Passage6

　　Occasional self-medication has always been part of normal living. The making and selling of drugs have a long history and are closely linked, like medical practice itself, with the belief in magic. Only during the last hundred years or so has the development of scientific techniques made it possible for some of the causes of symptoms to be understood, so that more accurate diagnosis has become possible. The doctor is now able to follow up the correct diagnosis of many illnesses with specific treatment of their causes. In many other illnesses, of which the causes remain unknown, it is still limited, like the unqualified prescriber, to the treatment of symptoms. The doctor is trained to decide when to treat symptoms only and when to attack the cause: this is the essential difference between medical prescribing and self-medication.

　　The advance of technology has brought about much progress in some fields of medicine, including the development of scientific drug therapy. In many countries public health organization is improving and people's nutritional standards have risen. Parallel with such beneficial trends have two adverse effects. One is the use of high-pressure advertising by the pharmaceutical industry, which has tended to influence both patients and doctors and has led to the overuse of drugs generally. The other is the emergence of the sedentary society with its faulty ways of life: lack of exercise, over-eating, unsuitable eating, insufficient sleep, excessive smoking and drinking. People with disorders arising from faulty habits such as these, as well as from unhappy human relationships, often resort to self-medication and so add the taking of pharmaceuticals to the list. Advertisers go to great lengths to catch this market.

　　Clever advertising, aimed at chronic sufferers who will try anything because doctors have not been able to cure them, can induce such faith in a preparation, particularly if steeply priced, that it will produce—by suggestion—a very real effect in some people. Advertisements are also aimed at people suffering from mild complaints such as simple colds and coughs, which clear up by themselves within a short time.

　　These are the main reasons why laxatives, indigestion remedies, painkillers, tonics, vitamin and iron tablets and many other preparations are found in quantity in many households. It is doubtful whether taking these things ever improves a person's health; it may even make it worse. Worse because the preparation may contain unsuitable ingredients; worse because the taker may become dependent on them; worse because they might be taken in excess; worse because they may cause poisoning, and worse of all because symptoms of some serious underlying cause may be masked and therefore medical help may not be sought.

　　1. The first paragraph is intended to ( ).

　　A. suggest that self-medication has a long history

　　B. define what diagnosis means exactly

　　C. praise doctors for their expertise

　　D. tell the symptoms from the causes

　　【答案】A。 推断题。本题看似考查第一段的主旨，实则要结合全文才能得出答案。选项A、B、D 文章中都有提及，但从整体看来，文章的主线是介绍self-medication(自我药疗)，其中第一段提及了过去的情况，第二段介绍现状，由此推断此现象存在已久，所以A正确。

　　2. Advertisements are aimed at people suffering from mild complaints because ( ).

　　A. they often watch ads on TV

　　B. they are more likely to buy the drugs advertised

　　C. they generally lead a sedentary life

　　D. they don't take to sports and easily catch colds

　　【答案】B。 推断题。由文章可知，做广告的目的是要吸引顾客买他们的药品。从第三段： Advertisements are also aimed at people suffering from mild complaints such as simple colds and coughs, which clear up by themselves within a short time，可知一般只是得了轻微的感冒、咳嗽的人会根据广告自己买药治病，故选B。

　　3. Paragraphs 2 and 3 explain ( ).

　　A. those good things are not without side effects

　　B. why clever advertising is so powerful

　　C. why in modern times self-medication is still practised

　　D. why people develop faulty ways of life

　　【答案】C。推断题。文章第二段和第三段主要论述了现在依然存在自我药疗的原因，即医生很难治愈人们不良的生活习惯造成的亚健康状态，所以C正确。A、B、D三项均不合题意。

　　4. The author tells us in paragraph 4 ( ).

　　A. the reasons for keeping medicines at home

　　B. people's doubt about taking drugs

　　C. what kind of medicine people should prepare at home

　　D. the possible harms self-medication may do to people

　　【答案】D。推断题。由文章第四段.中几个带有worse的并列句可以推知，最后一段在论述自我药疗对人们有潜在的危害，所以正确答案选D——自我药疗可能对人体有伤害。A——在家里存药的理由，文中虽然提及理由但并未细说具体是哪些理由，故排除;B——人们对吃药的疑虑，文章第四段并未论述这一点，故排除;C——人们应该在家中备哪些药物，无中生有，故排除。

　　5. The best title for the passage would be ( ).

　　A. Medical Practice

　　B. Clever Advertising

　　C. Self-Medication

　　D. Self-Treatment

　　【答案】C。主旨题。全文是围绕自我药疗(self-medication)展开论述的，介绍了它的历史、现状以及危害等，所以C正确。其他选项均不合题意。