2014届高考英语阅读理解专题测试 (9).doc

阅读理解 An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies. James Harrison has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia. He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood. Mr. Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked upa total of984 donations. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars. He was also nicknamed the “ man with the golden arm ”or the “ man in two million ”. He said: “ I've never thought about stopping. Never. ” He made a pledge tobe adonor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood. “I was in hospital for three months, ”he said. “ The blood I received saved my life soI made a pledge to give blood when I was 18. ” Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare and life-saving antibody in his blood. At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition. The disease creates an patibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood . It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative. His blood has since led to the development ofa ine called Anti-D. After his blood type was discovered, Mr. Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help de velop the Anti-D ine. “ They insured me for a million dollars soI knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of, ”he said. “I wasn't scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away. ” Mr. Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood. It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it ha