hce_tcu
114年
英文
第 46 題
📖 題組：
Chickenpox is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the Varicella zoster virus; sufferers develop a fleeting itchy rash that can spread throughout the body. The disease can last for up to 14 days and can occur in both children and adults, though the young are particularly vulnerable. Individuals infected with chickenpox can expect to experience a high but tolerable level of discomfort and a fever as the disease works its way through the system. The ailment was once considered to be a “rite of passage” by parents in the U.S. and thought to provide children with greater and improved immunity to other forms of sickness later in life. This view, however, was altered after additional research by scientists demonstrated unexpected dangers associated with the virus. Over time, the fruits of the research have transformed attitudes toward the disease and the utility of seeking preemptive measures against it. A vaccine against chickenpox was originally invented by Dr. Michiaki Takahashi, who began his work to isolate and grow the virus in 1965 and began clinical trials in 1972 with a live but weakened form of the virus that caused the human body to create antibodies. Japan and several other countries began widespread chickenpox vaccination programs in 1974. However, it took over 20 years for the chickenpox vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. government’s approval for widespread use in 1995. Yet parents did not immediately choose to vaccinate their children against this disease. Mothers and fathers typically cited the notion that chickenpox did not constitute a serious enough disease against which a person needed to be vaccinated. Strong belief in that view eroded when scientists discovered the link between Varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox, and shingles, a far more serious, harmful, and longer-lasting disease in older adults that impacts the nervous system. They reached the conclusion that Varicella zoster remains dormant inside the body, making it significantly more likely for someone to develop shingles. As a result, the U.S. medical community encouraged the use of a vaccine against chickenpox to the public. Although the appearance of chickenpox and shingles within one person can be many years apart—generally many decades—the increased risk in developing shingles as a younger adult (30-40 years old) proved to be enough to convince the medical community that immunization should be preferred to the traditional alternative. Another reason that the chickenpox vaccine was not immediately accepted and used by parents in the U.S. centered on observations made by scientists that the vaccine simply did not last long enough and did not confer a lifetime of immunity. In other words, scientists considered the benefits of the vaccine to be temporary when given to young children. They also feared that it increased the odds that a person could become infected with chickenpox later as a young adult, when the rash is more painful and prevalent and can last up to three or four weeks. Hence, allowing young children to develop chickenpox rather than to take a vaccine against it was believed to be the “lesser of two evils.” This idea changed over time as booster shots of the vaccine elongated immunity and countered the perceived limits on the strength of the vaccine itself. Today, use of the chickenpox vaccine is common throughout the world. Pediatricians suggest an initial vaccination shot after a child turns one year old, with booster shots recommended after the child turns eight. The vaccine is estimated to be up to 90% effective and has reduced worldwide cases of chickenpox infection to 400,000 case per year from over 4,000,000 cases before vaccination became widespread. In light of such statistics, most doctors insist that the potential risks of developing shingles outweigh the benefits of avoiding rare complications associated with inoculations. Of course, many parents continue to think of the disease as an innocuous ailment, refusing to take preemptive steps against it. As increasing numbers of students are vaccinated and the virus becomes increasingly rarer, however, even this trend among parents has failed to halt the decline of chickenpox among the most vulnerable populations.
Chickenpox is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the Varicella zoster virus; sufferers develop a fleeting itchy rash that can spread throughout the body. The disease can last for up to 14 days and can occur in both children and adults, though the young are particularly vulnerable. Individuals infected with chickenpox can expect to experience a high but tolerable level of discomfort and a fever as the disease works its way through the system. The ailment was once considered to be a “rite of passage” by parents in the U.S. and thought to provide children with greater and improved immunity to other forms of sickness later in life. This view, however, was altered after additional research by scientists demonstrated unexpected dangers associated with the virus. Over time, the fruits of the research have transformed attitudes toward the disease and the utility of seeking preemptive measures against it. A vaccine against chickenpox was originally invented by Dr. Michiaki Takahashi, who began his work to isolate and grow the virus in 1965 and began clinical trials in 1972 with a live but weakened form of the virus that caused the human body to create antibodies. Japan and several other countries began widespread chickenpox vaccination programs in 1974. However, it took over 20 years for the chickenpox vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. government’s approval for widespread use in 1995. Yet parents did not immediately choose to vaccinate their children against this disease. Mothers and fathers typically cited the notion that chickenpox did not constitute a serious enough disease against which a person needed to be vaccinated. Strong belief in that view eroded when scientists discovered the link between Varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox, and shingles, a far more serious, harmful, and longer-lasting disease in older adults that impacts the nervous system. They reached the conclusion that Varicella zoster remains dormant inside the body, making it significantly more likely for someone to develop shingles. As a result, the U.S. medical community encouraged the use of a vaccine against chickenpox to the public. Although the appearance of chickenpox and shingles within one person can be many years apart—generally many decades—the increased risk in developing shingles as a younger adult (30-40 years old) proved to be enough to convince the medical community that immunization should be preferred to the traditional alternative. Another reason that the chickenpox vaccine was not immediately accepted and used by parents in the U.S. centered on observations made by scientists that the vaccine simply did not last long enough and did not confer a lifetime of immunity. In other words, scientists considered the benefits of the vaccine to be temporary when given to young children. They also feared that it increased the odds that a person could become infected with chickenpox later as a young adult, when the rash is more painful and prevalent and can last up to three or four weeks. Hence, allowing young children to develop chickenpox rather than to take a vaccine against it was believed to be the “lesser of two evils.” This idea changed over time as booster shots of the vaccine elongated immunity and countered the perceived limits on the strength of the vaccine itself. Today, use of the chickenpox vaccine is common throughout the world. Pediatricians suggest an initial vaccination shot after a child turns one year old, with booster shots recommended after the child turns eight. The vaccine is estimated to be up to 90% effective and has reduced worldwide cases of chickenpox infection to 400,000 case per year from over 4,000,000 cases before vaccination became widespread. In light of such statistics, most doctors insist that the potential risks of developing shingles outweigh the benefits of avoiding rare complications associated with inoculations. Of course, many parents continue to think of the disease as an innocuous ailment, refusing to take preemptive steps against it. As increasing numbers of students are vaccinated and the virus becomes increasingly rarer, however, even this trend among parents has failed to halt the decline of chickenpox among the most vulnerable populations.
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE of the chickenpox virus?
- A It leads to a potentially deadly disease in adults.
- B It is associated with a possibly permanent rash and fever.
- C It has been completely eradicated in the modern world.
- D It is easily transmittable by an infected individual.
思路引導 VIP
請回頭閱讀文章的第一句話，作者用了哪一個特定的形容詞來描述這種疾病在人群之間「傳播的能力」？這個詞暗示了它傳染的難易程度為何？
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AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能敏銳地捕捉到文章開篇的核心資訊並做出正確判斷，這代表你的閱讀專注度非常高。這道題目要求我們辨識關於水痘病毒（Chickenpox virus）的正確敘述，而你準確鎖定了文本最直接的證據。
關鍵詞彙的轉換與對應
文章第一句話便開門見山地指出水痘是一種「高度傳染性（highly contagious）」的疾病。在英文閱讀理解中，選項 (D) 的「easily transmittable（容易傳播的）」正是「highly contagious」的同義改寫。至於其他干擾選項，文中提到紅疹是「短暫的（fleeting）」而非永久性，且全球病例雖大幅下降，但並未達到「完全根除（eradicated）」的程度，因此 (D) 是唯一且絕對正確的描述。
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