单项选择题

Directions: There are 10 questions in this part of the test. Read the passage through. Then, go back and choose one suitable word or phrase marked A, B, C, or D for each blank in the passage. Mark the corresponding letter of the word or phrase you have chosen with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scored Answer Sheet.
As a society, we’re living longer and better than at any time in history. In part, this is due to medical advances. Death rates are down, life 1 is higher than ever, and we’re making progress 2 the most serious diseases we face. As we consider the direction health care will 3 in the future, one thing is certain: new, innovative medicines will assume an increasingly 4 role in the way we improve the quality of care for future generations. One 5 role of new medicines will be the prevention, treatment, and management of many diseases suffered by the aging Baby Boomer generation. In the year 2000, there were 6 35.6 million Americans aged 65 and older. By 2030, this number is 7 to double to an estimated 71.5 million. Diseases like diabetes represent a growing threat, 8 to patients but to our ability to keep health care affordable. We have to do better in our lifestyles and in our health care system to 9 an enormous disease burden and economic burden on the Boomers themselves, their families, employers, and federal and state governments. New drugs are a vital part of the solution to this rapidly 10 issue.