Last year, Jack Bleed cut through the bone of his ring finger while working. The

Last year, JackBleed cut through the bone of his ring finger while working. The 31-year-oldresident of North Little Rock, Arkansas, waited for about six hours at a nearbymedical center while the medical staff there called all over town — even as faraway as Dallas and Memphis — to find a hand surgeon to reattach his finger.Finally, a willing doctor was located in Louisville, Kentucky. But even thoughBleed had insurance(保险), he would have to hire a private plane to get himself there, at acost of $4,300. In the end, he charged the cost to two credit cards, and hisfinger was saved. His insurance company eventually covered the cost of theplane, but his experience makes people aware of the fact that trauma(外伤) care in the United States isnot only geographically limited, but in many places, non-existent.

Only eightstates — New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington — have local, fully functional trauma systems. Theremaining states have partial systems, and 12 — including Arkansas — have notrauma system at all.

Although thePresident has signed a bill of $12 million for the purpose of supporting traumacare systems nationwide, many in Congress(国会) are unwilling to spend government money for a service they thinkshould be paid for by states, says Wayne Meredith, medical director for traumaprograms at the American College of Surgeons. Meanwhile, many states have alsofailed to find the dollars to support trauma systems. To make matters worse,many people without insurance depend heavily on the emergency care services,placing a huge financial burden on the medical centers that serve them.

For the samereason, doctors, too, often go unpaid. They are unwilling to perform emergencycare, worsening critical shortages of neurosurgeons, orthopedists, and handsurgeons — the very types of specialists Bleed needed at short notice.

Supporting atrauma care system doesn’t take much. A half-penny sales tax in Miami-Dade County makes its outstanding system work. In Arkansas alone, says WayneMeredith, a well-funded trauma system would possibly prevent 200 to 600 deathseach year. If trauma care systems were to work well across the nation, expertssay, many thousands of lives each year could be saved. “You don’t get muchbetter return on your investment than that,” Meredith says.

1.In Paragraph 1, the writer uses Bleed’s case to ______.

A. make acomparison                                 B.describe a person

C. introduce atopic                                     D.tell a story

2.Many people in Congress argue that trauma care systems should besupported by ______.

A. thePresident                                         B.each state

C. insurancecompanies                               D.the US government

3.The example of Miami-Dade County shows that ______.

A. its taxpolicy is admirable                         B.running a trauma system is profitable

C. a traumasystem is not expensive             D.sales tax is not heavy in small counties

4.Why are the present trauma care systems in some states notsatisfactory?

A. They areshared by all the states.                     B.They are short of financial support.

C. The doctorsare not well trained.                     D.The hospitals can’t provide low-cost services.

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.B