A.

Reading comprehension.Report: China Faces “Titanic” AIDS CrisisBeijing, June 27 - A

United Nations team warned today that China faces an AIDS epidemic of “proportions
beyond belief” and compared Chinese leaders to officers aboard Titanic whorefused to
believe the ship was sinking until it was too late.The U.N. Theme Group on HIV/AIDS
cited previously reported statistics including anestimate that as many as 1.5 billion
Chinese last year contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.But it added unusually stiff
criticism of the Chinese government for its response to the diseaseand said that nation is
“on the verge of a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable humansuffering,
economic loss and social devastation.”“In the near future, China might count more HIV
infections than any other country in theworld,” said the report, titled “HIV/AIDS: China’s
Titanic Peril.” Ten million Chinese could beinfected by the end of the decade, the report
said, as the disease spreads into the general population from already hard-hit groups: drug
users, sex workers and people who have sold blood to unsanitary dealers.During the
report's unveiling, one Chinese health official challenged the comparison tothe Titanic,
and, in a break with protocol, angrily asked whether the United Nations intended tostand
by and watch China sink like the ship. U.N. officials replied that they picked the
Titanicmetaphor to emphasize that Chinese leaders could still avoid a disaster.“If the
people on the bridge of that ship had acted according to the information they had,then
they could have avoided it,” said Kerstin Leitner, a U.N. representative in Beijing.
“Thattragedy was preventable, and the same applies to the HIV/AIDS situation in China.”
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The report blamed China’s response on a lack of commitment by officials at all levels
of government, “dramatically insufficient funding for AIDS prevention programs and a
healthcaresystem that has all but collapsed in the Chinese countryside.”It described
widespread ignorance of the disease and discrimination against people withHIV or AIDS,
sometimes fueled by local laws.The report also alluded to perhaps the most sensitive
obstacle in fighting AIDS in China:the country’s authoritarian political system.
International experience has shown that free flow of information and the emergence of
independent, grass-roots organizations are critical to fightingAIDS, the report said. But
China’s ruling Communist Party is uncomfortable with both.The government has been
effective at achieving specific goals set by top leaders -supressing the Falun Gong
spiritual movement, for example, or implementing its one-child policy. “If this
government wants to do something, it has the power to do it,” said Siri Tellier,who heads
the U.N. group.
1
.

A United Nations team ……… about China's AIDS problem.

a)

warned

b)
threatened

c)

menaced

d)

announced

2
. The comparison the team made was between Chinese leaders and ………a)

the Titanic

b)

officers aboard the Titanic

c)

the sinking of the Titanic

d)

all people on the Titanic

3
. The UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS cited previously reported ……….a)

polls.

b)

surveys.

c)

statistics.

d)

opinions.

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4
. The Theme Group brought stiff ……… of the Chinese government for the way it
respondedto the disease.a)

praise

b)

critics

c)

critique

d)

criticism

5
. The Chinese nation is considered to be on the verge of a catastrophe that would
mean………a)

a lack of products and distorted social relations

b)

social and economic problems, as well as human suffering

c)

human losses and economic devastation

d)

economic and social suffering

6.
………, China might count more HIV infections than any other country in the world.a)

In no time

b)

Immediately

c)
Sooner or later

d)

Before long
7.
Ten million Chinese could be infected by the end of the decade.a)

The disease is very likely to spread from one person to another, no matter their jobs. b)

The disease is very likely to spread among the general population, like those who

sell blood.c)

The disease is very likely to spread among sensitive groups, like drug users andsex
workers.d)

The disease is very likely to spread from hard-hit groups to the general population.
8.
One Chinese health official challenged the comparison to the Titanic, ………a)

while the report was introduced to the public.

b)

while the report was confirmed.