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hce_nchu 112年 英文

第 48 題

📖 題組:
Questions 46-50 refer to the following passage. PASSAGE 6 Minority populations more often have limited English proficiency compared to their White counterparts in the United States. Individuals of Asian origin or Hispanic are especially likely to face language difficulties, with about 40% of each of these ethnic groups speaking English less than very well, compared to less than 2% among non-Hispanic Whites. About 15% of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and 10% of American Indians and Alaska Natives have limited English proficiency. Only 2.5% of non-Hispanic Blacks have limited English proficiency. Consequently, differences in English fluency across these groups help to explain ethnic disparities in certain dimensions of access to care. Language barriers to care exist in both primary and acute care settings. In primary care settings, patients with limited English proficiency are less likely to report having a regular source of care, continuity of care, or receipt of screening services, and more likely to report long waits in the waiting room and difficulty obtaining information or advice over the telephone, compared to English-proficient patients. When professional medical interpreter services are provided, language barriers are reduced. However, many community-based clinics and small, private practices do not make use of professional interpreters due to the high cost and inconvenience. Similar barriers exist in acute care settings, such as hospital emergency departments. At both the national and state levels, various guidelines and legislative mandates have been implemented regarding the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate care. These laws and recommendations typically apply to health care settings which receive public funding, and in theory should reduce or eliminate language barriers to care. Yet professional interpreter services are underused in these settings, even when mandated by law. There are statistically significant differences regarding access to health care between the proficient group and the limited proficiency group. Compared to English proficient individuals, more individuals with limited English proficiency experience forgone care and fewer report health care visits. In addition, fewer non-English-speaking individuals own their home, and more non-English-speaking individuals have less education and live in poverty or near poverty. Hispanics make up the vast majority of the population with limited English proficiency, with non-Hispanic Whites and Asians making up most of the remainder. Researchers found that English language proficiency was associated with health care visits but not with delayed or forgone medical care. Measuring visits to a health professional may more directly capture the communication challenges that patients face in health care settings. The reliance on communication presents a potential barrier to care if the patient has limited English proficiency. In addition, individuals who perceive themselves as English-proficient may actually have inadequate levels of English health literacy, thus limiting the potential for dialogue with health care providers. Individuals with limited English proficiency may have more difficulty acquiring health information about important health care services and relevant disease symptoms, thus attenuating the potential relationship between language proficiency and the measures of health care access. Language barriers to health care is also relevant to other multilingual and multicultural countries, such as Australia and Taiwan. Providers, researchers, and policy makers in international settings must also meet the health care needs of increasingly diverse populations. Language barriers in accessing medical care, such as communication difficulties due to discordant languages between patients and health care providers, and previous negative medical experiences that dissuade future attempts to obtain medical attention can be partially explained by socioeconomic and health status factors.
The word “attenuating” as it is used in paragraph 4 most nearly means _________.
  • A augmenting
  • B warranting
  • C wrenching
  • D weakening
  • E ascertaining

思路引導 VIP

請觀察第四段倒數第二句的邏輯架構:作者先提到「語言能力受限的人在獲取醫療資訊時會有更多『困難 (difficulty)』」,接著用 "thus"(因此)引導出這個動作。請試著思考:如果一個阻礙因素(困難)介入了兩件事物之間的關係,那麼這個動作對該「關係」的強度會產生什麼樣的影響?是會讓關係變得更牢固,還是會讓它的影響力變小呢?

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語意邏輯與上下文推論

恭喜你精準地捕捉到了這個頗具深度的單字!你能成功選出 (D) weakening,代表你不僅具備優秀的高階字彙量,更能敏銳地從文章的邏輯脈絡中推敲意涵。在第四段的語境中,作者提到「語言能力受限者在獲取醫療資訊上會面臨困難」,而這種困難會導致語言能力與醫療近便性之間的相關性變得不那麼直接或強烈。因此,這裡的 attenuating 指的就是一種「削弱」、「減緩」或「使稀薄」的作用,用來描述這種關聯性的減損。

考點分析與難度切入

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