Many Older Doctors Plan to Give up Their Practice

The results of a new survey indicate that 48 percent of physicians between 50 and 65 years of age are planning to reduce or end their clinical practice in the next l to 3 years. The findings also suggest that many older physicians believe that their younger counterparts do not have the work ethic they do.

The survey, which was conducted by Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, a Texas-based physician search and consulting firm, suggests that many older physicians are simply unhappy with the changes that have taken place in medicine over the years.

"When Baby Boom doctors entered medicine, they had control over how they practiced and the fee they charged. But the rules changed on them in mid-stream and now many are looking for a ticket out," Mark Smith, executive vice president of Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, said in a statement.   "Our study is the only one I am aware of that examines the career plans of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group." This age group represents more than one-third of all physicians in the U. S. If they stop working in the coming years, it will have a "significant impact" on the overall supply of physicians, Smith told Reuters Health.

The results of the survey, which included 1,170 respondents（調(diào)查對(duì)象）, show that 24 percent of older physicians are planning to leave clinical practice all together in the next 1 to 3 years. Specifically, 14 percent said they were planning on retiring, 7 percent said they were looking for a medical job in a non-patient care setting, and 3 percent said they were seeking a job in a non-medical field.

For those physicians not leaving clinical practice, many said they would make changes to reduce the number of patients they treat. For instance, 12 percent said they would begin working part-time, 8 percent said they planned to stop taking new patients or markedly reduce their patient load, and 4 percent expressed a desire to work on a temporary basis.

When asked about the work ethic of physicians entering practice today, 68 percent of the respondents said that these younger doctors are not as dedicated or as hard working as physicians who entered practice 20 t0 30 years ago. Fifty-seven percent of older physicians said they would not recommend medicine as a career to their own children. Similarly, 44 percent said they would not select medicine as a career if they were starting out today.   

"The most ominous（不祥的）finding is that about one half of physicians surveyed plant to either abandon patient care in the next 1 to 3 years, or significantly reduce the number of patients they see," Smith said. "The U. S. already is facing a widespread shortage of physicians. Should older, ‘workhorse' physicians choose to give up patient care, access to medical services will be further restricted."

66. Which is NOT true of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group in the U. S.?

A. They are mostly baby boomers.

B. They have nothing to complain about.

C. Many of them plan to gradually stop their practice.

D. They account for over one-third of all physicians in the country.

67. The survey was focused on         .

A. the living conditions of older physicians in the U. S.

B. the career plans of older physicians in the U. S.

C. the retirement plans of older physicians in the U. S.

D. the achievements of older physicians in the U.S.

68. Many older physicians in the U. S. view the work ethic of their younger

counterparts        .

A. with appreciation                  B. with disapproval

C. with jealous                   D. with indifference

69. In the eyes of many older physicians, medicine         .

A. comes first in their choice of a career for their children

B. remains their lifelong pursuit

C. is not as good a career as it used to be

D. is more demanding than it used to be

70. If many older physicians stop working in the coming years, Americans will have         .

A. even less access to medical services           B. even better patient care

C. a shortage of younger physicians                 D. more job opportunities

書面表達(dá)（滿分25分）

近年來，在大學(xué)新生入學(xué)時(shí)，媒體對(duì)“父母護(hù)送子女上學(xué)”的現(xiàn)象作了一些報(bào)道，引發(fā)了許多討論，贊同和不贊同的聲音都有。假如某英語報(bào)記者對(duì)你進(jìn)行采訪，征求你對(duì)此現(xiàn)象的看法，請(qǐng)你根據(jù)下表提示，用英語寫一篇短文，表達(dá)自己的觀點(diǎn)，并說明理由。

注意：

  1．只能選擇寫一種觀點(diǎn)，贊同或不贊同；除提示外還可適當(dāng)增加你認(rèn)為重要的理由；

    2．短文開頭己分別給出，請(qǐng)把所選的開頭句子抄寫到答題卡上，然后接著寫。開頭句子不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)；

    3．詞數(shù)：120左右。

參考詞匯：放心feel relieved；新生freshman

—How do you usually keep in touch with your friends, by email or letter？

    —            .

   A. None                                  B. Neither                 C. Any                                 D. Either

---- Why didn’t you pick up the MP4?

---- I ______ it, but I didn’t carry that much money.

A. could buy       B. should buy      C. must have bought  D. could have bought

—How much sugar did you put in my coffee? It tastes so bitterk#s^5*u．

—I am sorry to say that there’s ________left．I’ve forgotten to buy ______on my way home．

A．nothing；it                     B．something；anything

C．none；some                    D．no one；some

He was reading a novel ________ the story reminded him of ________ he had seen during the last war.

  A. when, what    B. that, what C. whose, that        D. while, which

I like this jacket better than that one, but it costs almost three times _______.

A. as much               B. as many               C. so much            D. so many

Ⅳ. Translation 16%

85.你方便下周就開始工作嗎？(convenient)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

86.不管你遇到什么困難，千萬不要嘆氣。(sigh)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

87.這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果比我們?cè)瓉硐氲囊獜?fù)雜得多。(prove)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

88.家長(zhǎng)與孩子之間缺乏必要的交流已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)社會(huì)問題。(Lack)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

89.只有那些認(rèn)識(shí)到環(huán)境重要性的人才可能保護(hù)環(huán)境。(aware…likely)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

28. At a rough look, the area of the city is about ______ the old one.

A. three times the size as                                                        B. three times the size of             

C. three times that is                                                       D. three times what is

27．To tell you the truth，the accident and the damage______resulted in frightened me so much that I almost have given up driving ever since．

A．that    B．it    C．which    D．What