单选题 Faith in medicine runs deep in America. We spend more per person on health care than any other nation. Whether we eat too much or exercise too little, whether we're turning gray or feeling blue, we look to some pill or procedure to make us better.
We assume that devoting ever more dollars to medicine will bring us longer, healthier lives. But there is mounting evidence that each new dollar we devote to the current health care system brings small and diminishing returns to public health. Today the United States spends more than $4 500 per person per year on health care. Costa Rica spends less than $ 300. Yet life expectancy at birth is nearly identical in both countries.
Despite the highly publicized" longevity revolution," life expectancy among the elderly in the United States is hardly improving. Yes, we are an aging society, but primarily because of falling birthrates. Younger Americans, meanwhile, are far more likely to be disabled than they were 20 years ago. Most affected are people in their thirties, whose disability rates increased by nearly 130 percent, due primarily to overweight.
Why has our huge investment in health care left us so unhealthy? Partly it is because so many promised" miracle cures," from Interferon to gene therapies, have proven to be ineffective or even dangerous. Partly it's because health care dollars are so concentrated on the terminally ill and the very old that even when medical interventions "work,'" the gains to average life expectancy are small. And partly it is because of medical errors and adverse reaction to prescription drugs, which cause more deaths than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. Each year roughly 200 000 seniors suffer fatal or life-threatening "adverse drug events" due to improper drug use or drug interaction.
Why don't Americans live any longer than Costa Ricans? Overwhelmingly, it's because of differences in behavior. Americans exercise less, eat more, drive more, smoke more, and lead more socially isolated lives. Even at its best, modern medicine can do little to promote productive aging, because by the time most people come in contact with it their bodies are already compromised by stress, indulgent habits, environmental dangers and injuries.

单选题 Americans in general believe that ______.
A. more money spent on health care may not result in better health
B. medicine may provide an effective cure for various health problems
C. health problems caused by bad habits can hardly be solved by medicine
D. higher birthrate can better solve the problem of aging society than medicine

单选题 Compared with the Americans, Costa Ricans ______.
A. have a healthier way of life
B. enjoy a longer life expectancy
C. are more dependent on medicine
D. are less concerned about their health

单选题 The biggest problem affecting the health of younger Americans may be summarized as the problem of ______.
A. overwork B. depression C. stress D. lifestyle

单选题 Which of the following is NOT a reason why health care investment fails to bring a longer life?
A. Drug reaction due to improper use of drugs.
B. Imbalanced distribution of health care money.
C. Soaring prices of both drugs and new therapies.
D. Failure of many highly-evaluated medical treatments.

单选题 It is implied in the last paragraph that ______.
A. medicine should be taken timely before it is too late
B. it is reasonable to question the effectiveness of medicine
C. poor health conditions leave little room for medicine to work
D. great efforts should be made to develop new types of medicine

单选题 The passage is mainly focused on ______.
A. the limits of medicine
B. the life hazards in the U.S.
C. the harriers to a longer life
D. the problems in health investment