Zinc Leads to Shorter, Milder Colds

    Zinc¹ supplements reduce the average cold by about a day and also make symptoms（症状） less severe, according to the latest findings.
    There's no cure for the common cold, but there's no shortage of ways to treat the symptoms. For a number of years there's been a lot of interest in zinc supplements - lozenges or syrup² - but the scientific evidence(明显) of their value was inconclusive. Now, a review of the research finds recent studies have tipped the balance.
    That's the conclusion of a review combining the results of 15 different studies done over more than a decade. The analysis was published by the Cochrane Collaboration³（合作）.
    "The bottom line is that if you want to decrease the number of days that you'll have a cold, zinc lozenges or syrup probably work," says Kay Dickersin, U.S. director of the Cochrane Collaboration. "And it works for kids or adults. That's the main message."The Cochrane experts say that a medication that is even just partly effective at reducing the length or severity of a cold can help ease symptoms and reduce the significant economic costs of colds.
    According to Dickersin, the studies show zinc supplements also reduce the likelihood of catching⁴ a cold.
    "For those who didn't have a cold to start with, fewer people got the cold if they were taking zinc," she says. "There was a decrease in school absences, there was a decrease in people taking antibiotics⁵."That last point is important because, not only are antibiotics generally useless against a cold, but their overuse can promote the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

2 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

3 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。