第6部分：完型填空 （每题1分，共15分）

    阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案，并涂在答题卡相应的位置上。

    The placebo effect

    Placebo is a Latin word. It means “I shall please”. And sometimes it just might. When scientists want to test a new drug, they usually divide a large number of people __1__ two groups. One group takes the medicine, the other takes a substance __2__ as a placebo. It may contain nothing more than sugar. The people do not know which pill they are taking, the active one or the inactive one. In this kind of experiment, the medicine must perform __3__ than the placebo to prove it is effective.

    Yet, people who take a placebo, sometimes experience improvements in their health. This is known as “the placebo effect”―the effect of something __4__ is not supposed to have any effect.

    Some doctors even use the placebo effect in their treatments. They might tell patients that a new drug will stop their pain. The patient does not know that the pills are __5__. The patient __6__ the pills and later tells the doctor that the pain is gone.

    Now research in Sweden suggests that placebo treatments can also __7__ the emotional effects of unpleasant experiences. The effects in the brain were similar to those seem when placebos have been used to ease pain. The researchers say that in both cases expectations of improvement are a major __8__ on the effectiveness of placebos. The new study involved a group of people who looked at unpleasant pictures, __9__ images of dead bodies. Predrag Petrovic of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm led the study. The findings appeared in the publication  Neuron. 

    An influential study on placebos appeared in 1955. It said treatment with a placebo __10__ patients feel better 35% of the time. But in 2001, Danish researchers reported that they had examined more than 100 studies. They found __11__ evidence of healing as a result of placebos.

    Some researchers think a good relationship between a doctor and patients can increase the effectiveness of real medicines. In any case, some medical researchers are against the use of __12__. They think it is __13__ to give some people inactive substances when testing new medicines. They say it would be better to __14__ new drugs with existing drugs. That way, a study would show __15__ the new drug is more effective.

    1. A. in        B. to          C. into         D. for
    2. A. named     B. called      C. referred     D. known 
    3. A. better    B. worse       C. more weakly  D. more slowly 
    4. A. which     B. that        C. what         D. whatever
    5. A. active     B. inactive     C. effective   D. helpful
    6. A. gets       B.buys         C. takes        D. brings
    7. A. reduce     B.increase      C. raise       D. enhance
    8. A.information  B. inspiration  C.incident    D. Influence
    9. A. inasmuch as  B.such as      C. as if      D. as for
    10. A. got         B. made        C. caused     D.rendered
    11. A. few         B. much        C. many       D. little
    12. A. drugs       B. cures       C.placebos    D. medicines
    13. A. wrong       B. right       C. sensible   D. reasonable
    14. A. take        B. produce     C.combine     D. compare
    15. A. if          B. how         C. when       D. where