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IS IT WORTH BUYING THEM?”
Men have walked on the moon, transplanted hearts and invented machines to think for
them. But they cannot cure the common cold. Scientists have been working on the
problem for years but the most optimistic expectation was the hope that they would
find a cure within the next 10 years. So what was their advice on coping with a cold
meanwhile?
In urban areas we have about three colds a year and they are caused not by wet feet but
by viruses which are always changing so that a vaccine prepared from one is useless
against the next. But every year the pharmaceutical companies spend millions of
pounds trying to persuade us that their product will help us get rid of our cold. They
admit they can't cure the cold, but they do promise to relieve the symptoms.
We looked at 10 well-known brands of cold medicine and asked a doctor to explain,
exactly what they contain, and his opinion on their effectiveness. Nearly all contained
a painkiller, either aspirin or paracetamol. These help to reduce temperature and
relieve general aches and pains. Aspirin can irritate the stomach, so paracetamol is
generally preferred.
The worst thing about them was the cost. Advertising and packaging had increased the
price of relatively cheap ingredients, and in many cases you could get the same relief
from just paracetamol taken with a warm drink of lemon and honey.
Questions:
1. What is the text about?
2. What are common colds caused by?
3. Why is paracetamol generally preferred?
4. What caused the rise in the price of medicine for colds?
5. People can get the same relief from just paracetamol. Why do pharmaceutical
companies keep on producing more and more new cold medicine?
6. What is the main idea of the text?