六级阅读练习 2011.03.20

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

　　A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a science-fair experiment that ends up debunking(揭穿的真相)a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosas target was a practice known as therapeutic(治疗的)touch, whose advocates manipulate patients energy field to make them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various ills. Yet Emilys test shows that these energy fields cant be detected, even by trained TT practitioners(行医者). Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation, Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, Age doesnt matter. Its good science that matters, and this is good science.

　　Emilys mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought about TT in the late 80s, when she learned it was on the approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its 100,000 trained practitioners dont even touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few inches from the patients body, pushing energy fields around until theyre in balance. TT advocates say these manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve pain and reduce fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $70 an hour, to smooth patients energy, sometimes during surgery.

　　Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent testing-something they havent been eager to do, even though James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. . A skeptic might conclude that TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line. But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily: I think they didnt take me very seriously because Im a kid.

　　The experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand over one of theirs─left or right─and the practitioners had to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, theyd done no better than they would have by simply guessing. If there was an energy field, they couldnt feel it.

　　16. Which of the following is evidence that TT is widely practiced?

　　A、TT has been in existence for decades.

　　B、Many patients were cured by therapeutic touch.

　　C、TT therapists are often employed by leading hospitals.

　　D、More than 100,000 people are undergoing TT treatment.

　　17. Very few TT practitioners responded to the $1 million offer because .

　　A、they didnt take the offer seriously

　　B、they didnt want to risk their career

　　C、they were unwilling to reveal their secret

　　D、they thought it was not in line with their practice

　　18. The purpose of Emily Rosas experiment was .

　　A、to see why TT could work the way it did

　　B、to find out how TT cured patients illnesses

　　C、to test whether she could sense the human energy field

　　D、to test whether a human energy field really existed

　　19. Why did some TT practitioners agree to be the subjects of Emilys experiment?

　　A、It involved nothing more than mere guessing.

　　B、They thought it was going to be a lot of fun.

　　C、It was more straightforward than other experiments.

　　D、They sensed no harm in a little girls experiment.

　　20. What can we learn from the passage?

　　A、Some widely accepted beliefs can be deceiving.

　　B、Solid evidence weights more than pure theories.

　　C、Little children can be as clever as trained TT practitioners.

　　D、The principle of TT is too profound to understand.

　　答案：

　　16.C 17.C 18.D 19.D 20.A