There is a joke among flu researchers: "If you've seen one flu season, you've seen one flu season." The joke is about the unpredictable nature of the flu virus. Every year it looks different, and everystrain follows its own pattern -- it's the reason why new strains like H1N1 are extremely difficult to predict. Dr. Michael Osterholm is a former adviser to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "I know less about influenza today than I did 10 years ago," he says in a joking way. "Every stone we've turned over, we get more questions." The flu rectums every season and the world experiences terriblepandemics , but researchers still do not understand why some strains infect people and others do not; they are not entirely sure about how the flu is transmitted; nor do they understand why some patients become seriously ill while others develop mildsymptoms . As a result, when a new strain shows up -- like H1N1 -- they often have little information to _ , and the lessons of previous pandemics are only somewhat helpful. While researchers are still putting together a complete picture of H1N1, for example, its most striking difference with the seasonal flu is that the elder1y are not the mostvulnerable population. Influenza's unpredictable nature makes it a moving target for researchers, says researcher Allison Aiello at the University of Michigan. "Even if we had complete seasonal flu data from the past, it wouldn't be much helpful for a new strain of influenza," she explains. Whi1e researchers are frustrated by the holes in their knowledge, they say, however, that the pub1ic--health community is generally doing a very good job responding to H1N1 with seasonal flu data that do exist. Studying influenza, says Osterholm, is "like looking through the windows of a house you can't get into because the door is locked." Gathering the data researchers do have is like "looking through the windows to get a pretty good picture of what the inside looks like." One thing researchers do know for sure: the best way for... What do we know about previous seasonal flu data? A) It is useless to study them. B) It is still necessary to study them. C) They are misleading most of the time. D) They are much more helpful than expected.
B
When Kathryn was 6 years old, she sat outside for three hours at her home and did not make a sound.Her parents wondered why she was so quiet, only to discover that she was drawing a picture of a flag outside. She recalled. "That's what I wanted to do that day," said Kathryn, who is now 23 years old. And in the future, she continued to do art as a hobby. Recently, Kathryn was named Lake Placid's first artist in the neighborhood. She will be there for at least four weeks and possibly more. During that time, she will teach an art class and focus on her own art. Much of her work includes creating photos. She said: "There is always something there that you haven't included, so you can never stop when painting a photo." Kathryn ended up as the first artist just by chance. She said her sister was on vacation in Florida and looking for a job in Lake Placid. The sister got the job and moved there. Kathryn said she visited her sister and was ordered to do wall paintings inside a building. Later, her sister saw a demand for an artist on line and suggested she should apply. Kathryn said she's the first artist in her family, but added that her parents are creative. Her father loves to create things from wood, she said. "Anything you can make out of wood, he has made it," she said. Her own creativity with art continued through college. While at college, she was once employed to recreate a photo of a couple on a vacation to Florida and one of a sunset in either North Carolina or South Carolina. Kathryn said she's looking at other forms of art. The time she spends here will help her to "figure out who I am as an artist," she said. While painting a photo, Kathryn thinks _ . A) It's hard to finish a perfect job. B) you can't stop half way C) you may miss the photos somewhere D) you have to finish it at a time
A
Have you ever ''Googled'' yourself? More Americans are Googling themselves-and many are checking out their friends,co-workers and romantic interests,too. In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S.adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002,but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised the growth wasn't higher. "Yes,it's doubled,but it's still the case that there's a large number of Internet users who have never done this simple act of plugging their names with search engines,"she said. Americans under 50 and those With more education and income were more likely to self-Google--in some cases because their jobs demand a certain online persona.Meanwhile.Pew found that 53 percent of adult Internet users admit looking up information about someone else. celebrities excluded. Often,it's to find someone they've lost touch with.But looking up information about friends, s,colleagues and neighbors was also common. Although men and women equally searched for online information about themselves.women were slightly more likely to look up information about someone they are dating. In many cases,the search is just done to find someone's contact information.But a third of those who have conducted searches on others have looked for public records,such as bankruptcies and divorce proceedings.A similar number have searched for someone else's photo. Few Internet users say they Google themselves regularly-about three quarters of self searchers say they have done so only once or twice.And most who have done so consider what they find accurate. Pew also found that teens were more likely than adults to restrict who can see their profiles at an online hangout like Facebook or news Corp's MySpace. Why have many Internet users never made a try to Google themselves? A) Because they don't consider what they find accurate. B) Because they think it unnecessary to do so. C) Because they worry about their security online. D) It is not mentioned in the report.
D