Part 2: Cloze Test (Questions 11-40)
      Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, the viruses
cause respiratory infections—including the common cold—which are typically mild. Rarer forms can be
lethal, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome),and the novel coronavirus causing the 2019-20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. In cows and pigs coronaviruses cause diarrhea. In chickens they cause an upper respiratory disease. Currently there are no vaccines or antiviral drugs that are approved for __11__ or treatment.
      The name "coronavirus" is derived from the Latin corona, meaning crown or halo, which refers to the
characteristic appearance of the virus particles (virions): they have a fringe reminiscent of a royal crown or of the solar corona.
      Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS was transmitted from civet cats to humans, and MERS from dromedary camels to humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Human-to-human transmission of coronaviruses is primarily thought to occur among close __12__ via respiratory droplets generated by sneezing and coughing.
      In 2003, following the outbreak of SARS, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a press release stating that a "novel coronavirus" identified by a number of laboratories was the causative agent for SARS.Over 8,000 people were infected, about 10% of them died. In September 2012, another new type of coronavirus was identified as MERS, and the WHO issued a global __13__ soon after. By October 2013,there were 124 cases and 52 deaths in Saudi Arabia.
      In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China. A cluster of cases displaying the symptoms of a "pneumonia of unknown cause" was linked to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which had a thousand __14__ selling fish, chickens, pheasants, bats, marmots, snakes, deer, and other wild animals(ye wei, bushmeat). The immediate __15__ was that this was a novel coronavirus from an animal source. The Wuhan strain has a 96% percent similarity to a bat coronavirus, so an origin in bats is widely suspected. On 31 December 2019, the WHO announced that the outbreak was traced to a novel strain of coronavirus labeled as "2019-nCoV" with a 70% genetic __16__ to SARS virus. As of 3 February 2020, there have been 20,656 cases and 427 deaths, with an __17__ case fatality rate of 2%.
【題組】11.
(A) prevention
(B) precaution
(C) preservation
(D) prediction