventually lead to cancerous changes in the cervix.

     Now researchers at the Digene Corp of Beltsville,Maryland, have developed a test that detects an active HPV infection by looking for its genetic byproducts in the vagina. The HPV test was better than the standard Pap test at finding cervical cancer at any stage, according to two studies published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. So far, so good. Unfortunately, the test"s false-positive rate—how often it indicated that there was a problem when none existed was almost twice as high as that for the Pap smear.² In these cases, a biopsy of the woman’s cervix showed no sign of disease.

    And that’s the crux of the problem. How many women should undergo what is, when it comes right down to it, unnecessary treatment to find a few more cases of cervical cancer?³ Shouldn’t health officials focus instead on making sure that more women undergo regular Pap-smear examinations? After all, Pap smears, though far from perfect, have helped dramatically lower the death toll from cervical cancer taking it from the No. 1 cause of death due to cancer in American women to the 10th.

    Complicating matters is the fact that HPV is a very common infection. In some parts of theU.S.as many as half of all women under age 35 have an active case. Yet 99 out of 100 women who are HPV-positive will never get cervical cancer, estimates Dr. Joanna Cain, vice president of theAmericanCollegeof Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “If those 99 women live their lives as if they’re going to develop cancer”, she says, “we’re not necessarily doing them any good.”

    At present, the HPV test is approved in theU. S.only to help resolve ambiguous results from a Pap-Smear test. Many gynecologists believe that HPV will eventually replace the pap. But they’re not willing to abandon it without a lot more detailed information and neither should you.

词汇：

cervical /"sɜ:vɪkl/ adj.颈的；子宫颈的

trigger / "trɪɡə(r) / vt. 发动，引起；促使
papillomavirus / pæpɪ"ləʊməvaɪrəs/ n.乳头状瘤病毒 cancerous / "kænsərəs/ adj.生癌的；患癌的；像癌的
cervix /"sɜ:vɪks/ n.器官的颈部(尤指子宫颈，膀胱劲) byproduct / "baɪˌprɒdʌkt/ n.(意外或无心的)附带产生的结果；副产品
vagina /və"dʒaɪnə/ n.阴道

Pap smear，Pap test = Papanicolaou test尼科拉乌试验，巴氏试验
smear /smɪə(r) / n.（显微镜的）涂片；污迹，污斑；诽谤，诋毁
biopsy /ˈbaɪˌɑpsi/ n.活组织检查；（为检查和诊断而作的）活组织切除
obstetrician /ˌɒbstəˈtrɪʃn/ n.产科医师

gynecologist /ˌgaɪnɪ"kɒlədʒɪst/ n.妇科学家
ambiguous /æmˈbɪgjuəs/ adj. 含糊不清的；不明确的；难以理解（或区分）的

注释：

1.Scientists have known for some time that virtually all cases of cervical cancer are triggered by a family of viruses called human papillomavirus, or HPV.一段时间以来，科学家们已经知道几乎所有子宫颈癌的病例都是由一组人类乳头状瘤病毒或HPV印发的。
2.Unfortunately, the test"s false-positive rate—how often it indicated that there was a problem when none existed was almost twice as high as that for the Pap smear. 不幸的是，该检验的假阳性率，即其显示有问题而实际上并无问题的概率，几乎是巴氏涂片假阳性率的两倍。
3.How many women should undergo what is, when it comes right down to it, unnecessary treatment to find a few more cases of cervical cancer? 只是为了再多发现几例子宫颈癌病例，多少妇女应该接受那种说到底并不必要的治疗呢？

Only a few cases of HPV infection will lead to cancerous changes in the cervix

A:Right B:Wrong C:Not mentioned

Pool Watch

    Swimmers can drown in busy swimming pools when lifeguards fail to notice that they are introuble. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says that on average 15 people drown in British pools each year, but many more suffer major injury after getting into difficulties. Now a French company has developed an artificial intelligence system called Poseidon that sounds thealarm when it sees someone in danger of drowning.

    When a swimmer sinks towards the bottom of the pool, the new system sends an alarm signal to a poolside monitoring station and a lifeguard"s pager. In trials at a pool in Ancenis, it saved a life with in just a few months, says Alistair McQuade,a spokesman for its maker, Poseidon Technologies.

    Poseidon keeps watch through a network of underwater and overhead video cameras. AI software analyses the images to work out swimmers" trajectories. To do this reliably, it has to tell the difference between a swimmer and the shadow of someone being cast onto the bottom or side of the pool. "The underwater environment is a very dynamic one, with many shadows and reflections dancing around", says McQuade.

    The software does this by "projecting" a shape in its field of view onto an image of the far wall of the pool. It does the same with an image from another camera viewing the shape from a different angle. If the two projections are in the same position, the shape is identified as a shadow and is ignored. But if they are different, the shape is a swimmer and so the system follows its trajectory.

    To pick out potential drowning victims, anyone in the water who starts to descend slowly is added to the software"s "pre-alert" ¹list,says McQuade. Swimmers who then stay immobile on the pool bottom for 5 seconds or more are considered in danger of drowning. Poseidon double-checks that the image really is of a swimmer, not a shadow, by seeing whether it obscures the pool"s floor texture when viewed from overhead. If so, it alerts the lifeguard, showing the swimmer"s location ona poolside screen.

