第三篇 The World’s Best-Selling Medicine
Since ancient times, people all over the world have used willow to stop pain. The willow tree contains salicylic acid (水杨酸). This stops pain, but there is one problem. Salicylic acid also hurts the stomach. In 1853, a French scientist made a mixture from willow that did not hurt the stomach. However, his mixture was difficult to make, and he did not try to produce or sell it.
In 1897, in Germany, Felix Hoffmann also made a mixture with salicylic acid. He tried it himself first and then gave it to his father because his father was old and in a lot of pain. His father’s pain went away, and the mixture did not hurt his stomach.
Hoffmann worked for Bayer, a German company. He showed his new drug to his manager, who tested the drug and found that it worked well. Bayer decided to make the drug. They called it aspirin and put the Bayer name on every pill.
Aspirin was an immediate success. Almost everyone has pain of some kind, so aspirin answered a true need. Aspirin was cheap, easy to take, and effective, it also lowered fevers. Aspirin was a wonder drug.
At first, Bayer sold the drug through doctors, who then sold it to their patients. In 1915, the company started to sell aspirin in drugstores. In the United States, Bayer had a patent on the drug. Other companies could make similar products and sell them in other countries, but only Bayer could make and sell aspirin in the United States. In time, Bayer could no longer own the name aspirin in the United States. Other companies could make it there, too. However, Bayer aspirin was the most well known, and for many years, it was the market leader.
By the 1950s, new painkillers were on the market. Aspirin was no longer the only way to treat pain and reduce fever. Bayer and other companies looked for other drugs to make. However, in the 1970s they got a surprise. Doctors noticed that patients who were taking aspirin had fewer heart attacks than other people. A British researcher named John Vane found the reason aspirin helped to prevent heart attacks. In 1982, he won the Nobel Prize for his research. Doctors started to tell some of their patients to take aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks. It has made life better for the many people who take it. It has also made a lot of money for companies like Bayer that produce and sell it!
41. Why didn't the French scientist continue to make the medicine that stopped pain?
A. It didn't work well.
B. It was hard to make.
C. It hurt the stomach.
D. It was not cost-effective.
42. Why was Felix Hoffmann looking for a painkiller?
A. His company told him to do that.
B. His father was in pain.
C. He wanted to make a lot of money.
D. He suffered from headache.
43. Bayer started making aspirin because
A. it helped prevent heart attacks.
B. other companies were making it.
C. it worked well in stopping pain
D. the manager was a scientist.
44. Bayer aspirin was
A. the only drug with the name “aspirin”.
B. the first aspirin sold in the United States.
C. not sold in drugstores in 1915.
D. not easy to find in drugstores.
45. What has happened to aspirin since new painkillers came on the market?
A. Companies have stopped selling it.
B. It has become the best-selling painkiller.
C. Its new use has been discovered.
D. Doctors have sold it to patients.
试题出处：http://www.examtiku.com/shiti/414883598.html
网考网参考答案：B、B、C、B、C
网考网解析：进入考试题库查看解析
大数据分析：根据网考网与考试题库的统计分析，该试题：
17%的考友选择了A选项
68%的考友选择了B选项
4%的考友选择了C选项
11%的考友选择了D选项
考友解析与评论：
· 这个答案与百度百科里面的内容不符合
· 我全答错了
· 我做了好几遍答案都是B、B、C、B、C
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