第六章 真题讲解3

Questions 26-30
共六个小节

Men have walked on the moon, transplanted hearts and invented machines to think for them. But they cannot cure the common cold. A spokesman at the world-famous cold research center in Salisbury sounded understandably bad-tempered when I spoke to him about it. They have been working on the problem for years but the most optimistic he could be was to hope that they would find a cure within the next 10 years. So what was their advice on coping with a cold meanwhile? "Ignore it," he sniffed.
But出现在全文第一小节，往往标志全文主题所在：But they cannot cure the common cold

In urban areas we average about three colds a year and they are caused not by wet feet or sitting in a draught, but by a virus, or rather many viruses which are always changing, so that a vaccine prepared from one is useless against the next. But every year the pharmaceutical companies spend millions of pounds trying to persuade us that their products will banish the miseries of sneezing, running noses, sore throats, headaches and coughs. They admit they can't cure the cold, but they do promise to relieve the symptoms.

We looked at 10 well-known brands of cold remedies and asked a doctor to explain, in laymen's terms, exactly what they contain (each ingredient is for) and his opinion on the effectiveness. Although none of the preparations had exactly the same ingredients, they fell into certain categories.
categories综述性的复数词汇，引出下文分类列举

Nearly all contained a painkiller, either aspirin or paracetamol. These help to reduce temperature and relieve general aches and pains. Aspirin can irritate the stomach, so paracetamol is generally preferred. Many also contain decongestants, which constrict the blood vessels in the nose and relieve congestion. But they can raise blood pressure and should be avoided by people with hypertension or any heart complaint. The decongestant in Vicks Medinite is known to cause wakefulness, so it is strange to find it in a night-time remedy. But maybe it is counterbalanced by the antihistamine which it also contains, lie the other nighttime preparations. Antihistamines are used to treat hay fever and other complaints caused by allergies. But for a common clod all they will provide is sedation. They shouldn't be mixed with alcohol.
注：中级口译不会考到生僻单词，遇到这种词汇可以跳过，不必翻译。

None of the preparations was harmful as long as you observed the warnings on the packets and didn't take them if you were suffering from certain conditions, were under other medication or were pregnant. But the worst thing about them was the cost. The pharmaceutical industry's advertising and packaging efforts had grossly inflated the price of relatively cheap ingredients, and in many cases you could get the same relief from straightforward paracetamol taken with a soothing warm drink of lemon and honey.
but+最高级词汇 预示本句一定是主题句

Maybe the old wives had it right all along with their remedy of "hanging your hat on the bed-post, drinking from a bottle of whisky until two hats appear, then going to bed and staying there. "that's probably what the researchers will come up with in 10 years' time.
作者在最后一小节搞笑一场，表明作者强烈的反讽态度。

文章结构：
主题：But they cannot cure the common cold.
Categories：止痛药（阿斯匹林、小p），小d，小a，大s
But the worst thing about them was the cost. 负面态度
作者在最后一小节搞笑一场，表明极为强烈的反讽态度。

26. In talking about the treatment of cold a spokesman at the cold research center in Salisbury made a comment "Ignore it", because he thought that ________
(A) the pharmaceutical companies change too much for the remedies
(B) optimism is the best medicine to curing the common cold
(C) it would be impossible to find a cold cure in ten years' time
(D) remedies for cold are harmful to health

举例说明概括题的解法
1、标志：why, in order to, purpose
2、答案：概括+标志词+例子/ 引子/ 引言
introduction, illustration (for example / instance, such as), quotation (as… put it, “ ”)

27. Paracetamol is preferable to aspirin because it ________
(A) does not affect your stomach
(B) kills pain
(C) reduces temperature
(D) does not raise your blood pressure for the treatment of a cold

28. If you suffer from heart trouble it is unwise to take ________
(A) aspirin (B) antihistamines
(C) decongestants (D) paracetamol

29. Antihistamines are dangerous for people who _______
(A) are allergic to pollen (B) suffer from hypertension
(C) suffer from sleeplessness (D) take them with the 'old wives' remedy

30. The writer's main criticism of the pharmaceutical industry is that it ________
(A) charges too much for its products
(B) claims its products cure cold
(C) claims its products relieve cold symptoms
(D) does not warn people of the medical risks involved

重点词汇：

1、pharmaceutical制药业
药剂师pharmacist

2、sneezing打喷嚏
running noses流鼻涕

3、layman门外汉、外行

4、hypertension 高血压
hypotension低血压

5、allergy, allergic

6、paracetamol 醋氨酚（扑热息痛），decongestant（抗充血剂），
antihistamine（抗组胺剂），sedation 镇静剂

7、grossly inflated
gross总的
GDP=gross domestic product, GNP=gross national product
inflation 通货膨胀
deflation

8、表示反讽意味的词汇
cynical, ironical, sarcastic, satiric