单选题

New US Plan for Disease Prevention

Urging Americans to take responsibility for their health, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Tuesday launched a $15 million program to try to encourage communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes (糖尿病)。
The initiative highlights the costs of chronic diseases—the leading causes of death in the United States—and outlines ways that people can prevent them, including better diet and increased exercise.
"In the United States today, 7 of 10 deaths and the vast majority of serious illness, disability and health care costs are caused by chronic diseases," the Health and Human Services department said in a statement.
The causes are often behavioral—smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.
"I am convinced that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future." Thompson told a conference held to launch the initiative.
"Our current health care system is not structured to deal with the rising costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices."
Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than $351 billion in 2003.
"These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for US to lead healthier, longer lives," he said.
The $15 million is designed to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.
Daily exercise such as walking can prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes, and prevent cancer and strokes.
The money will also go to community organizations, clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at risk of diabetes about what they card do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening.
The American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancers can be caught by screening, including Pap tests (巴氏试验) for cervical (子宫颈的) cancer mammograms (乳房X线照片) for breast cancer, colonoscopies (结肠镜检查) , and prostate (前列腺的) checks.
If such cancers were all caught by early screening, the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent.

单选题 Which of the following is NOT true of chronic diseases in the US?

A. They account for 70% of all deaths.
B. They are responsible for most of the health care costs.
C. They often result in unhealthy lifestyles.
D. They are largely preventable.

单选题 The author mentions all the following ways of disease prevention EXCEPT ______.

A. better diet
B. increased exercise
C. less smoking
D. more frequent hand washing

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用题干关键词prevent可以定位到第二段“...that people can prevent them, including better diet and increased exercise”，可知好的饮食和增加运动可以预防。在通过定位选项可以定位到文章第四段“The causes are often behavioral—smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.”意为“起因往往是经常行为—吸烟、不良饮食习惯和缺乏锻炼。”可知少抽烟也可以预防，所以答案为D。

单选题 The passage indicates that spending more money on disease prevention will mean ______.

A. greater responsibility of the government
B. less need for input into treatment
C. higher costs of health care
D. more lifestyle choices for people

单选题 The purpose of the $15 million program is to ______.

A. promote disease prevention
B. build more highways
C. help poor communities
D. wipe out chronic diseases

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用题干关键词可以定位到文章第九段“The $15 million is designed to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.”意为“15亿元的项目设计走进社区以促进预防，推动变化就好比修建人行道，鼓励人们多走路一样。”由此可知，这笔钱的主要用途是疾病预防，所以选项A为正确答案。