问答题
Exactly where we will stand in the long war against
disease by the year 2050 is impossible to say. {{U}} {{U}} 1
{{/U}} {{/U}}{{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.
{{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{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 treat ment of accidents and other forms of
trauma(外伤). Spending on nonacute(慢性病的) 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. {{U}} {{U}}
3 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{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%. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{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. {{U}} {{U}} 5
{{/U}} {{/U}}{{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 advances in molecular medicine and a
growing understanding of the aging process, that limit could rise to 130 years
or more.
【答案解析】[解析] 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”。
【答案解析】[解析] 句子框架是The extent...is a highly speculative 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”。
【答案解析】[解析] 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”。