Hypertension Drugs Found to Cut Risk of Stroke

　　Australian doctors declared Monday that a cocktail of simple antihypertensive drugs can lower the risk of patients suffering a repeat stroke by more than a third. This is the result of their research.46

　　Strokes kill 5 million people a year, and more than 15 million suffer non-fatal strokes that often leave them with useless limbs, slurred speech and other serious disabilities. One in five stroke survivors goes on to have a second, often fatal, stroke within five years of the first.

　　An international six-year study of 6,100 patients directed from Sydney University found that by taking two blood pressure-lowering drugs, the risk of secondary strokes can be reduced by up to 40 per cent.47 The drugs are the diuretic indapamide and the ACE inhibitor perindopril, better known by its brand name Coversyl.48 They even found that the risk of another stroke could be cut by three quarters among the one-in-ten patients who had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, the worst type of stroke, where there is direct bleeding into the brain.

　　49 "If most of those patients were able to get access to this treatment, it would result in maybe the avoidance of half a million strokes a year," the professor told Australia's ABC Radio.

　　McMahon said doctors had long known that lowering the blood pressure of those with hypertension could help prevent strokes. "What we have shown for the first time is that it does not really matter what your blood pressure is;50, "he said.

　　McMahon said the Milan gathering had heralded the research as a "major breakthrough in the care of patients with strokes- perhaps the biggest step forward that we have made in the last couple of decades".

　　A. The research, presented at a medical conference in italy over the weekend, has been valued highly as a major breakthrough in stroke prevention.

　　B. The study suggested more effective methods should be taken to prevent stroke happening on the people older than 690.

　　C. Stephen McMahon, who presented the research at the Milan congress of the European

　　Society of Hypertension, said about 50 million people were alive who had suffered at least one stroke.

　　D. Even taking one of the commonly available drugs can cut the risk by a third, the　study said.

　　E. if you have had a stroke, then lowering blood pressure will produce large benefits, to begin with-- even for people whose blood pressure is average or below average.

　　F. The combination was effective even in patients who did not have high blood pressure, the researchers said.

　　答案与解析

　　46.A。空格前This is the result oftheir research可知，后一句应该与该研究(research)相关，因此A选项最合适，进一步说明这个research的发布时间、地点和意义。

　　47.D。空格前讲到降压药能将第二次患中风的几率降低到40%。空格处选择D最合适，该选项中even和a third(三分之一)与空格前的40%呼应。

　　48.F。空格后说“患者中1/10有大脑出血，这是最为严重的中风类型，血液径直流向大脑，他们甚至发现这种中风也能降低3/4”，由此可知空格处应该是对不同患者预防中风的疗效，因此F选项(这种合剂对没有高血压的患者同样有效)是最佳答案。

　　49.C。该段最后一句讲到the professor told Australia’s ABC Radi0，the professor应该对应一个人名，且该人与空格后引号中的话有很大关联。综合来看，C选项最合适。

　　50.E。空格前讲到“血压高低并不重要”，空格处填入“只要你得过中风，降低血压就有很大益处，即使血压正常或低于正常也是如此”是最符合语义走向的。故本题选E