金沢医科大学英語2012年第3問
It is well known throughout the medical community that if you treat a cold properly the symptoms will last a week ― but if you leave the cold alone it will be gone in seven days !
Ah, the common cold ･･･. Throughout history scientists and physicians have $\fbox{8}$, without success, for a reliable method to prevent a cold or treat it after it has settled in. There have been numerous attempts : The ancient tribes in South America, for example, treated colds with a mixture of chili pepper, honey, and tobacco. Three thousand years ago the Chinese employed a tea made from the same plant that produces a chemical currently used in some forms for the treatment of colds. One Roman scientist apparently believed it was possible to stop coughing and sneezing* by kissing a mouse's nose. About 800 years ago the Jewish scholar Maimonides recommended treating colds with a "medical" drink known as chicken soup. American pioneers actually used some animal oil, often mixing it with sugar, to clear the stuffed nose, as well as chicken fat and soups.
The common cold was $\fbox{9}$ the first time in print by the Greek physician Hippocrates in the fifth century B.C. ( a ) Hippocrates wrote that it was caused by a build up of "waste matter" in the brain. ( b ) Benjamin Franklin correctly thought that colds were caused by a substance passed through the air from one person's breath to be breathed in by another. ( c ) But it wasn't until the late nineteenth century that scientists proved a cold was an infectious disease. ( d ) The belief that it was caused by a bacteria ― and therefore could be prevented by a vaccine* ― persisted as late as the 1950s. ( e ) And it's during this same time period that products claiming to prevent or cure colds, or $\fbox{10}$ the symptoms, have become a multibillion dollar business. ( f )
Because colds are so common ― we all get colds regularly ― it would seem that conducting research would be easy. But in fact, finding subjects for research and testing programs is actually extremely difficult. Colds come and go quickly, although never quickly enough. Nobody knows when they are about to get a cold ― so of $\fbox{11}$ most testing programs are based on laboratory-caused colds. For example, in an NIH*-supported study published in 2009 researchers at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University wondered if sleep patterns had any impact on either catching or resisting a cold. Because they couldn't simply wait for willing subjects to get a cold, they paid 153 volunteers $\$$800 each to allow a virus to be sprayed up their nose, then stay in a hotel for five days to see if they caught a cold. The normal sleeping habits of each person had been recorded for two weeks $\fbox{12}$ the day they were given the virus. Tests proved that 135 of the 153 people were infected, but only 54 of them eventually displayed at least some classic cold symptoms, among ( ア )them a runny nose, fever, tiredness, and a headache. These symptoms are produced by the immune* system's attempt to battle the cold. Why did some infected subjects come down with a cold while others successfully fought it off ? Sleep. The subjects who averaged less than seven hours sleep a night in the two weeks before being exposed to the virus were three times more likely to catch a cold than those people who averaged eight hours or more. One reason for this, researchers believe, is that sleep makes the immune system stronger.
- 注*
- : sneezing くしゃみ(をすること)
- : vaccine ワクチン
- : NIH = National Institutes of Health
- : immune 免疫
- 文章中の$\fbox{8}$～$\fbox{12}$に入る最も適切な語句を、それぞれ(1)～(10)から1つ選びなさい。ただし、同じ語句は2度使えません。
- (1) increased
- (2) prior to
- (3) described
- (4) violated
- (5) difference
- (6) reduce
- (7) searched
- (8) continue
- (9) necessity
- (10) advanced than
- 次の文が入る最も適切な箇所を、文章中の( a )～( f )から1つ選びなさい。$\fbox{13}$
It's only in the last half century that it has been proved that colds are caused by a virus. - 下線部( ア )themが指しているものを、(1)～(5)から1つ選びなさい。$\fbox{14}$
- (1) tests
- (2) 135 people
- (3) 153 people
- (4) 54 people
- (5) symptoms
- 最も適切な答えを、それぞれ(1)～(5)から1つ選びなさい。
$\fbox{15}$ Which of the following was NOT mentioned as examples of things used for preventing or treating a cold in the past ?- (1) chicken fat
- (2) a tea made from a plant
- (3) animal oil
- (4) chemical waste matter
- (5) tobacco
- (1) The History of Cold Treatments in the U.S.
- (2) Big Business : New and Innovative Medicine to Cure the Cold
- (3) Can You Prevent ― or Cure ― the Common Cold ?
- (4) A Simple Effective Medical Treatment for Colds
- (5) Battle Against Bacteria ― Sleeping Patterns are the key