評(píng)論
打印
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
Some gay?bashers believe AIDS (艾滋病) is Gods way of punishing homosexuals (同性戀). Some Africans suspect it is just another of the white mans weapons of genocide (種族滅絕). Others suggested it was hatched in a biological?weapons laboratory. There has been no shortage of theories about the origins of the virus that caused the current worldwide AIDS epidemic (傳染病), but most have ranged from truly bizarre to scientifically implausible at best.
African monkeys are almost certainly the source of the deadly virus. Just how the virus made the leap from its simian (猿猴的) host to people is still hotly debated, however, and the most likely explanations are far more complex, involving shifts in African society that turned an isolated disease into a plague.
Though researchers initially resisted the idea that human AIDS also came from African monkeys, that fact now seems well established. In 1991, convincing evidence was presented that the simian virus that infects sooty mangabbys, a type of monkey found in West Africa, carries virtually the same genetic material as HIV?2, one of the two strains of human AIDS virus.
One theory of how the virus traveled from monkeys to humans is based on reports that certain West Tribes injected monkey blood into their backs and thighs to heighten sexual arousal. Other researchers have referred to bizarre attempts by European doctors in the 1920s to boost the flagging (衰退的) powers of aging men with injections of monkey testicles(睪丸).
The most compelling explanation for the spread of the AIDS virus is cultural as well as biological. The actual transfer of the virus from monkeys to humans may have involved something as prosaic (平凡的) as a monkey bite or a monkey hunters nick on the hand while butchering his quarry (獵物). Some experts believe that AIDS might have died out with that hunter, or perhaps with his isolated village, had profound cultural changes not come to Africa. Over the last 30 years, the population of sub?Saharan Africa, the region hardest hit by AIDS, became increasingly urban. As in the United States, infection rates appear far higher in African cities than in rural areas. Urbanization brings many diverse people together. It appears that the AIDS virus is approximately 40 years old. That places its origin right at the beginning of the period of rapid African urban development. As with the history of plagues, tracing the precise movements of the AIDS virus through various populations is exceedingly difficult. In the end, the origin of AIDS is not the real problem; the real problem is where the disease is going.
31. Where did the deadly virus of AIDS originally come from?
A. It came from the African monkeys.
B. The virus was hatched in a biological?weapons laboratory.
C. It came from some West African tribes.
D. It came from some European doctors.
32. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. Most theories concerning the origin of the virus of AIDS are plausible.
B. There are many theories concerning the origin of the virus of AIDS.
C. The urbanization process in the United States contributed a lot to the spread of the disease over the last 30 years.
D. The transfer of AIDS from monkeys to human beings takes place only when humans inject monkey blood into their bodies.
33. Which of the following statements is untrue?
A. The infection rate of AIDS is very high among homosexuals.
B. The purpose of injecting monkey blood and testicles into human body was to boost their sexual power.
C. Cultural, as well as biological factors contributed to the spread of the deadly virus.
D. The virus of AIDS may have died out had the Africans not hunted monkeys.
34. What explanation did the author give for the high infection rate of AIDS in the population of sub?Saharan Africa over the last 30 years?
A. Because people in that particular area commonly practice the injection of monkey blood.
B. Because during that period, the region became increasingly urban.
C. Because European doctors injected monkey testicles into their bodies.
D. Because tracing the precise movements of the AIDS virus through African populations is exceedingly difficult.
35. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the article?
A. The Urbanization of Africa Over the Last 30 Years.
B. How did the AIDS Epidemic Begin?
C. A New Breakthrough in Biology.
D. Who is to Blame?
