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A

“In 16 states in North America， drugs killed more people than the traffic accidents did，” the government said recently. Experts said that the surprising change showed two opposite trends （趨勢(shì)）： driving is becoming safer； the use of painkillers is getting more.

“People see a car accident as something that might happen to them，” said Margaret Warner， an epidemiologist （流行病學(xué)家）， “But maybe they see a death from a drug overdose （過(guò)量用藥） as something that wont happen to them.”

“There has been a big change in how doctors prescribe （開(kāi)藥） drugs.” Banta Green， a research scientist from the University of Washington， said， “In the 1990s， doctors began recognising that patients who were suffering from some diseases could have been in need of more painkillers. The prescribing of painkillers rose after that. Today， about one in five American adults and one in ten teenagers are prescribed painkillers each year.”

Researchers counted more than 45，000 deaths nationwide from traffic accidents in 2010， and about 39，000 deaths which were caused by drugs. About 90 percent of those drug-related deaths were sudden deaths which were caused by overdoses， but the count also included people who died from organ damage， from long-term drug use or abuse （濫用）. In Massachusetts， there were more than 1，000 drug-related deaths in 2010， double the number of traffic deaths， according to the report. Michigan had about 500 more drug deaths than traffic deaths， and New York had 350 more. All these above are so surprising to us！

1. What can we learn from Margaret Warners words？

A. People are not careful when they take drugs.

B. Traffic accidents are very common in America.

C. Traffic accidents kill more people than drugs do.

D. A death from a drug overdose never happened before.

2. Why did doctors prescribe more painkillers？

A. They wanted to make more money.

B. Patients were believed to need more painkillers.

C. More adults and teenagers wanted to buy painkillers.

D. A big change happened to how doctors prescribe drugs.

3. In Massachusetts， the number of traffic deaths in 2010 was about ___ .

A. 2，000 B. 500

C. 1，000 D. 250

4. The prescribing of painkillers began to rise from the ___ .

A. 1990s B. 1980s

C. 2010s D. 2000s

B

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

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

The researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment. “While coughing is not necessarily harmful， 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 were given theobromine， codeine or placebo （安慰劑）， 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 （辣椒素）， 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 nerve activity （神經(jīng)活動(dòng)）， which cause coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments， theobromine caused no side effects （副作用） such as sleepiness.

5. What can we learn about theobromine？

A. Its harmful to peoples health.

B. Its the best headache medicine.

C. It may cause people to feel tired.

D. It can be a more effective cure for coughs.

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

A. Theobromine. B. Codeine.

C. Capsaicin. D. Placebo.

7. We can learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment ___ .

A. were divided into three groups

B. were patients with bad coughs

C. received standard treatments

D. suffered little side effects

8. 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