Part IV Reading Comprehension 20%
        Thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals across Haiti onTuesday were on strike to protest a spike in gang-related kidnappings as supportersburned tires and blocked roads. The three-day strike shut down public and privatehealth institutions in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond, with only emergencyrooms accepting patients.
        “We are living in a catastrophic situation where no one is protected,” said LouisGerald Gilles, a doctor who closed his private practice in the neighborhood ofDelmas on Tuesday to protest the recent kidnappings of two doctors. “Noprofessional is protected. Today it could be a doctor, tomorrow they could enter theoffice of a lawyer or an architect,” he said.
         Kidnappings in Haiti increased 180 percent in the past year, with 655 of themreported to police, said a report by the UN Security Council released in the middle oflast month. Authorities believe that the number is much higher as many kidnappingsgo unreported. “No social group was spared； among the victims were laborers,traders, religious leaders, professors, medical doctors, journalists, human rightsdefenders and foreign citizens,” the report said.
         The most recent kidnappings of two doctors spooked the staff atPort-au-Prince’s General Hospital, where union workers gathered on Tuesday andsaid conditions had become increasingly dysfunctional since the July 7 killing ofHaitian president Jovenel Moise. They accused Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry’sadministration of not releasing sorely needed funds to the Haitian Ministry of Healthfor basic services, adding that they were worried about the lack of security. “Theycan walk in here, grab anyone and leave with no worry,” said Guerline Jean-Louis, a 44-year-old hospital janitor who joined the strike. “This is why we support themovement.” Haitian Ministry of Health officials could not immediately be reachedfor comment.
         Some patients, including Mario Fleurimon, a 39-year-old primary-school teacher,were unaware of the strike. He strode into a medical complex that was emptyexcept for a lone security guard. While frustrated he was unable to see a doctor forhis diabetes, he said he supported the strike. “There should be a general rising up tofight the insecurity,” he said. In a recent statement, the Haitian Medical Associationdemanded that the government push to have the doctors released withoutconditions and implement measures to “stop the wave of insecurity that strips us ofour fundamental freedom to go freely about our lives.”
         One of the doctors was released on Tuesday, although the conditions of hisrelease were not immediately known. The prime minister has pledged to crack downon the spike in gang violence and kidnappings, with the US and other countriespledging resources and training to help an understaffed, underfunded police force.
         The strike by health professionals is scheduled to end on Wednesday, whileanother strike by the Association of Owners and Drivers in Haiti was expected tostart on Thursday to protest theft of vehicles in the community of Martissant,________ who have kidnapped or killed several civilians, many of them aboardpublic buses.
【題組】26. Which of the following titles best describes the main idea of this passage?
(A) Haiti’s Health Professionals Go On Strike
(B) Haiti Ranked Last Among 11 Poor Countries
(C) Health Workers Trained for Pandemic Responses
(D) Actions Taken to Improve Medical Quality in Haiti