Lung Cancer

　　1. The death rate due to cancer of the lungs has increased more than 800 percent in males and has more than doubled in females during the last 25 years. It is considerably higher in urban and industrial areas than in rural districts. There are many possible causes, but it is still controversial which are most blameworthy. Those factors which have been mentioned most frequently are the presence of foreign particles and other irritants in the air (smoke particles, smog, exhaust fumes), and the smoking of cigarettes and cigars.

　　2. Numerous studies have demonstrated a striking correlation between the death rate from lung cancer and smoking habits. Among heavy smokers —21 to 30 cigarettes per day —the mortality rate from lung cancer is nearly 17 times the rate from nonsmokers. It is expected the death rate among women will increase as the present high rate of smoking among women has its effect.

　　3. Sometimes cases of lung cancer are discovered at the time an x-ray is taken for the purpose of detecting tuberculosis. Too often, however, a current emphasis upon the danger of exposure to radiation1 from X-ray machines can frighten people away from routine chest X-rays and thus prevent an early diagnosis of lung cancer. Early detection is absolutely essential if any possibility of cure is to be maintained2. Modern X-ray machines in competent hands pose such slight danger, at least to those over 40 years of age, that this would be much more than offset by the advantages of discovering a tumor while it is small enough to be completely removed.3

　　4. A common form of lung cancer is bronchogenic carcinoma4,so-called because the malignancy originates in5 a bronchus. The tumor may grow until the bronchus is blocked,cutting off6 the supply of air to that lung. The lung then collapses,and the secretions trapped in the lung spaces become infected,with a resulting pneumonia or the formation of a lung abscess. Such a lung cancer can also spread to cause secondary growths in the lymph nodes7 of the chest and neck as well as in the brain and other parts of the body. The only treatment that offers a possibility of cure,before secondary growths have had time to form,is to remove the lung completely. This operation is called pneumonectomy.

　　5. Malignant tumors of the stomach,the breast,the prostate gland8 and other organs may spread to the lungs,causing secondary growths.

　　練習(xí):

　　1.Paragraph l __________

　　2.Paragraph 2 __________

　　3.Paragraph 3 __________

　　4.Paragraph 4 __________

　　A Common Secondary Lung Cancers

　　B The Advantages Brought about by Routine Chest Checkup

　　C Relationship Between Mortality Rate from Lung Cancer and Smoking Habits

　　D Operable and Inoperable Lung Cancers

　　E The Increasing Death Rate from Lung Cancer and Possible Causes

　　F An Ordinary Type of Lung Cancer

　　5.Routine X-ray chest examination is not so dangerous __________.

　　6.A primary lung cancer patient may be cured by removing the lung completely __________.

　　7.People are still not sure __________.

　　8.The more cigarettes one smokes,__________.

　　A before the cancer cells spread elsewhere

　　B the more chances of dying of X-ray radiation he will have

　　C what is most responsible for lung cancer

　　D as some people imagine

　　E the more chances of getting lung cancer he will have

　　F which form of lung cancer is a common one

　　答案與題解：

　　1.E　第一段談到了在過去25年中肺癌死亡率男性增加了八倍多，而女性則增加一倍多；城市和工業(yè)區(qū)比農(nóng)村要高得多。然后又列出了可能造成這種情況的一些原因,故E為最佳答案。

　　2.C　第二段第一句就指出了抽煙與肺癌死亡率之間的相互關(guān)系，后面兩句對(duì)此作了具體說明。

　　3.B　第三段第一句說有時(shí)肺癌是在進(jìn)行X光檢查結(jié)核病時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)的，隨后論述了常規(guī)X光檢査利大于弊，故B為正確選項(xiàng)。

　　4.F　第四段第一句就說支氣管(源性的)癌是常見的一種肺癌，后面又對(duì)這種癌作了詳細(xì)的介紹，故F為正確答案。

　　5.D　第三段第二句說有的人因怕X射線輻射而不敢進(jìn)行胸透，但作者在后面又說明了胸透對(duì)早期發(fā)現(xiàn)肺癌的益處以及熟練的操作人員不會(huì)給患者帶來多大危害，故不像人們想象的那樣可怕。

　　6.A　此題答案在第四段倒數(shù)第二句，該句說可能治愈的唯一方法就是在繼發(fā)腫瘤出現(xiàn)之前將該肺全部切除。

　　7.C　第一段第三句說可能有許多原因，但什么是最主要的仍有爭論。選項(xiàng)C中的responsiblb for在醫(yī)學(xué)文獻(xiàn)中常用來指某病的原因。

　　8.E　根據(jù)第二段第二句所說，煙癮大的人(每天抽21～30根香煙)肺癌的死亡率幾乎是不抽煙者的17倍，故可以得出此結(jié)論。