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A
In a new report, infectious disease expert Jeffrey Shaman believes there were at least half a dozen stealth corona-virus cases to every one diagnosis at the start of the epidemic.
The explosive spread of corona-virus was likely caused by ‘stealth transmissions’— undiagnosed people with mild symptoms unwittingly spreading the disease, a new study claims. Infectious-disease expert Jeffrey Shaman believes the actual number of contaminated worldwide is far greater than reports, estimating a million people may have been infected.
The environmental health sciences professor at Columbia University who co-wrote the study published on Monday said social distancing is a must in order to combat seemingly healthy people spreading the virus. Despite only being half as infectious as the documented infections, these stealth cases resulted in at least two-thirds of documented infections, Professor Shaman and his colleagues said. Prof Shaman said this flip in the ratios meant about 60 percent of carriers were confirmed — but fast forward to now and new daily cases have significantly dropped from thousands to tens. The study says a “radical increase in the identification and isolation of currently undocumented infections would be needed to fully control” the novel corona-virus.
People in the UK, meanwhile, have been told to avoid pubs, clubs and restaurants and work from home wherever it's possible to slow the spread of corona-virus which has now claimed 55 lives in the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a press conference yesterday urged everyone to “stop non-essential contact and to stop all non-essential travel”. The PM said London appeared to be “a few weeks ahead” of other areas and urged people in the capital to pay special attention to the measures — including home working — suggested by the Government. The UK death toll yesterday rose to 35 while there have now been 1,543 cases. Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday said that over-70s could be asked to self-isolate for four months.
Across the world more than 6,000 people have now died from the disease.
1. How many people at least potentially got infected when one was diagnosed, according to Jeffrey Shaman? A. Twelve.
B. Six.
C. Seven.
D. Ten.
2. What’s the best way to prevent the spreading from undiagnosed people with mild symptoms? A. Wearing medical masks. C. Keeping a social distance. A. Cheerful.
B. Not going to work.
D. Sending these people to hospital.
C. Depressing.
D. Impossible.
3. How does Professor Shaman consider the current control of the novel corona-virus?
B. Uncertain.
4. Which of the following is NOT the advice of UK government?
A. To work at home instead. B. Not to go out for any dinner. C. To cancel unnecessary travel. D. To self-isolate for the aged.
B
The rush to board the 17.46 from London Euston to Crewe begins the moment the platform is announced. The train’s eight carriages, in theory, each carry 70 passengers. But the London-Crewe line is Britain’s busiest rail service. It leaves Euston carrying, on average, more than twice as many passengers as it has capacity for. Sitting on the floor, Becky, a local government worker laments that, “It’s like this every day. I get a seat maybe once a week. And I pay five grand for this season ticket.”
At peak times 19% of London rail users are forced to stand. The problems stretch across Britain: 17% are seatless at peak times in Birmingham and 15% in Leeds. With a poor punctuality performance by international standards and a high cancellation rate, commuting by rail in Britain is often a miserable experience. The government is now set to try to relieve some of the suffering with a major expansion of Britain’s rail network and a reorganization of the sector. More government money looks set to be coupled with more government direction.
After the Victorian boom, the railways went into a long decline. Traffic fell for half a century after the Second World War. But over the past 25 years they have more than doubled: there were 1.8bn rail journeys in 2024-19, more than at any time since the early 1920s. But while in 1963 Britain had 17,500 miles of track, it now has under 10,000 miles.
That is the root cause of much of the commuter woe. According to the Railway Industry Association track utilization is 60% higher in Britain than the EU average. According to Network Rail, the publicly owned manager of the track, around 70% of delays are the knock-on effects of congestion. The shrinkage of Britain’s network has also forced operators to run freight, intercity and commuter trains on the same stretches of track. The need to accommodate slower running stopping trains reduces the number of higher speed trains which can run on the same length of track.
5. What does the example of Becky aim to tell us in Paragraph 1?
A. The train has limited capacity. B. The ticket price is high.
C. Standing on the train is uncomfortable. D. Train service should be improved. 6. Which of following is NOT the reason why people suffer from commuting by railway? A. The trains are always late. B. Trains always get canceled. C. The capacity of train is small. D. Train arrangement is poor. 7. What is the main reason behind poor punctuality?
A. Shortage of track. B. Traffic jam. C. Too many passengers D. Poor coordination.
8. What is this passage mainly talking about?
A. New railway expansion in Britain. B. Railway development in Britain. C. Problems of railway in Britain. D. Political measures taken by Britain.
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