Better Control of TB Seen If a Faster Cure Is Found

　　The World Health Organization1 estimates that about one-third of all people are infected with bacteria that cause tuberculosis . Most times, the infection remains inactive. But each year about eight million people develop active cases of TB, usually in their ______1______. Two million people die ______2______ it. The disease has ______3______ with the spread of AIDS and drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis.

　　Current treatments take at least six months. People have to ______4______ a combination of several antibiotic drugs daily. But many people stop ______5______ they feel better. Doing that can _______6______ to an infection that resists treatment. Public health experts agree that a faster-acting cure for tuberculosis would be more effective. Now a study estimates just how _______7______it might be. A professor of international health at Harvard University2 led the study. Joshua Salomon says a shorter treatment program would likely mean not just more patients _______8_____. It would also mean ______9______infectious patients who can pass on their infection to others.

　　The researchers developed a mathematical model to examine the effects of a two-month treatment plan. They ______10______the model with current TB conditions in Southeast Asia. The scientists found that a two-month treatment could prevent about twenty percent of new cases. And it might ______11______about twenty-five percent of TB deaths. The model shows that these ______12_____would take place between two thousand twelve and two thousand thirty. That is, if a faster cure is developed and in wide use by two thousand twelve.

　　The World Health Organization ______13______the DOTS3 program in nineteen ninety. DOTS is Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. Health workers watch tuberculosis patients take their daily pills to make ______14______they continue treatment.

　　Earlier this year, an international partnership of organizations announced a plan to expand the DOTS program. The ten-year plan also aims to finance research ______15______new TB drugs. The four most common drugs used now are more than forty years old. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development4 says its long-term goal is a treatment that could work in as few as ten doses.

　　1. A) kidneys B) lungs C) bones D) livers

　　2. A) with B) without C) of D) out of

　　3. A) increased B) decreased C) changed D) disappeared

　　4. A) make B) take C) try D) test

　　5. A) as if B) as though C) as far as D) as soon as

　　6. A) refer B) apply C) lead D) amount

　　7. A) effective B) ineffective C) expensive D) inexpensive

　　8. A) cured B) to cure C) being cured D) having been cured

　　9. A) many B) more C) few D) fewer

　　10. A) provided B) introduced C) tested D) tempted

　　11. A) bring about B) contributed to C) promote D) prevent

　　12. A) increases B) reductions C) creations D) collections

　　13. A) developed B) invented C) delayed D) refused#p#分页标题#e#

　　14. A) easy B) uneasy C) sure D) unsure

　　15. A) with B) to C) onto D) into

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