How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question，as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.

　　There are now more than a thousand genetic tests，for everything from baldness to breast cancer，and the list is growing.Question is do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance，Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson，one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’(老年痴呆症).

　　“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease，that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious，through which you see the rest of your 1ife as you wait for that disease to hit you.It could really mess you up.”Said Dr.Robert Green，a Harvard geneticist.

　　“Every ache and pain，”Smith suggested，could be understood as“the beginning of the e nd.”“That’s right.If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer's disease，then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot，you think the disease has started.”

　　Dr.Green has been thinking about this issue for years.He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s.It was thought that people who got bad news would，for lack of a better medical term，freak out.But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference”between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives.In fact，most people think they can handle it.People who ask for the information usually can handle the information，good or bad，said Green.

　　11.The first paragraph is meant to( ).

　　A.ask some questions

　　B.introduce the topic

　　C.satisfy readers’curiosity

　　D.describe an academic fact

　　【答案】B。意图题。从第一段可知作者提出了两个问题，引出话题：人们愿不愿意知道自己得了病，故本题正确答案按选择B项。

　　12.Which of the following is true of James Watson?( ).

　　A.He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.

　　B.He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

　　C.He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.

　　D.He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.

　　【答案】D。细节理解题。根据第二段Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’(老年痴呆症)，可知James Watson不想得知得病的机会，故本题正确答案按选择D项。

　　13.According to Paragraphs 3 and 4，if a person is at a higher genetic risk，it is ( ).

　　A.advisable not to let him know

　　B.impossible to hide his disease

　　C.better to inform him immediately

　　D.necessary to remove his anxiety

　　【答案】A。细节理解题。根据第三段的 “If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease, that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious, through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you. It could really mess you up.”可知如果人们知道可能得什么病，会有思想负担，所以最好不要告诉他们，故本题正确答案按选择A项。