Exactly where we will stand in the long war against disease by
the year 2050 is impossible to say. (46){{U}} But if developments in
research maintain their current pace, it seems likely that a combination of
improved attention to dietary and environmental factors, along with advances in
gene therapy and protein targeted drugs, will have virtually eliminated most
major classes of disease{{/U}}. From an economic standpoint, the
best news may be that these accomplishments .could be accompanied by a drop in
health-care costs. (47) {{U}}Costs may even fall as diseases 'are brought
under control using pinpointed, short-term therapies now being developed. {{/U}}By
2050 there will be fewer hospitals, and surgical procedures will be largely
restricted to the treatment of accidents and other forms of trauma. Spending on
nonacute care, both in nursing facilities and in homes, will also fall sharply
as more elderly people lead healthy lives until close to death.
One result of medicine's success in controlling disease will be a dramatic
increase in life expectancy. (48) {{U}}The extent of that increase is a highly
speculative matter, but it is worth noting that medical science has already
helped to make the very old (currently defined as those over 85 years of age)
the fastest growing segment of the population. {{/U}}Between 1960 and 1995, the
U.S. population as a whole increased by about 45%, while the segment over 85
years of age grew by almost 300%. (49) {{U}}There has been a similar
explosion in the population of centenarians, with the result that survival to
the age of 100 is no longer the newsworthy feat that it was only a few decades
ago{{/U}}. U.S. Census Bureau projections already forecast dramatic increase in
the number of centenarians in the next 50 years: 4 million in 2050, compared
with 37, 000 in 1990. (50) {{U}}Although Census Bureau
calculations project an increase in average life span of only eight years by the
year 2050, some experts believe that the human life span should not begin to
encounter any theoretical natural limits before 120. years{{/U}}. With continuing
【答案解析】由于采用目前开发的定位准确的短期疗法而使疾病得到控制,医疗开支甚至可能下降。
[结构分析] 句子框架是Costs may even fall as...。as引导状语从句,被动结构be brought under control意为“使…得到控制”,译成主动语态。现在分词短语using...在句子中作原因状语;现在分词短语being developed作后置定语,修饰therapies。pinpointed意为“定位准确的”。
问答题
【正确答案】
【答案解析】人们预期寿命的增加范围是一个非常具有推测性的问题,但值得注意的是,医学科学已经帮助年龄非常大的人(目前规定为超过85岁的人)成为人口增长最快的部分。
[结构分析] 句子框架是The extent...is a highly speculatlve matter,but it is worth noting that...。but连接两个并列句。but后的并列分句中it为形式主语,that引导的从句为真正的主语。speculative意为“思索的;推测的”。
问答题
【正确答案】
【答案解析】百岁老人的数量也同样激增了,结果是人活到100岁已不再是具有新闻价值的壮举,而这一点恰恰在几十年前还是具有新闻价值的。
[结构分析] 句子框架是There has been a similar explosion...。in the population of centenarians和with the result并列作主句的状语。that引导的从句作result的同位语,此同位语从句中又嵌套一个that引导的定语从句修饰feat。explosion此处不应译成“爆炸”,而译成“激增”;centenarian此处意为“百岁(或百岁以上的)老人”;newsworthy意为“有新闻价值的,值得报道的”。