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  3. It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California option al. Small wonder, Americans life exp

It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California option al. Small wonder, Americans life exp

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问题    It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California option al. Small wonder, Americans life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death--and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
   Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers, we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that call possibly be done for us, even if it’s useless. The most obvious ex ample is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient--too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
   In 1950, the U. S. spent $12.7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be $1, 540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age--say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm" have a duty to die and get out of the way", so that younger healthier people can realize their potential.
   I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and be yond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
   Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be over funding the quest for unlikely cures while under funding research on humbler therapies that could improve people’s lives.
The author’s attitude toward Richard Lamm’s remark is of______.
选项 A、strong disapproval
B、reserved consent.
C、slight contempt
D、enthusiastic support
答案B
解析 本题为作者观点态度题。Richard Lamm的评论出现在第三段最后，主张老弱病残者有死亡的义务，以便使年轻的、健康的人能发挥他们的潜力，这种说法比较极端。作者在第四段一开始就表明了自己的态度：“I would not go that for.”，其字面意思是“我不会走得那么远”，实际上表达作者不会那么极端，因为老年人也可有所作为，表明作者并不完全赞同Richard Lamm的观点，可首先排除选项D“积极支持”。在最后一段作者又指出，但在医疗费用上应当有个限度，有些病无法治愈，因此没有必要花费过多的费用去
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