{{B}}
What Is
Death?{{/B}} People in the past did not question the difference
between life and death. They could see that a person died when his heart stopped
beating. People have learned, however, that the body does not die immediately
when the heart stops beating. They discovered that we remain alive as long as
our brain remains active. Today the difference between life and death is not as
easy to see as in the past. Modern medical devices can keep the heart beating
and the lungs breathing long after the brain stops. But is this life?
This question has caused much debate among citizens in the United States.
Many of them want a law that says a person is dead when the brain dies. A person
should be considered dead when brain waves stop even if machines can keep the
body alive. Such a law would permit doctors to speed removal (切除) of undiseased
(没病的) organs for transplant (移植) operations. The brain is made
of thousands of millions of nerve cells. These cells send and receive millions
of chemical and electrical messages every day. In this way the brain controls
the other body activities. Nerve-cell experts say it usually is easy to tell
when the brain has died. They put small electrodes (电极) on a person's skull (头骨)
to measure the electrical signals that pass in and out of the brain. These brain
waves are recorded on a television screen or on paper. The waves move up and
down every time the brain receives messages from the nerve cells. The brain is
dead when the waves stop moving. Although there are people who
oppose the idea of a law on brain block for variouis reasons, the idea of brain
wave activity as a test of death is slowly being
accepted.
单选题
People in the past held that the difference between life and death______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 题干中held的正确理解很重要：hold在这里是“认为，以为”，另外备选项中be open to“对……开放的；易受到，易招致”的结构含义也是考点。首先借助常识排除B；再借助原文：利用题干中的核心结构“difference between life and death”和特征结构/时间状语“in the past”作为答案线索词，这样在原文中找到答案相关句：People in the past did not question the difference between life and death． They could see that a person died when his heart stopped beating．划线句说“人们在过去不对生死的差异提出质疑，他们认为一个人的心脏停止跳动就意味着这个人死去了。”根据这句话的内容判断A“容易辨别”是答案。
hold，“认为，以为”
e．g．We hold that no country should interfere in the internal affairs of other countries．
我们认为一国不应干涉他国的内政。
question，vt．vi．“询问；质问，表示怀疑”
e．g．I do not question his honesty．我不怀疑他的诚实。
单选题
Which of the following is NOT a phenomenon mentioned in the passage?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 利用备选项中的特征词作分别为答案线索词(A：heart，brain；B：body，heart and the brain； C：brain，heart；D：lung，brain)，这样在原文中找到相应的答案相关句：People have learned，however, that the body does not die immediately when the heart stops beating．They discovered that were main alive as long as our brain remains active．(划线句的内容C一致)Today the difference between life and death is not as easy to see as in the past．Modern medical devices can keep the heart beating and the lungs breathing long after the brain stops． (划线句的内容与A和D一致)
单选题
When a person should be considered dead is currently a matter______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 问题说“一个人什么时候应该被认为是死亡现在是一个……的问题”。备选项在问题句中充当定语。利用题干中的核心结构“When a person should be considered dead”和特征结构/时间状语“currently”作为答案线索，这样直接找到答案相关句：This question has caused much debate among citizens in the United States．Many of them want…A person should be considered dead when…Such a law…划线句说“美国公民对此进行了大量的讨论”，显然这个内容与A的内容一致。
单选题
The brain controls the other body activities through______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 首先借助常识排除A和B。再利用题干中的新信息词“brain controls”做为答案线索词，这样在文章中找到直接答案相关句：The brain is made of thousands of millions of nerve cells．These cells send and receive millions of chemical and electrical messages every day．In this way the brain controls the other body activities．划线句说“大脑以这样的方式控制着身体的其他活动”，根据代词前指的原则，关注前面句子的内容，前面句子中反复提到“神经细胞”，因此神经细胞是前面句子的主题内容，因此可以“避重就轻”直接借助神经细胞这个词判断，D是答案。
单选题
More and more people are beginning to accept the idea that a person is dead______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 该题可借助常识直接判断答案D。如果借助原文：利用题干中的特征结构(涉及修饰词)“More and more people”作为答案线索，这样找到直接答案相关句：Although there are people who oppose the idea of a law on brain block for various reasons，the idea of brain wave activity as a test of death is slowly being accepted．该句说“用脑电波的活动来作为鉴别是否死亡的标准正在慢慢地被接受”，显然这个被动句中隐含的“接受”这个动作的执行者就是“人们”，因此判断D是答案。