Question

Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines, say UK researchers.

Their study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present.

The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment. “While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的) it can have a major effect on the quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,” said Professor Peter Barnes.

Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill. The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine are stopping coughs.

The team found that, when the volunteers were given theobromine, the capsaicin need to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group. When they were given codeine they need only slightly higher levers of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.

The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a verve activity(神經(jīng)活動(dòng)), which cause coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.

1.According to Professor Barnes, theobromine ______.

A. cannot be as effective as codeine

B. can be harmful to people’s health

C. cannot be separated from chocolate

D. can be a more effective cure for coughs

2.What was used in the experiment to cause coughing?

A. Theobromine. B. Codeine. C. Capsaicin. D. Placebo.

3.We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment _____.

A. were patients with bad coughs

B. were divided into the three groups

C. received standard treatments

D. suffered little side effects

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Codeine: A New Medicine B. Chocolate May Cure Coughs

C. Cough Treatment: A Hard Case D. Theobromine Can Cause Coughs

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】文章大意：本文是一篇科普性讀物。選材于醫(yī)學(xué)的某一方面的研究――對巧克力中theobromine（可可堿）獨(dú)特的治療咳嗽的功效的對比研究，證明theobromine（可可堿）是未來有效的治療咳嗽的良藥。

1.本文主要介紹chocolate中含有的一種成分Theobromine能有很好的止咳效果，所以該題的正確答案為B

2.從第四段首句Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment.可知實(shí)驗(yàn)中每組人吃一種所給的物品才能看出止咳的效果，故需要三組志愿者。

3.A、B、D三項(xiàng)中的物品是用來做實(shí)驗(yàn)的物品。在文章第四段最后一句The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine are stopping coughs.可知Capsaicin（辣椒素）用來引起咳嗽和作為這些藥物如何止咳的依據(jù)。

4.effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present.可看出theobromine比codeine更有效，判斷A項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤。既然它用來止咳，改善人們的生活質(zhì)量，所以B項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤。在第一段提到了heobromine是從chocolate里提煉出來的，所以C項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤。故正確答案是D項(xiàng)。

D篇是一篇科普性讀物。選材于醫(yī)學(xué)的某一方面的研。