第四部分写作

第一节任务型阅读（每空一词0.5分，共5分）

Morethanacenturyafteritsdiscovery,Alzheimer’sdiseaseisstilldestroyingpeople’sbrains.Thecauseremainsunknown.

Alzheimer’sdiseaseisthemostcommondisabilityormentalsicknesscalleddementia.Dementiaisthelossofthinkingabilitythatissevereenoughtointerferewithdailyactivities.

AboutthirtymillionpeoplearoundtheworldhaveAlzheimer’sdisease.IntheUnitedStates,morethanfivemillionpeoplearesaidtosufferfromthisslowlyincreasingbraindisorder(疾病).

Alzheimer’sdiseasegenerallydevelopsdifferentlyineachperson.Yetsomeearlysignsofthediseasearecommon.Thevictimsmaynotrecognizechangesinthemselves.Othersseethechangesandstruggletohidethem.

Probablythemostcommonearlysignisshort-termmemoryloss.Thevictimscannotremembersomethingthathappenedyesterday,forexample.Also,thevictimshaveincreasingdifficultylearningandstoringnewinformation.Slowly,thinkingbecomesmuchmoredifficult.Thevictimscannotunderstandajoke,orcannotcookameal,orperformsimplework.

Anothersignofthediseaseisdifficultysolvingsimpleproblems.Thepatientsmightnotknowwhattodoiffoodonastoveisburning.Also,peoplehavetroublefollowingdirectionsorfindingtheirwaytoplacestheyhaveknownalltheirlives.

Yetanothersignisstrugglingtofindtherightwordstoexpressthoughtsorunderstandwhatisbeingdiscussed.Finally,peoplewithAlzheimer’sdiseaseseemtochange.Quietpeoplemaybecomenoisy.Theymayeasilybecomeangryandlosetheirabilitytotrustothers.

Alzheimer’sdiseaseaffectsmemoryandpersonality.Thevictimsslowlylosetheirabilitytodealwitheverydaylife.

VictimsofAlzheimer’sdiseasedodiefromitseffectsorconditionslinkedtoit.Butdeathmaynotcomeformanyyears.

Patientscannotfullyrecoverfromthedisease.Butmanycanbehelpedbymedicine.Thatisespeciallytrueifthediseaseisfoundearly.