单选题
The willingness of doctors at several major medical centers to apologize .to patients for harmful errors is a promising step toward improving the rather disappointing quality of a medical system that kills tens of thousands of innocent patients a year inadvertently.
For years, experts have lamented that medical malpractice litigation is an inefficient way to deter lethal or damaging medical errors. What they noticed, simply put it, is that most victims of malpractice never sue, and there is some evidence that many patients who do sue were not harmed by a physician"s error but instead suffered an adverse medical outcome that could not have been prevented. The details of what went wrong are often kept secret as part of a settlement agreement.
What is needed, many specialists agree, is a system that quickly brings an error to light so that further errors can be headed off and that compensates victims promptly and fairly. Many doctors, unfortunately, have been afraid that admitting and describing their errors would only invite a costly lawsuit.
Now, as described by Kevin Sack in The Times, a handful of prominent academic medical centers have adopted a new policy of promptly disclosing errors, offering earnest apologies and providing fair compensation. It appears to satisfy many patients, reduce legal costs and the litigation burden and, in some instances, helps reduce malpractice premiums. Here are some examples from colleges of the United States: at the University of Illinois, of 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient filed suit; at the University of Michigan Health System, existing claims and lawsuits dropped from 262 in August 2001 to 83 in August 2007, and legal costs fell by two-thirds.
To encourage greater candor, more than 30 states have enacted laws making apologies for medical errors inadmissible in court. That sounds like a sensible step that should be adopted by other states or become federal law. Such laws could help bring more errors to light. Patients who have been harmed by negligent doctors can still sue for malpractice, using other evidence to make their case.
Admitting errors is only the first step toward reforming the health care system so that far fewer mistakes are made. But reforms can be more effective if doctors are candid about how they went astray. Patients seem far less angry when they receive an. honest explanation, an apology and prompt, fair compensation for the harm they have suffered.
单选题Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?
单选题According to Paragraph 5, laws are enacted in more than 30 states ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节+词汇理解
[解析] 此题考查文章对文章中心词及句子的理解。根据题干信息“laws are enacted in more than 30 states”,我们可以定位至第五段第一句,问题问的是法案在30多个州颁布的目的,因此我们可以锁定本句的不定式成分“to encourage greater candor”,但是其中candor是一个超纲词汇。句中“greater”修饰“candor”;略读第四段,主旨为“坦白医疗失误收效甚好”。综合这些信息,我们可以得知,“to encourage greater candor”意思是“为了鼓励(医生)更加.坦白”。因此,D选项正确。
[干扰项分析] A选项以及B选项都是在描述该法案的推广程度,并非目的,因此A、B选项错误。而C选项并非颁布法案的目的,只是后文的片面信息而已,因此错误。
单选题From the last paragraph, we can infer that Doctors should describe the way they made mistakes in order to______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断
[解析] 此题考查基于原文的多处细节的推理。题干告知我们所考内容集中在最后一段,题目问:医生应该描述自己失误的情形,其目的何在。题中“the way they made mistakes”对应着文中的“how they went astray”,原文内容为:“如果医生能描述自己如何误入歧途(发生医疗失误),那么改革会更有效”;而前一句内容解释了何谓“改革有效”,从前文“...reforming the health care system so that far fewer mistakes are made”可以看出医疗体系改革的目的在于减少医疗失误。综合以上信息,可以得知“医生描述自己如何失误”目的在于“使改革更有效”,即“减少医疗失误”,因此B选项正确。
[干扰项分析] A选项属于与命题无关的选项;而C选项虽在前文有所体现,但不是目的;D选项 内容属无中生有,因此A、C、D选项错误。
单选题The author"s attitude towards doctors" hearty apologies may be summarized as______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 语气态度
[解析] 此题考查作者的观点态度。题目问及作者对“医生诚挚道歉”的态度,因此需要关注“道歉”这个概念多次出现时作者的语气。第一段谈及“The willingness of doctors...to apologize to patients...is a promising step toward improving...”,可以看出作者对“医生致歉”的态度是积极的;文中各段也涉及“医生承认、坦白医疗失误,并向患者致歉的积极作用”;在文章最后,作者将这一主题再度延伸,提出“倘若患者受到伤害时,能听到真实的解释,能接受诚挚的道歉,并且能得到及时合理的补偿,那么他们就不会大发其火”。因此,经过综合判断,作者对致歉的态度是积极的、正面的、鼓励的。C选项为属积极态度,因此C选项正确。
[干扰项分析] A选项为“怀疑的”,D选项为“无法容忍的”,均属消极态度;B选项为“漠不关心的”。属中立态度。