备战2023年中考英语阅读话题训练 专题04 流感

Have you gotten vaccinated(接种疫苗的)? This question has become a common way to greet each other in China since the country COVID-19 vaccinations rolled out(推出) successfully in December 2020.

China has also provided vaccines for other countries. It has sent COVID-19 vaccines to 28countries and provided help to 69 countries in need, Xinhua reported. Most of these countries are developing countries, such as Pakistan, Mexico and Mongolia.

The leaders of these countries are taking the lead in getting vaccinated, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. According to the World Bank, small and medium-sized developing countries are likely to lag behind larger developing and developed countries by a year in yaccinating their people. Some richer countries have already had enough vaccines for their own people.

For countries that have not yet developed or gotten a vaccine, China may be the only way to solve their problems. China is one of the few countries that developed vaccines. China has joined COVAX (新冠疫苗实施计划) which is organized by the World Health Organization, to make sure that all members get the vaccine in the future. China has decided to offer 10 million vaccines to COVAX, Xinhua reported.

As COVID-19 is still spreading in many countries, quickly finding people who have the virus is very important. But COVID-19 is not easy to detect. Many people who catch the virus clearly show signs of being ill, like having a fever or coughing. But many others show no signs at all. These people are "asymptomatic" and they can still pass the virus to others.

Now, scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a famous American college, have developed a method which can quickly detect whether a person has COVID-19 or not just from the way he or she coughs or speaks. The scientists turned to an AI method known as "deep learning".

In deep learning, computer programs collected a lot of information, analyzed（分析）it and built certain models. The information here was tens of thousands of recordings of coughing and speaking from people who had caught the virus. When the scientists tested their AI models, they found that they could detect 98.5% of the people who caught the virus, including 100% of the asymptomatic people.

Brian Subirana, one of the scientists, says, "We think this shows that the way one person produces sound changes when he or she has COVID-19, even if he or she is asymptomatic." The scientists now want to turn their models into an app that can run on mobile phones. If they are able to do that, it could allow people to quickly and easily check whether they have caught the virus.

Vaccines (疫苗) help keep you healthy. How do vaccines help you keep healthy? The vaccines are made from bacteria (细菌)that causes the illness. A little bit of bacteria isn't enough to make you sick. But it is enough to make your immune system(免疫系统) active.

While some vaccines are a lifetime, others wear off after a few months or years. Most doctors suggest the following vaccines: measles-mumps-rubella, hepatitis B and chicken pox. After these vaccines when you are very young, you will be far away from most of these diseases all your life.

Joe's flu vaccine will be good for about six months to a year. His doctor explained why. "When I give a flu shot(注射), "Dr. Smith said, "I put a bit of flu bacteria into your body. You build up antibodies(抗体) against this bacteria. But this vaccine won't protect you once (一旦) the bacteria has changed. That's why you will have to get a new one before the flu season hits next year."

"I had the flu last year," Joe said. "I was really sick. I missed a whole week of school. When I did go back, I still didn't feel really great. I couldn't even play basketball for another week after that. I guess it's worth (值得…的) getting a flu shot every year. "

Are you protected? That shot is so much easier than getting one of these serious illnesses.

June 8, 2009

Dear Cindy,

I'm sorry to hear that Bird Flu is very serious in some parts of the world and some people have got the flu. We must take good care of ourselves and keep away from the disease. Could you tell me what people in China do to keep away from it?

Please write to me soon.

Yours,

Betty

July 2, 2009

Dear Betty,

I think Bird Flu is very bad. Many chickens, ducks and birds in our country got the disease. Some of them died, but some birds flew away and they might carry germs to other places. This is a serious problem. We must do something to solve it. Let me tell you what people have to do to keep away from the disease.

* Do morning exercises every day.

* Open the windows in the morning.

* Wash hands very often.

* Eat more vegetables and less meat.

* Go to bed early.

I think these are good for our health. Do you think so?

Yours,

Cindy

    Mary is reading something about how to keep healthy on the Internet.

    Good sleep is important for your health. You need about seven hours' sleep a night. Don't eat or read in bed. Go to bed early at the same time and get up at the same time every day. For more information. please visit www. sleeping. com.

    How often do you exercise? If you want to stay healthy, try to exercise for 30 minutes a day, three or four times a week. For more information, please call Health Line at 0180-2000.

    Studies show that flu virus(流感病毒)can live on our hands for long. So you should wash your hands often with soap. For more ways to prevent(预防)the cold or flu, please call Health Line at 0180-1313.

    Brush your teeth twice a day and see a dentist at least once year. The oral examination(口腔检查)is not only for the health of teeth, but for the whole body. Please visit www. mydr. com for more information.

Monday, January 21st

I'm a virus（病毒）for the common cold. It has been a long time since I infected（感染）humans last time. Today I tried to infect a boy in a primary school all day. His name is Sam. I waited on his desktop, and when he touched the desk I jumped on his finger. Unluckily, Sam didn't touch his eyes, mouth or nose. Then, right after class, he washed his hands. Now I'm full of soap and sitting in a sink!

