第二篇
Face Masks May Not Protect from Super-Flu
If a super-flu strikes, face masks may not protect you. Whether widespread use of masks will help, or harm,during the next worldwide flu outbreak is a question that researchers are studying furiously. No results have come from their mask research yet.
However, the government says people should consider wearing them certain stations anyway, just in case.
But it's a question the public keeps asking while the government is makingpreparations for the next flu pandemic (大流行).So the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came up with preliminary guidelines. "We don’t want People wearing them everywhere," said the CDC. The overall recommendation really is to avoid exposure.”
When that is not possible, the guidelines say you should consider wearing a simple surgical mask if you are in one of the three following situations. First, you’re healthy and can’t avoid going to a crowded place. Second, you're sick and think you may have close contact with the healthy, such as a family member checking on you. Third, you live with someone who's sick and thus might be in the early stages of infection, but still need to go out.
Influenza pandemics can strike when the easy-to-mutate (变异)flu virus shifts to a strain(菌株)that people never have experienced. Scientists cannot predict when the next pandemic will arrive, although concern is rising that the Asian bird flu might trigger one if it starts spreading easily from person to person.
During the flu pandemic, you should protect yourself. Avoid crowds, and avoid close contact with the sick unless you must care for someone. Why aren’t masks added to this self-protection list? Because they can help trap virus-laden droplets flying through the air with a cough or sneeze. Simple surgical masks only filter the larger droplets (飞沫). Besides, the CDC is afraid masks may create a false sense of security. Perhaps someone who should have stayed home would don(戴)an ill-fitting mask and hop on the subway instead.
Nor does flu only spread through the air. Say someone covers a sneeze with his or her hand, then touches a doorknob or subway pole. If you touch that spot next and then put germy hands on your nose or mouth, you’ve been exposed. It’s harder to rub your nose while wearing a mask, so your face may get pretty sweaty under masks. You reach under to wipe that sweat, and may transfer germs caught on the outside of the mask straight to the nose. These are the problems face masks may create for their users.
Whether people should or should not use face masks still remains a question. The general public has to wait patiently for the results of the mask research scientists are still doing.
36 .【题干】What is the passage mainly about?
【选项】
A.Widespread use of face masks.
B.Possibility of a worldwide flu outbreak
C.New discoveries of a face mask research.
D.Effectiveness of wearing face masks
37.【题干】The CDC suggests that people
【选项】
A.stay alone when being sick.
B.wear face masks when going to a crowded place.
C.wear face masks wherever possible.
D.remain at home if living with someone who’s sick.
38. 【题干】The word "that" in Paragraph 3 refers to
【选项】
A.making preparations.
B.avoiding exposure
C.coming up with guidelines.
D.wearing face masks everywhere.
39. 【题干】Which of the following statements is true?
【选项】
A.Scientists warn the next flu is coming soon.
B.Asian bird flu is spreading easily from person to person.
C.Masks protect people because they keep viruses away.
D.Masks are not effective if a flu strikes.
40. 【题干】One of the concerns the CDC has is that
【选项】
A.masks may give people a wrong assumption of being safe.
B.the sick may not wear masks and go out.
C.fluvims may spread via public transportation.
D.healthy people may not know how to protect themselves.