    The first full-scale Poseidon system will be officially opened next week at a pool in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. One man who is impressed with the idea is Travor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio. Baylis runs a company that installs swimming pools - and he was once an underwater escapologist with a circus. “I say full marks to them if this works and can save lives", he says. But he adds that any local authority spending ~30,000 - plus on a Poseidon system ought to be investing similar amounts in teaching children to swim.

 

词汇：

pager [ˈpeɪdʒə(r)] 携带式电子呼叫机

trajectory [trə"dʒektərɪ]轨迹

descend [dɪ"send]下降

immobile [ɪ"məʊbaɪl] 不移动的

texture ["tekstʃə(r)]特征，质地

clockwork [ˈklɔkˌwɜ:k] 时钟机构

escapologist [ˌeskəˈpɒlədʒɪst] 擅长从捆扎的绳索中脱身的杂技演员

 

注释：

1 pre-alert：预先警戒的。the software"s“pre -alert”list：软件的“预警”名单。pre-：是前缀，意思是先于；预先。又如：preadult：成年前的；precancerous：癌症前期的。alert：警戒的，警觉的。

What is required of AI software to save a life?

A:It must be able to swim B:It must keep walking round the pool C:It can distinguish between a swimmer and a shadow D:It can save a life within a few months

Lots of creatures already reproduce without sex. Since the birth of Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby, in 1978, (1) of human beings (2) in laboratory glassware rather than in bed.
If human cloning becomes possible—and since the birth of a sheep called Dolly, (3) doubt that it will be feasible to clone a person by 2025—even the link between sex organs and reproduction (4) . You will then be able to take a cutting from your body and grow a new person, (5) you were a willow tree.
(6) , we have already divorced sex from reproduction. In the 1960s, the contraceptive pill freed women to enjoy sex for its own sake. (7) , greater tolerance of homosexuality signaled society’s acceptance of nonreproductive sex of another sort. These changes are only continuations of a (8) that started perhaps a million years ago.
Human beings (9) the interest in infertile, social sex with a few other species: dolphins, apes and some birds. But (10) sex is too good for human beings to (11) , more and more people will abandon it as a (12) of reproduction.
In the modern world, you can (13) have sex and parenthood without suffering the bit (14) . Some Hollywood actresses (15) the urge for mothering by electing to adopt children (16) spoil their figures (as they see it) by childbearing. For people as beautiful as this, the temptation to (17) a clone (reared in a surrogate womb) could one day be (18) .
However, human cloning and designer babies are probably not (19) . Even assuming that the procedures are judged safe and efficient in farm animals, still a long way off, they will be heavily (20) , if not banned, by many governments for human beings.

Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.3（）

A:few B:a few C:quite few D:quite a few

Some girls are ______; a few, but very few, are ______

A:beautiful; pretty B:handsome; beautiful C:pretty; beautiful D:pretty; handsome

Some girls are ______; a few, but very few, are ______

A:beautiful; pretty B:handsome; beautiful C:pretty; beautiful D:pretty; handsome

When Fear Takes Control of the Mind
A panic attack is a sudden feeling of terror. Usually it does not last long, but it may feel like forever. The cause can be something as normally uneventful as driving over a bridge or flying in an airplane. And it can happen even if the person has driven over many bridges or flown many times before. A fast heartbeat. Sweaty hands. Difficulty breathing. A dizzy feeling. At first a person may have no idea what is wrong. But these can all be signs of what is known as panic disorder. The first appearance usually is between the ages of 18 and 25. In some cases it develops after a tragedy, like the death of a loved one, or some other difficult situation.
In the United States, the National Institute of Mental Health says more than two million people are affected in any one-year period. The American Psychological Association says panic disorder is two times more likely in women than men. And it can last anywhere from a few months to a lifetime.
Panic attacks can be dangerous - for example, if a person is driving at the time. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the state of Maryland is so long and so high over the water, it is famous for scaring motorists. There is even a driver assistance program to help people get across. Some people who suffer a panic attack develop a phobia (恐惧病), a deep fear of ever repeating the activity that brought on the attack.
But experts say panic disorder can be treated. Doctors might suggest anti-anxiety or antidepressant (抗抑郁的) medicines. Talking to a counselor could help a person learn to deal with or avoid a panic attack. There are breathing methods, for example, that might help a person calm down. Panic disorder is included among what mental health professionals call anxiety disorders. A study published last week reported a link between anxiety disorders and several physical diseases. It says these include thyroid (甲状腺的) disease, lung and stomach problems, migraine headaches (偏头痛) and allergic (过敏的) conditions. Researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada say that in most cases the physical condition followed the anxiety disorder. But, they say, exactly how the two are connected remains unknown.

Panic disorder is said to extend from（　）

A:a few months to a few years. B:a few months to a lifetime. C:a few days to a few months. D:a few minutes to a few days.

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Panic disorder is said to extend from

A:a few months to a few years B:a few months to a lifetime C:a few days to a few months D:a few minutes to a few days