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  3. Canada’s premiers (the leaders of provincial government), if they have any breath left after complaining about Ottawa at their l

Canada’s premiers (the leaders of provincial government), if they have any breath left after complaining about Ottawa at their l

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问题     Canada’s premiers (the leaders of provincial government), if they have any breath left after complaining about Ottawa at their late July annual meeting, might spare a moment to do something, to reduce health-care costs.
    They’re all groaning about soaring health budgets, the fastest-growing components of which are pharmaceutical costs.
    【B1】________
    What to do? Both the Romanow commission and the Kirby committee on health care—to say nothing of reports from other experts—recommended the creation of a national drug agency. Instead of each province having its own list of approved drugs, bureaucracy, procedures and limited bargaining power, all would pool resources, work with Ottawa, and create a national institution.
    【B2】________
    But "national" doesn’t have to mean that "National" could mean interprovincial—provinces combining efforts to create one body.
    Either way, one benefit of a "national" organization would be to negotiate better prices, if possible, with drug manufacturers. Instead of having one province—or a series of hospitals within a province— negotiate a price for a given drug on the provincial list, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of all provinces.
    Rather than, say, Quebec, negotiating on behalf of seven million people, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of 31 million people. Basic economics suggests the greater the potential consumers, the higher the likelihood of a better price.
    【B3】________
    A small step has been taken in the direction of a national agency with the creation of the Canadian Co-ordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment, funded by Ottawa and the provinces. Under it, a Common Drug Review recommends to provincial lists which new drugs should be included predictably and regrettably, Quebec refused to join.
    A few premiers are suspicious of any federal-provincial deal-making. They (particularly Quebec and Alberta) just want Ottawa to fork over additional billions with few, if any strings attached. That’s one reason why the idea of a national list hasn’t gone anywhere, while drug costs keep rising fast.
    【B4】________
    Premiers love to quote Mr. Romanow’s report selectively, especially the parts about more federal money. Perhaps they should read what he had to say about drugs: "A national drug agency would provide governments more influence on pharmaceutical companies in order to try to constrain the ever-increasing cost of drugs."
    【B5】________
    So when the premiers gather in Niagara Falls to assemble their usual complaint list, they should also get cracking about something in their jurisdiction that would help their budgets and patients.
    A ) Quebec’s resistance to a national agency is provincialist ideology. One of the first advocates for a national list was a researcher at Laval University. Quebec’s Drug Insurance Fund has seen its costs skyrocket with annual increases from 14.3 percent to 26.8 percent!
    B ) Or they could read Mr. Kirby’s report: "The substantial buying power of such an agency would strengthen the public prescription-drug insurance plans to negotiate the lowest possible purchase prices from drug companies."
    C) What does "national" mean? Roy Romanow and Senator Michael Kirby recommended a federal-provincial body much like the recently created National Health Council.
    D ) The problem is simple and stark: health-care costs have been, are, and will continue to increase faster than government revenues.
    E ) According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, prescription drug costs have risen since 1997 at twice the rate of overall health-care spending. Part of the increase comes from drugs being used to replace other kinds of treatment. Part of it arises from new drugs costing more than older kinds. Part of it is higher prices.
    F ) So, if the provinces want to run the health-care show, they should prove they can run it, starting with an interprovincial health list that would end duplication, save administrative costs, prevent one province from being played off against another, and bargain for better drug prices.
    G ) Of course, the pharmaceutical companies will scream. They like divided buyers; they can lobby better that way. They can use the threat of removing jobs from one province to another. They can hope that, if one province includes a drug on its list, the pressure will cause others to include it on theirs. They wouldn’t like a national agency, but self-interest would lead them to deal with it.
【B3】
选项
答案G
解析 本题可以运用上下文逻辑关系定位法，只要根据上下文的就近和衔接原则就能很快定位出答案。第3题上段的信息主要是说明全国性机构的好处，举了魁北克的例子，说魁北克如果独自跟药厂谈判只能代表700万人，而全国性机构跟药厂谈判代表的是3，100万人，经济学的基本原理表明潜在的顾客群越大，价格也就越低。该段信息主要涉及的是药品价格谈判问题，据此信息，可以在选项中确认哪个选项与该段信息具有就近和衔接性：选项A)的信息主要是谈论Quebec省对national的抵制问题，肯定与该段无关；选项B)中出现了or they could read，根据代词指代关系定位法，第3题上段的信息中没有可以被代词they指代的，因为这个代词they显然不是指代第3题上段的信息中出现的consumers；选项D)的信息明显与该段无关；选项F开头即出现了so，表明此处上下文要具有因果关系，可是该段与选项F)的信息无法形成因果关系；选项G)主要就是讲述了制药公司抵制第3题上段信息谈论的全国性机制，明确提到了“制药公司不会喜欢全国性机构”，选项G)的信息恰好是按照第3题上段的信息发展下来的，而且选项G)的开头是：Of course，the pharmaceutical companies will scream，这个of course标志词的出现表达了上下文具有因果关系，而选项G)中的信息“制药公司scream”是由于第3题上段的信息中的集体谈判造成的，选项G)和第3题上段的信息确实具有因果衔接关系，所以选项G)是最佳答案。
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