1st Passage
Macon tells Milkman, “Let me tell you right now the one important
thing you’ll ever need to know: Own things. And let the things you own, own
other things. Then you’ll own yourself and other people too” (55).
When Milkman’s character is first introduced into the novel, we
learn that there is some type of hesitant force that restrains this character.
At a very young age, Milkman learns that he cannot fly: “When the little boy
discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier, that only
birds and airplanes could fly, he lost all interest in himself. To have to live
without that single gift saddened him” (9). For Milkman, being able to fly is
more than the literal ability of flight; it becomes symbolic of his quest for
autonomy.
While looking at his reflection in the mirror, for example, “[h]e
was, as usual, unimpressed with what he saw” (60).
She lets him know that he has never once lifted a finger to help.
He has yet to wash his own clothes, “wipe the ring” from his tub, or “move a
fleck of [his] dirt from one place to another,” and he has never noticed that
they have been tired; but most of all, he has never thanked them, not even once
(215).
Haizlip explains further that “colorism
subjectively ranks individuals according to the perceived color tones of their
skin. People who ‘look white’ received preferential or prejudicial treatment
both within and between races.”
Question/Answer!
a.
What is the pattern of the
passage?/Description.
b.
What is the most of the
passage tells? Fact or opinion?/Fact of a story in a novel.
c.
What is the author’s bias?/type
of hesitant force that restrains this character.
d.
What is the author purpose?/to
describe about a character in a novel.
e.
What is the author’s tone?/Serious,optimistic.
2nd Passage
Family
physicians – an endangered species?
by Jack Burak
1 Many Canadians are aware that
problems with the nation’s health care system have resulted in a lack of
hospital beds and medical equipment, overcrowded emergency rooms, long surgical
and diagnostic waiting lists, and not enough long term care homes.
But with 3.6 million Canadians
unable to find a family doctor, a particularly insidious1 and growing problem
is making itself evident.
2 The family doctor is the
cornerstone of the nation’s health care system. The vast majority of Canadians
have said many times over that they want their family doctor to be their first point
of contact in the health care system. Nevertheless, family doctors are becoming
a dying breed. With diminishing access to that first point of contact, many
Canadians in need of medical help are finding it increasingly difficult to
receive timely and appropriate care. In my province of British Columbia, the
conservative estimate is that 200,000 British Columbians looking for a family
doctor cannot find one.
3 There are many reasons for this
predicament. Over the last 10 years, the number of medical students choosing
family practice as their lifelong career has been dropping at a startling rate.
It used to be that 50% of students chose family practice as their first choice.
As of 1997, that proportion had fallen to 35%; in 2004, it has declined further
to
24%. At a time when the
population is living longer and increasing in size, these are alarming
statistics.
4 When asked why they lack interest
in family medicine, students cite a daunting student
debt load (often more than
$100,000 upon graduation) and the long hours required of a
doctor who is managing a family
practice. As in other kinds of work, young doctors today want a balance between
their professional and personal lives.
5 In BC this problem is
compounded because the province produces fewer medical
graduates per capita than any
other province in Canada with a medical school. The number of graduates in BC
is slowly rising – this year the University of British Columbia
faculty of medicine graduated 128
students, up from 120. The provincial government has committed itself to
doubling the number of medical student graduates to 256. When
residency programs are taken into
account, however, we will not see the full effects of
this initiative until some time
between 2016 and 2019. This strategy doesn’t come close
to giving us the 400 new doctors
needed each year in BC to replace those who are retiring, moving out of the
province, reducing their hours of practice, or dying. And at our
current rate, we can expect only
a small percentage of these new recruits to choose
family medicine.
6 The primary care system is
showing its cracks. Ten years ago, 2,030 of BC’s family doctors (about half of
the GP population) were providing obstetrical care. Today just 945 are performing
this invaluable service. Although delivering babies is a “good news” area of medicine,
the hours are long, malpractice insurance premiums are high and the
remuneration for bringing new life into the world is modest. The result is that
obstetrics
is too much for many family
physicians to contend with today. Comprehensive family
practices see an increasing
number of patients, many of whom have an expanding number of complex health
problems. In addition, many more patients than in the past are in a “holding pattern”
with conditions that are being monitored by their family doctor while they wait
for specialist appointments and care.
7 It’s no surprise, then, that
many of BC’s family doctors are no longer taking on new
patients. In 1999, there were
1,420 family doctors accepting new patients – in 2004 that
number declined to 599, a drop of 58%.
8 The foundation of primary care
needs to be strengthened in order for it to be sustained. The Working Agreement
between the doctors and government, ratified in July, 2004, by our membership
of 8,000, includes a series of primary care renewal projects designed to make
family practice more attractive to medical graduates, improve upon working conditions,
and entice family doctors from outside BC to hang up their shingles here. Yet
still more needs to be done.
Question/Answer!
a.
What is the pattern of the
passage?/Explanation.
b.
What is the most of the
passage tells? Fact or opinion?/Fact about medic thing.
c.
What’s is the author’s
bias?/medic is important for everyone.
d.
What is the author purpose?/to
describe about medic thing.
e.
What is the author’s tone?/Serious,
optimistic, symphatetic.