Tuesday, January 22nd

This morning I jumped into the nose of Sam's best friend, Bill. Unluckily, the mucus（粘液）in his nose caught me. I thought it was over for me, when suddenly Bill sneezed while he was talking to Sam. I knew that would send me right into Sam's face! However, Sam quickly gave Bill a tissue, and Bill sneered into that instead! Infecting people is harder than I imagined.

Wednesday, January 23rd

I'm feeling very unhappy today. Some scientists caught my friend Harry and put him under a microscope. Harry is a flu virus and he's a dangerous little guy. Besides, Sam ate all his vegetables today. He's exercising, and he's getting eight hours of sleep every night. His body is too strong for me!

Thursday, January 24th

I tried to infect Sam again today, but he washed his hands five times and never touched his face! He also gave tissues to every student in his class who was sneezing. It's impossible to give him a cold! So I have to give up and I'm moving to another school.

    Flu easily spreads from one person to another. If you are weak, you probably catch flu easily. Do you know how you can avoid flu? Here are some suggestions:

    Keep in good health

    You can eat everything you want but make sure that your diet is healthy. The healthier you are, the better it is for you to avoid any type of illness around. Most doctors suggest drinking lots of fresh fruit juice and water is helpful to avoid flu.

    Stay away from people with flu

    If a member of the family or a friend has flu, stay away from him/her until he/she is well. Flu is very communicable. If you stay with the person with flu, you can catch flu easily. Wear a mask (口罩) and avoid using things that the person with flu is using.

    Exercise

    Exercising will make you stronger, which means a stronger immune system (免疫系统), too. Exercise often so that your body will keep healthy. It doesn't matter what kind of exercise it is.

    Be happy

    Happy people are healthy people. Their life isn't stressed out, so they may be safe from illness. If you are unhappy, you will easily get sick. Avoiding the flu is easy. Just boost (增强) your immune system and it will take care of the rest.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a great soccer player. He plays soccervery well and he is handsome. He has lots of fans around the world. Now, he isthe most popular person on Instagram. He has over300 million followers.

The Portuguese soccer star made a video to thank his fans.In the video, Ronaldo said when be was young, his dream was to become the bestsoccer player in the world. Now he is very happy because it has come true.Ronaldo is also known for his work for charities, such us UNICEF and Save theChildren. And he donated (捐赠) SI million to the hospitals in his country during the COVID-19pandemic.

If you want to know how much influence (影响) Ronaldo has,please look at this. On June 14. 2021, before Ronaldo gave a talk, he saw twobottles of Coca-Cola on the table. He moved them away and put a bottle of waterin front of him because he thought water was a healthy drink. This act madeCoca-Cola lose about $4 billion.

A Chinese company, Xiaomi, mailed millions of masks (口罩) to Italy. Xiaomi mailed the masks to Italy by water, and the company put a note on the side of the crates(板条箱). On the note was an ancient poem: We are waves of the same sea, leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden.

The European country went through a terrible time of COVID-19, and Xiaomi said on the Internet that it would give away the masks. It said the company felt a duty(责任)to the Italian market. The market warmly welcomed Xiaomi when the smartphone maker went into Italy.

"Since we arrived in the country several years ago, we have felt loved and we have deeply got into touch with the life of the country. That is why we felt the duty to help Italy fight COVID-19, by giving away these masks," the head of the company also said in an interview.

The company also posted some photos of crates on the Internet. In fact, preparing these crates cost the company much time. The head of the company also said that they were happy to be able to give a hand. To their surprise, the government of Italy has done an excellent job for the lives of the whole country.

Governments are short of medical masks and other necessary things. These are the main reasons why a country finds it difficult to fight COVID-19. And at the same time, the masks from Xiaomi have helped people in Italy a lot.

We all know that getting the flu is not fun. There are headaches, coughs, fevers, and other terrible feelings. To help us get better, we take some medicine and get much rest. We also drink lots of water and eat healthy food to make us feel better.

However, some people don't want to get sick at all. So, they get a flu shot before the flu season starts. The flu shot is in fact, a vaccine (疫苗), not usual cold medicine. It will protect them from the flu.

The vaccine introduces some of the flu into the body. But don't worry. The flu is dead and won't make you sick. It will teach your body to know it and fight it off in the future, though.

Vaccines not only protect you but also protect others. That's because they help stop diseases (疾病) from spreading (扩散) from person to person. When fewer people have the diseases, the chances of getting them go down. Sometimes, the diseases completely go away.

Even though vaccines are quite safe, some adults are afraid of them. Their worry is that the vaccines will cause serious side effects (副作用). Vaccines might cause side effects, but they are usually not as terrible as people imagine. For most people, vaccines are  ▲  and make them better.

So, they are believable and people want them in their bodies. These days, people are in line for the COVID-19 vaccines and hope they can protect them well!