【正文】 考研英語真題 11997 年全國(guó)碩士研究生入學(xué)統(tǒng)一考試英語試題 Text 1 It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia?s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Inter and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group?s online service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn?t just something that happened in Australia. It?s world history.” The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia where an aging population, life extending technology and changing munity attitudes have all played their part other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling. Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death probably by a deadly injection or pill to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally III law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I?m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I?d go, because I?ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says. Text 2 A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and illmannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves ment. For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a wele break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were mon problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were wele sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. 2 考研英語真題 The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn?t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation. Today there are many charitable anizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. “I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner amazing.” Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not unmon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpret