Although vaccines are required for entry into school in most places in the United States, the government does allow for exceptions, like religious reasons.
   In the last few years, the rates of vaccine-preventable illness have been on the rise. In most cases, these outbreaks began with children who were unvaccinated. To deal with this threat, some schools in New York have been refusing to allow unvaccinated children to attend school. Several parents thought this was unfair and filed lawsuits(起诉). Just recently, though, a court(法庭) ruled in favor of the city schools.
   The court made the right decision. Vaccine policy depends not only on the added protection that vaccines provide for those who get shots, but also on the decreased likelihood that anyone will come into contact(接触) with the disease. This is known as community immunity(群体免疫). It refers to the fact that when enough people are immunized, then there really can’t be an outbreak. And if there can’t be an outbreak, then everyone is protected.
   This is important, because there are people who cannot be given immunizations for various reasons. For example, small babies can’t be given all vaccines. In 1995, the chicken pox(水痘) vaccine was introduced in the United States. Over time, more and more children received it. In 2011, a study looked at how the program affected the number of children who died from the disease.
   The first thing noted in the paper was that death from chicken pox went down considerably after the vaccine was introduced. From 2001 to 2007, the rates of death remained much lower, with just a few children dying from chicken pox nationally each year.
   What’s more, from 2004 to 2007, not one child younger than one year old died in the United States from chicken pox. This is important, because we cannot give the chicken pox vaccine to babies. In other words, all those babies were saved not because we vaccinated them against this illness, but because older children were vaccinated.
   Therefore, people who refuse to vaccinate their children aren’t just putting themselves at risk—they’re putting everyone else in danger, too.
12. What did the judges take into consideration?
A. Students’ interest.
B. School leaders’ interest.
C. Several parents’ interest.
D. Unvaccinated kids’ interest.
13. What is needed to prevent disease outbreaks through community immunity?
A. Requiring everyone to be immune.
B. Vaccinating babies as early as possible.
C. Making sure enough people get vaccinated.
D. Separating unvaccinated people from vaccinated.
14. What does the study about the chicken pox vaccine show?
A. The vaccine is safe for every kid.
B. No deaths have been found since 2004.
C. The vaccine has lowered the death rate.
D. The vaccine is more effective among babies.
15. Which of the following would the author agree with?
A. No vaccine, no risk.
B. No vaccine, no school.
C. Vaccination is a personal choice.
D. Vaccine-preventable illness is dropping.
【语篇解读】本文说明了疫苗接种的重要性。
【答案与解析】
12. A  推断题。根据第2段中的a court ruled in favor of the city schools可知, 法庭支持学校, 而学校不让未接种疫苗的孩子入学是为所有学生的健康着想。由此可知, 法庭也是考虑到全体学生的利益才做出裁决的。
13. C  细节题。 根据第3段中的“It refers to the fact that when enough people are immunized, then there really can’t be an outbreak.”可知, 要防止疾病爆发, 就要确保足够多的人因疫苗接种获得免疫。
14. C  细节题。根据倒数第3段中的death from chicken pox went down considerably和倒数第2段中的not one child younger than one year old died in the United States from chicken pox可知, 水痘疫苗大大降低了儿童因感染水痘而导致死亡的比率。
15. B  推断题。根据第3段中的“The court made the right decision.”和最后一段内容可知, 作者认为不接种疫苗就不能去学校。