[简答题]Getting a cold or catching the flu is a common complaint for people every year. In fact, people usually catch between two and five colds a year. No one enjoys the accompanying symptoms: the sore throat, runny nose, constant sneezing and headaches. Not surprisingly, cold medications have become a big business. People spend billions of dollars to combat this recurring problem. We see the number and variety of over-the-counter medicines each time we enter a pharmacy. People estimate that, if you combine consumer purchases and drains on health care systems, at least 40 billion dollars are spent each year in the US alone. Is a cure for the common cold possible The answer seems to be both yes and no.
First of all, the "common" cold itself is not a single disease. Any of two hundred different viruses could be responsible for the symptoms of a cold. Developing a vaccine for the common cold would literally mean having to develop hundreds of vaccines. Additionally, some cold viruses have

[简答题]Getting a cold or catching the flu is a common complaint for people every year. In fact, people usually catch between two and five colds a year. No one enjoys the accompanying symptoms: the sore throat, runny nose, constant sneezing and headaches. Not surprisingly, cold medications have become a big business. People spend billions of dollars to combat this recurring problem. We see the number and variety of over-the-counter medicines each time we enter a pharmacy. People estimate that, if you combine consumer purchases and drains on health care systems, at least 40 billion dollars are spent each year in the US alone. Is a cure for the common cold possible The answer seems to be both yes and no.
First of all, the "common" cold itself is not a single disease. Any of two hundred different viruses could be responsible for the symptoms of a cold. Developing a vaccine for the common cold would literally mean having to develop hundreds of vaccines. Additionally, some cold viruses have

[单项选择]Unlike the common cold, flu tends to start abruptly.
A. mysteriously
B. seasonally
C. repeatedly
D. suddenly

[填空题]Common cold and influenza viruses both attack the respiratory system.

[单项选择]Common cold is a viral infection that starts in the upper respiratory tract, sometimes spreads to the lower structures, and may contribute secondary infeeti9ns in the eyes or middle ears. The main differences between the common cold and other respiratory infections are the absence of fever and the relative mildness of the symptoms.
About 200 different strains of virus are capable of producing colds. Frequently two or more different viruses can be isolated during a single episode. The cold is spread by person-to-person contact. People can carry the virus and communicate it without themselves experiencing any of the symptoms. Incubation is short—usually one to four days. The viruses start spreading from an infected person before the symptoms appear, and the spread reaches its peak during the symptomatic phase. The incidence of colds peaks during the autumn, and minor epidemics commonly Occur throughout the winter. The reason for this incidence is unknown; it may not stem mainly from
A. a hereditary disease
B. generally accompanied with mild fever
C. a kind of popular respiratory infection
D. caused by spending a lot of time outdoors in chilly weather

[单项选择] The common cold is the world’’s most widespread illness, which is probably why there are more myths about it than any of the other plagues that flesh is heir to. The most widespread fallacy of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passed on from person to person. You catch a cold by corning into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them permanently. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes. During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches, cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds. In the Second World War, prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starving, were astonished
A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D. they are coming into contact again with the outside world