托福听力短文 II-15-3

(MA) So, you see, physical illness can have psychological causes. Now, we just have time to introduce another interesting example of the interaction between the mind and the body --- placebos². Placebos --- maybe you've heard them called sugar pills --- are harmless substances --- not always sugar --- that are used routinely on groups of sick people in experiments. These experiments test the effectiveness of new drugs. One group is given the new drug, the other group is given a placebo¹, and the results are measured.

As you might guess, some of the people who receive the new drug get better. Surprisingly, however, some of the placebo group also get better. Why? Well, it's an interesting question, one which doctors can't quite answer. Some of the group may have gotten better on their own, without any treatment at all, but research has shown that the very act of taking a medication that you think will make you better, often does make you feel better. Have you even taken an aspirin³ and felt better in five minutes? Aspirin doesn't work that fast, does it? [falling intonation] Basically, if you believe you will get better --- sometimes you do.

The history of how doctors and healers have used the mind-body connection to cure people is long and interesting --- but I see that it's time to chose, so I'll have to cover this in the next class. You'll have to hold your questions on this topic till then.... Before you go, I have some handouts⁴ for you concerning the midterm exams next week.

1 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

2 placebos   

n.（给无实际治疗需要者的）安慰剂( placebo的名词复数 )；安慰物；宽心话；（试验药物用的）无效对照剂

参考例句：

• But, eventually, I think they were just kind of like placebos. 但是后来，我想它们只是安慰剂（安慰剂：没有任何药效的药） 来自电影对白
• But comparable numbers of those who received placebos also improved. 但是吃安慰剂的人的病情也改善了。 来自互联网

3 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

4 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。