Question

    People have different ways of dealing with a common cold. Some take over-the- counter(非处方的) medicines such as aspirin while others try popular home remedies(治疗)like herbal tea or chicken soup. Yet here is the tough truth about the common cold: nothing really cures it.

So why do people sometimes believe that their remedies work? According to James Taylor, professor at the University of Washington, colds usually go away on their own in about a week, improving a little each day after symptoms peak, so it’s easy to believe it’s medicine rather than time that deserves the credit, USA Today reported.

It still seems hard to believe that we can deal with more serious diseases yet are powerless against something so common as a cold. Recently, scientists came closer to figuring out why. To understand it, you first need to know how antiviral(抗病毒的) drugs work. They attack the virus by attaching to and changing the surface structures of the virus. To do that, the drug must fit and lock into the virus like the right piece of a jigsaw(拼图), which means scientists have to identify the virus and build a 3-D model to study its surface before they can design an antiviral drug that is effective enough.

The two cold viruses that scientists had long known about were rhinovirus(鼻病毒) A and B. But they didn’t find out about the existence of a third virus, rhinovirus C, until 2006. All three of them contribute to the common cold, but drugs that work well against rhinovirus A and B have little effect when used against C.

“This explains most of the previous failures of drug trials against rhinovirus,” study leader Professor Ann Palmenberg at University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, told Science Daily.

Now, more than 10 years after the discovery of rhinovirus C, scientists have finally built a highly-detailed 3-D model of the virus, showing that the surface of the virus is, as expected, different from that of other cold viruses.

With the model in hand, hopefully a real cure for a common cold is on its way. Soon, we may no longer have to waste our money on medicines that don’t really work.

1.What does the author think of popular remedies for a common cold?

A. They are quite effective.

B. They are slightly helpful.

C. They actually have no effect.

D. They still need to be improved.

2.How do antiviral drugs work?

A. By breaking up cold viruses directly.

B. By changing the surface structures of the cold viruses.

C. By preventing colds from developing into serious diseases.

D. By absorbing different kinds of cold viruses at the same time.

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. The surface of cold viruses looks quite similar.

B. Scientists have already found a cure for the common cold.

C. Scientists were not aware of the existence of rhinovirus C until recently.

D. Knowing the structure of cold viruses is the key to developing an effective cure.

4.What is the best title for this passage?

A. Drugs against cold viruses B. Helpful home remedies

C. No current cure for common cold D. Research on cold viruses

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

本文为科普类阅读。人们对待普通感冒有不同的方法。然而，关于普通感冒有一个残酷的事实:没有什么能真正治愈它。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句Yet here is the tough truth about the common cold: nothing really cures it.可知，作者认为普通的感冒药实际上没有效果。C。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中They attack the virus by attaching to and changing the surface structures of the virus. 可知，它们通过附着和改变病毒的表面结构来攻击病毒，故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第三段To do that, the drug must fit and lock into the virus like the right piece of a jigsaw(拼图), which means scientists have to identify the virus and build a 3-D model to study its surface before they can design an antiviral drug that is effective enough.可知，科学家们识别病毒并建立3 d模型研究其表面才能设计一个足够有效的抗病毒药物，所以推断出了解感冒病毒的结构是开发有效治疗方法的关键。故选D。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文，尤其是文章开头段落点明主题，和最后一段的呼应，我们了解到目前我们没有药物能真正治愈普通感冒。选项C符合该描述。