A
Millions of healthy people who take aspirin to avoid illness in old age are unlikely to benefit from the drug, a trial has found.
While a daily dose of the blood-thinning medicine can protect older people who have previously experienced heart attacks and strokes, researchers found the drug did not extend the lifespan of healthy people over the age of 70.
Doctors in Australia and the US enrolled more than 19, 000 healthy people, mostly aged over 70, for the trial. Half the participants were asked to take 100mg of aspirin each day, while the rest took a placebo(安慰剂)pill. When the participants were followed up nearly five years later, doctors found that compared with the placebo, a daily aspirin had not reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke, or lengthen the years people lived without physical disabilities.
“Despite the fact that aspirin has been around for more than 100 years, we have not known whether healthy older people should take it as a preventive measure to keep them healthy for longer, ” said John McNeil, who led the trial at Monash University in Melbourne. “It means millions of healthy older people around the world who are taking low-dose aspirin without a medical reason may be doing so unnecessarily, because the study showed no overall benefit to offset(抵消) the risk of bleeding. ”
The doctors unexpectedly found that those who took aspirin were slightly more likely to have died over the course of the trial (5. 9%) than those who took the placebo (5. 2%). Many of the extra deaths were due to cancer, but Leslie Ford from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland said that until the team had analyzed more data, the cancer findings “should be interpreted with caution”.
The researchers rightly suggest treating the unexpected effects with caution, but they also show that benefits of aspirin in healthy people are at best limited, and may well be harmful, and this harm may be increased beyond age 73.
【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文, 人们习惯认为老年人吃少量的阿司匹林可以预防心脏病和中风等, 但最新研究发现, 在70岁以上的老人中这种做法并没有减少血液病的危险。
1. What is the function of aspirin?
A. To make the blood thin.
B. To cure people of cancer.
C. To protect against any illness.
D. To relieve the patients’ pain.
【解析】选A。细节理解题。根据第二段中“the blood-thinning medicine”可知, 阿司匹林是一种稀释血液的药物。故选A。
2. What can we infer from John McNeil’s words?
A. Old people benefit from taking aspirin.
B. Few studies have been done on aspirin.
C. Aspirin is unnecessary for healthy people.
D. No one will take aspirin any more.
【解析】选C。推理判断题。根据问题中涉及的John McNeil可定位到第四段, 根据John McNeil说的话可知, 这些健康的老人在没病的情况下服用阿司匹林是没有必要的。故选C。
3. Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A. A New Study on Aspirin
B. Advice on Taking Medicine
C. Taking Aspirin Causes Serious Side Effects
D. Daily Aspirin Can’t Make You Live Longer
【解析】选D。推理判断题。本文为科普性新闻, 第一句“Millions of healthy people who take aspirin to avoid illness in old age are unlikely to benefit from the drug, a trial has found. ”点明主题, 为本文的主题句, 下文内容围绕这个主题展开叙述。故选D。
【知识拓展】长难句分析
While a daily dose of the blood-thinning medicine can protect older people who have
previously experienced heart attacks and strokes, researchers found the drug did not extend the lifespan of healthy people over the age of 70.
分析: While引导让步状语从句, 在让步状语从句中, who引导定语从句, 修饰older people; 介词短语over the age of 70作后置定语, 修饰前面的healthy people。
译文: 虽然每天服用一剂这种血液稀释药物可以保护那些曾经患过心脏病和中风的老年人, 但研究人员发现, 这种药物并不能延长70岁以上健康老人的寿命。
