Online Cancer Chat with a Safety Net
Cancer Research UK has launched an online chat forum for cancer patients to swap stories and share experiences on how to cope with such a devastating disease.
But Cancer Chat is a forum with a difference: it has an information safety net.
This means that a Cancer Research UK team will keep a watching brief to ensure that patients are not subjected to rogue “cancer cures” or scientifically unsound information.
Anyone can have access to the messages posted on Cancer Chat but if people wish to post a message they will need to register.
And Rebekah Gibbs, cancer patient and star of TV’s Casualty has pledged her support for the new project. “I think Cancer Chat is a brilliant idea,” she said. “I have written a public diary about what I went through with breast cancer and I have had such a heart-warming response from other people going through the same thing.
“The idea of a Cancer Chat forum means you can share information about treatment and side effects and you can really open up about your feelings online in a way that can be difficult when talking to close friends and family. And with Cancer Research UK monitoring the forum people can be reassured about the quality of information being exchanged.”
Cancer Chat will also encourage its users to check out any cancer questions on its CancerHelp UK website which is specially designed to give patients and their families 6,000 pages of up-to-date information that is easy to understand and explains a wide range of treatments for different types of cancer and gives details of clinical trials. There is also a UK database of cancer clinical trials.
The award-winning website attracts around one million visitors a month and Cancer Research UK hopes that some of these visitors will also want to post comments on the Cancer Chat forum.
For those who do not have access to computers and have questions about cancer, the charity’s team of cancer information nurses are available during office hours to talk over patients’ concerns on the phone.
练习：
1. Cancer Chat is different from other forums in that
Ait has the support of a famous actress.
Bit is a source of reliable information.
Cit provides a huge amount of information.
Dit attracts a great number of visitors.
2.Which is NOT true of Rebekah Gibbs?
AShe is a well-known figure in Britain.
BShe got breast cancer some time ago.
CShe thinks highly of Cancer Chat.
DShe has written a private diary.
3.All the statements about the messages posted on Cancer Chat are true EXCEPT
Athey are available to all visitors.
Btheir writers get paid for them.
Cthey concern not just treatments and side effects.
Dthey are also an emotional outlet for their writers.
4.CancerHelp UK is a website that
Aoffers lots of information on cancer treatment and clinical trials.
Battracts numerous visitors.
Chas won an award.
Dall of the above.
5.“The charity” in the last line but one refers to
ACancer Research UK.
BCancer Chat.
CCancerHelp UK.
DTv’s Casualty.
答案：1. B2.D3.B4.D5.A
第三篇： 安全网站畅谈抗癌心得
英国癌症研究中心在网络上创立了一个供癌症病人交流病情，畅谈对抗这种致命疾病心得的论坛。
但“癌症畅谈”这个论坛有一个不同点就是它的信息是绝对安全的。
这意味着英国癌症研究中心的研究人员会严格把关，事先浏览网络内容，以防病人们受到不良致癌方法或不确切信息的误导。
所有人都可以共享发布在论坛上的信息，但如果有人要发布信息必须事先注册。
癌症患者，“电视随谈”栏目的著名主持人 Rebbeca Gibbon 对论坛的创立极为赞同，我认为论坛是一个很好的举措，我在上面公开发表了我的日记，记录了我对抗乳腺癌过程中的种种遭遇，随后我受到那些同命相连者温馨的回应。在论坛上你可以分享治疗，副作用方面的信息，还可以在论坛上畅谈感受，这是与密友和家人交流时很难做到的。同时研究中心的掌控可以确保发布的交流信息的真实有效。
论坛也鼓励人们到“癌症求助”这个网站上去查询任何癌症问题，这个网站旨在为病人和家属提供6，000多页最新信息，这些信息非常易懂，针对癌症的不同类型提供了大量治疗方法和诊断细节，那还有一个癌症诊断数据库。
这个获奖的网站每月吸引了超过一百万的访问者，研究中心希望其中的一些访问者也能向论坛发布评论信息。
对于那些没有电脑同时又对癌症有问题的人，志愿者服务的护士将在上班时间通过电话的方式为他们提供咨询。
