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(基因的)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．
小题1:The first paragraph is meant to ．
A．ask some questions
B．introduce the topic
C．satisfy readers，curiosity
D．describe an academic fact小题2: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．小题3: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小题4:The underlined part“freak out”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to .
A．break down
B．drop out
C．leave off
D．turn away小题5:The study led by Dr．Green indicates that people .
A．prefer to hear good news
B．tend to find out the truth
C．can accept some bad news
D．have the right to be informed
小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:A
小题5:C
题目分析：文章讨论了人们愿不愿意知道自己得了病。人们认为知道可能得什么病，会有思想负担，但Dr. Green的研究表明人们是可以接受坏消息的。
小题1:B写作意图题。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，故选B项。
小题2: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选A
小题3: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，故选A项。
小题4:A猜词题。根据最后一段提到It was thought that people who got bad news would, for lack of a better medical term, 可知得到坏消息的人，会崩溃，故选A项。
小题5:C推理题。根据最后一段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.可知 Dr. Green的研究表明人们是可以接受坏消息的，故选C项。