Question

LONDON (Reuters) — Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.

More than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters.

    The problem is even worse in developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children die each year from treatable conditions.

In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric therapies（儿科的疗法）developed for children generally cost three times more than adult ones.

    As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.

    Fortunately, the WHO has drawn up the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing 206 products considered safe for children.

“But a lot remains to be done. There are priority medicines that have not been adapted for children’s use or are not available when needed,” said Dr Hans, the U.N. agency’s director of medicines policy and standards.

    Medicines that need to be adapted to children’s needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

    The agency is building an Internet entrance linking to clinical trials carried out in children and will launch a Web site with the information early next year.

Testing medicines on children has always been a controversial issue, since good ethical（伦理的）practice requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which is difficult to obtain in the case of children.

    As a result, research-based drug companies have been wary of developing child-friendly medicines and general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.

In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for drugs that have been tested on children.

1.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. A Global Campaign to Promote Research into AIDS Medicine

B. WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized Drugs

C. Many People are Concerned about Children’s Drugs

D. Measures Taken to Develop Child-friendly Medicine Quickly

2.Which of the following medicine is not needed to be adapted to children’s need according to the passage?

A. Pain killers.                     B. Tuberculosis.                   C. AID pills.              D. Flu pills.

3.Why has testing medicines on children always been a controversial issue?

A. It is against good ethical practice

B. Children shouldn’t take part in clinical trials.

C. It is hard to get informed agreement from children tested.

D. Parents don’t allow their children to be tested on medicine.

4.The underlined word “wary” in the last but one paragraph means _________.

A. fast                          B. fond              C. cautious            D. uninterested

5.What can be inferred from the passage? 

A. There is still a long way to go on children’s medicine.

B. An Internet entrance is being built to link to clinical trials carried out in children.

C. Both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for adults’ drugs.

D. Less than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.C

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是一项世界卫生组织组织的调查报告，现在缺少专门为孩子研制的专门的药物。文章中对此问题进行了系统的分析。

1.B 主旨大意题。根据文章第一段Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.可知世界卫生组织发现现在缺少专门为孩子研制的专门的药物。故B正确。

2.D 细节题。根据文章倒数第四段Medicines that need to be adapted to children’s needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.可知ABC三项都提及了，只有D项在文章中没有涉及。

3.C 细节题。根据文章倒数第二段since good ethical（伦理的）practice requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which is difficult to obtain in the case of children.可知很难得到孩子家长的同意，C项正确。

4.C 推理题。根据本句As a result, research-based drug companies have been wary of developing child-friendly medicines and general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.可知药物公司在研制儿童方面的药物很谨慎，而且量也教少。主要是因为价格的问题。故该词是指谨慎的。故C正确。

5.A 推断题。根据文章最后一段In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for drugs that have been tested on children. 可知欧洲和美国已经采取了这方面的行动，但是情况未知，还有很长的路要走。故A正确。

考点：考查新闻报告类短文阅读