Health Care Reform
This fall the country will be talking health care again-or at least should be talking about it-as Congress moves to change the principles on which Medicare and Medicaid were established 30 years ago. A writer with a taste for irony could scarcely conceive a better plot, and as one of those who wrote the Clinton plan, I confess it strikes me as more than ironic.
Two years ago, Republicans were denouncing the secrecy surrounding the Presidents health care task force. This summer, Republicans have been meeting behind closed doors on a Medicare proposal scheduled to be released later this month, only a few weeks before Congress votes on it, thereby avoiding independent analysis of the costs, mobilization by opponents and other inconvenient aspects of a long national debate. Two years ago, the Republicans rang alarms about the Clinton plans emphasis on managed care. Now the Republicans own plans for Medicare and Medicaid emphasize managed care.
But superficial similarities are deceiving. The reform plans of 1993 generally aimed to extend rights to health coverage and health care; The Republican proposals this year would retract rights that already exist. The debate two years ago reflected a widespread belief that the health care system needed reform. The Republicans, like many in the business world, now begin with the happy thought that the system is reforming itself and that Government needs to be more like the private sector.
The health care system is certainly going through profound change. Health maintenance organizations and other forms of managed care are expanding rapidly. As managed care grows, demand for hospital care shrinks. Hospitals are merging, closing beds and cutting jobs; some new buildings stand vacant. The incomes of specialists in some areas are dropping, and primary-care practitioners are in demand. Once stubbornly independent physicians are selling their practices to hospitals and insurers or taking a fixed payment per enrolled patient and accepting the discipline of the corporation.
1. What is the writers attitude towards the Congresss move to change the principles on which Medicare and Medicaid were established 30 years ago?
A) Ironic
B) Humorous.
C) Sympathetic
D) Critical.
2. The phrase behind closed doors in the second paragraph could best be replaced by which of the following?
A) At home
B) In secret
C) In a room secure from attack
D) In prison
3. Republicans have been holding meetings behind closed doors in order to
A) mobilize support from their opponents.
B) Prepare for the upcoming national debate.
C) Release their proposals without running into any trouble
D) Discuss the Clinton plan in a detailed way.
4. What are the Republican proposals aimed at?
A) Extending rights to health coverage and health care.
B) Providing every American with free medical treatment
C) Depriving many people of their rights to free medical treatment
D) Withdrawing rights that have existed for a long time
5. Which of the following is NOT true of the development of managed care?
A) Nurses are in great demand
B) Physicians are no longer independent
C) Some new buildings are vacant
D) Demand for hospital care is on the decrease.
KEY: ABCDA
雅思听力常见场景解析:工作
雅思听力填空题答题技巧:预测
雅思听力高频词汇:教育
雅思听力高频词汇35个
实现雅思听力满分的四个步骤
雅思听力核心必备词汇60个
雅思听力选择题技巧:应对干扰项
突破雅思听力语音三部曲:音标、单词和技巧
雅思听力常用的4大技巧
雅思听力单项选择题的解答方法
雅思听力搭配题解题技巧介绍
剑桥雅思听力总结:比较关系
雅思听力不同备考阶段的复习策略
雅思听力的七类常见关键词
雅思听力经典场景解析:租房
雅思听力核心词汇整理-C
剑四真题例解雅思听力关系词的应用
雅思听力考试的6大题型
雅思听力经典场景解析:选课
雅思听力真题解题技巧:干扰项
雅思听力速度提高技巧:关键信息点
雅思听力考试的三个注意事项
雅思听力高分技巧分享(24条)
雅思听力备考重点知识介绍
雅思听力高频词汇:常用短语30个
雅思听力词汇的备考方法介绍
雅思听力图形题解题方法整理
雅思听力选择题答题方法介绍
雅思听力考前应对策略
雅思听力高分技巧:数词类
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |