2017英语专八阅读100篇高级篇附答案解析（97）

2017英语专八阅读100篇高级篇附答案解析（97）

　　When Catholicclergy or pro-life politicians argue that abortion laws should betightened, they do so in the belief that this will reduce the number ofterminations. Yet the largest global study of abortion ever undertaken castsdoubt on that simple proposition. Restricting abortions, the study says, haslittle effect on the number of pregnancies terminated. Rather, it drives womento seek illegal, often unsafe backstreet abortions leading to an estimated67,000 deaths a year. A further 5m women require hospital treatment as a resultof botched procedures.

　　In Africa andAsia, where abortion is generally either illegal or restricted, the abortionrate in 2003 was 29 per 1,000women aged 15-44. This is almost identical to the rate in Europe-28-where legalabortions are widely available. Latin America, which has some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws,is the region with the highest abortion rate , while western Europe, whichhas some of the most liberal laws, has the lowest .

　　The study,carried out by the Guttmacher Institute in New York in collaboration with theWorld Health Organisation and published in a British medical journal, theLancet, found that most abortions occur in developing countries-35m a year,compared with just 7m in rich countries. But this was largely a reflection ofpopulation size. A woman’s likelihood of having an abortion is similar whether she lives in a richcountry or a poor or middle-income one .

　　Lest it bethought that these sweeping continental numbers hide as much as they reveal,the same point can be made by looking at those countries which have changedtheir laws. Between 1995 and 2005, 17 nations liberalised abortion legislation,while three tightened restrictions. The number of induced abortionsnevertheless declined from nearly 46m in 1995 to 42m in 2003, resulting in afall in the worldwide abortion rate from 35 to 29. The most dramatic drop-from90 to 44-was in former communist Eastern Europe, where abortion is generallylegal, safe and cheap. This coincided with a big increase in contraceptive usein the region which still has the world’s highest abortion rate, with moreterminations than live births.

　　The risk ofdying in a botched abortion is only part of a broader problem of maternalhealth in poor countries. Of all the inequalities of development, this isarguably the worst. According to a report published this week by PopulationAction International, a Washington-based lobby group, women in poor countriesare 250 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women in richones. (2)Of the 535,000 women who died in childbirth or from pregnancy-relatedcomplications in 2005, 99% were in developing countries, according to anotherreport by a group of UN agencies, including WHO, also out this week. Africaaccounted for more than half such deaths.As the UN report noted, countries withthe highest levels of maternal mortality have made the least progress towardsreducing it. A woman in Africa has a one in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy orchildbirth, compared with one in 3,800 for a woman in the rich world.

　　1. The word botched most probably means_____.

　　[A] awkward

　　[B] wrong

　　[C] backward

　　[D] bungled

　　2.The factthat the abortion rate in Africa and Asia in 2003 is almost identical to thatin Europe implies that_____.

　　[A] theabortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s national wealth.

　　[B] theabortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s restricting measures onabortion.

　　[C] theabortion rate cannot be lowered through the legal measures.

　　[D] theabortion rate cannot be lowered by the implement of tightened abortion laws.

　　3. Theconclusion of the study can be proved by the following proofs offered in thepassage except that _____.

　　[A] theabortion rate in countries with strict aboriton laws is higher than that of thecounties with liberal laws.

　　[B] there aremuch more abortions occuring in developing countries than in developedcountries.

　　[C] there wasa dramatic drop in former communist Easter Europe between 1995 and 2005.

　　[D] there wasa big increase in contraceptive use in the region which still has the world’s highest abortion rate between1995 and 2005.

　　4. Women inpoor countries are much more likely dying in childbirth or pregnancy than womenin rich countires because of _____.

　　[A] botchedprocedures of abortion in poor countries

　　[B]inequalities of development between rich and poor countries

　　[C] ignoranceof and little emphasis on the maternal health in poor countries

　　[D] strictabortion laws in poor countries

　　5. The passageis mainly about_____.

　　[A] a studyon the aborition rate between developed and developing countries

　　[B] a studyon the aborition laws in different countries

　　[C] a studyon the general maternal health condition in different countries

　　[D] a studyon the influence of the aboriton laws on the abortion rate.

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