High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 32 · A Rumor about a New Treatment
Audio track 32
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A message in our class chat said that a new treatment could cure every kind of allergy. It included a dramatic personal story but no link to a medical source. Several friends began forwarding it.
I brought the message to our health teacher. She helped us separate a person's experience from a general medical claim. We looked for information from public health organizations and noticed that the message did not name the treatment clearly or describe who had been studied. Without those details, we could not judge the claim.
I wrote in the chat that the story was unverified and asked friends not to treat it as advice. One classmate was worried because of a family member's symptoms. I suggested that they speak with a qualified healthcare professional rather than rely on our messages.
The rumor spread because it offered hope and certainty. Checking it carefully did not mean dismissing someone's concern. It meant giving that concern a safer place to be answered.
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After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
班级群里一条消息说，新疗法能治好所有种类的过敏。消息附着一段动人的亲身故事，却没有医学资料链接。几个朋友开始转发。
我把消息拿给健康课老师看。她帮我们分清一个人的经历与普遍医学结论。我们查找公共卫生机构的信息，发现消息既没有清楚写出疗法名称，也没有说明研究过哪些人。缺少这些细节，我们无法判断其说法。
我在群里说明这则故事尚未核实，请朋友不要把它当作建议。一位同学因为家人的症状很担忧。我建议他们咨询合格的医护专业人员，而不是依靠我们在群里猜测。
谣言传得快，是因为它给人希望和确定感。认真核查并不是无视别人的担忧，而是让真正的担忧有更安全的求助途径。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- treatment
- 疗法；消息没有说清名称。
- cure
- 治好；‘治好所有过敏’是未经核实的说法。
- allergy
- 过敏；消息涉及的健康问题。
- forwarding
- 转发；同学传播消息。
- claim
- 主张；需要查证医学依据。
- organizations
- 机构；查找公共卫生来源。
- unverified
- 未经核实的；群消息目前状态。
- symptoms
- 症状；同学担心家人。
- qualified
- 合格的；应向专业医护人员求助。
- certainty
- 确定感；谣言吸引人的原因。
Background notes (Chinese)
单个故事不能证明一种疗法适用于所有人。文中学生寻找公共卫生资料，对关心家人健康的同学建议咨询专业人员。