I had two routine checkups last week, and both the eye doctor and the dentist asked me to update my health history for their records. Their requests made sense. Health-care providers should know what problems their patients have had and what medications they're taking to be on the lookout for potential trouble or complications. 　　On each history, however, the section labeled FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY gave me pause. Few diseases are purely genetic, but plenty have genetic components. If my father suffered from elevated LDL, or bad cholesterol, my doctor should know that, because I'm probably at higher risk. If my mother had breast cancer, my sister (if I had one) would want her physician to be especially vigilant.
　　While I know something about the history of my parents' health-my father had prostate cancer at a relatively young age and suffered from macular degeneration and Parkinson's disease, and my mother died of lung cancer-there's plenty I don't know. What were my parents' cholesterol numbers and blood pressures? I assume I would have known if either suffered from diabetes, but I can't swear to that. And when it comes to my grandparents, whose genes I also have, I'm even more in the dark.

　　That makes me fairly typical. According to Dr. Richard Carmona, the U.S. Surgeon General, only about a third of Americans have even tried to put together a family-health history. That's why he has launched the Family History Initiative and declared Thanksgiving National Family History Day. Sitting around the turkey talking about cancer and heart disease may seem like a grim thing to do when you're supposed to be giving thanks for everything that's going right. But since many families will be gathering for the holiday anyway, it's a perfect time to create a medical family tree.

　　And the Surgeon General is making it easy: if you go to hhs.gov/familyhistory, you can use the Frequently Asked Questions link to find out which diseases tend to run in families, which ones you should be most and least worried about, and what to do if, like me, your parents and grandparents have passed away. You can also download a free piece of software called My Family Health Portrait, which helps you organize the information. The program prints that out in a easy-to-read form you can give to your doctors.

　　The website insists the software is "fun", but that may be going a bit far. In any case, it's available only for Windows machines, so Mac users and people without computers have to use a printed version of the tree. It's worth it, though, since it could help save your life or the life of your children someday.

1.In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by
　　[A] posing a contrast.
　　[B] justifying an assumption.
　　[C] explaining a phenomenon.
　　[D] making a comparison.

2.The statement "I assume I would have known if either suffered from diabetes, but I can't swear to that." (Line 4, Paragraph 3) implies that
　　[A] only one of them suffered from diabetes.
　　[B] neither of them suffered from diabetes.
　　[C] both of them suffered from diabetes.
　　[D] it's uncertain whether they suffered from diabetes or not.

3.Family health report is very important because
　　[A] you can be careful about some disease and keep fit.
　　[B] you are connected with your parents and your grandparents.
　　[C] many diseases are genetic and should be noticed.
　　[D] you should be considerate and care about your parents.

4.Dr. Richard Carmona suggests that
　　[A] you should present your doctor with a medical history.
　　[B] you should print out your family's medical history.
　　[C] you should gather your family's medical history.
　　[D] you should give thanks for everything that is going right.

5.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
　　[A] The software is fun enough.
　　[B] Family medical tree shouldn't be neglected.
　　[C] The software is not available anywhere.
　　[D] It is worthwhile to draw a family tree.

　　答案：C B A C B

　　篇章剖析

　　本文采用提出问题--分析问题--解决问题的模式，指出建立家庭医疗健康记录的重要性和必要性。第一段指出通常要求就医的人提供最新的健康记录；第二段指出了解家庭健康史的重要性；第三段指出作者在这方面的欠缺；第四段指出美国公共卫生部部长倡议收集家庭医疗信息的初衷；第五段指出一些简单易行的办法；第六段指出这一做法的意义。

　　词汇注释

　　Family tree n. 系谱，系谱图，族谱，族谱图

　　medication n. 药物治疗，药物处理，药物

　　on the lookout for adj. 寻找，注意，警戒

　　complication n. [医]并发症

　　LDL 低密度脂蛋白

　　cholesterol n. 胆固醇

　　vigilant adj. 警惕着的，警醒的

　　prostate adj. 前列腺的；n. 前列腺

　　macular degeneration n. 黄斑变性

　　Parkinson's disease [医]帕金森氏症，震颤性麻痹

　　grim adj. 不愉快的，讨厌的

　　download v. 下载

　　题目分析

　　1. 答案为C，属事实细节题。文章以阐述自己的经历入手引出论题。

　　2. 答案为B，属推理判断题。做好本题的关键是对虚拟语气用法的正确掌握。根据我们掌握的虚拟语气的知识，我们知道与过去事实相反，主句用"would have done"，才句用过去时。句子译文为"如果他们俩有人得了糖尿病的话，我想我可能会知道，但我也不敢保证。"作者表达的意思是他的父母没人得糖尿病。

　　3. 答案为A，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是"If my father suffered from elevated LDL, or bad cholesterol, my doctor should know that, because I'm probably at higher risk. If my mother had breast cancer, my sister (if I had one) would want her physician to be especially vigilant."

　　4. 答案为C，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是"That's why he has launched the Family History Initiative and declared Thanksgiving National Family History Day."从文中我们可了解家族医学病史非常重要，但在美国却只有三分之一的家庭试图做此记录。这也是他为什么发起家族历史倡议并宣布感恩节为全国家庭历史纪念日的原因。

　　5. 答案为B，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是"It's worth it, though, since it could help save your life or the life of your children someday."

　　难句突破

　　While I know something about the history of my parents' health-my father had prostate cancer at a relatively young age and suffered from macular degeneration and Parkinson's disease, and my mother died of lung cancer-there's plenty I don't know. 主体句式：While I know..., there's plenty I don't know. 结构分析："while"在此句中表让步，意为"虽然、尽管"。引导的从句应位于主句"there's plenty I don't know"之前。"my father had prostate cancer at a relatively young age and suffered from macular degeneration and Parkinson's disease, and my mother died of lung cancer"是"the history of my parents' health"的同位语，旨在给出详细信息。 句子译文：虽然我了解一些有关我父母的健康状况--我的父亲很年轻的时候就得了前列腺癌，并且还得了黄斑变性和帕金森氏症；我母亲死于肺癌--但是还有很多我不了解的。

　　参考译文

　　上周，我做了两项常规体检。体检的眼科医生和牙