2006年VOA标准英语-Mothers of Prescription Drug Abuse Victims Test

By Melinda Smith
Washington, D.C.
28 July 2006
 
watch Prescription¹ Drug report

If you have a teenaged son or daughter, are you talking to them about the dangers of mixing over-the-counter medications with prescription drugs?  The World Health Organization says drug abuse by young people is a serious problem.

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A recent survey in the U.S. indicates one in five teens has experimented with everything from painkillers³ to cough syrup⁴. VOA's Melinda Smith reports on three mothers who lost their sons to prescription medications and want the abuse to stop.

   
  
Teenagers -- so full of energy, with their friends at the skateboard park.  It looks like a wholesome⁵ environment.  Typical kids their age, they like to show off for each other. 

But an alarming statistic⁶ from the Partnership⁷ for a Drug Free America reveals another adventurous⁸ habit -- one in five American teens reports using prescription painkillers just to get high. 

 
Linda Surk
  
The drugs are easy to obtain from home, the drugstore shelf or with a prescription from a doctor.   Linda Surk says her son Jason became so addicted⁹, he ordered his drugs over the Internet. "I know he believed he was being safe.  He used the Internet to research the safety of certain drugs and how they react to others."

Linda Surk, Misty¹⁰ Fedo and Barbara van Rooyan all lost their sons to medications readily available to kids.   

 
Barbara van Rooyan
  
Barbara van Rooyan told a congressional hearing what happened after her son Patrick mixed a fatal dose of the painkiller² Oxycontin with a beer.  A friend had told him it was safe. "As happens with someone who is intolerant to opiates, he stopped breathing in his sleep.  After five days in a coma¹¹, Patrick was reported to have no brain activity."

Misty Fedo
   
  
When Misty Fedo tried unsuccessfully to wake up her son Carl, she discovered a bottle of cough syrup beside his bed.  She thinks he mixed it with fentanyl, a prescription drug for pain. "I got to his bedroom, but I noticed right away something was wrong because he wasn't responding to me and I noticed he wasn't breathing."

The U.S. government's Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that emergency room cases of Oxycontin drug abuse rose more than 500 percent between 1995 and 2002.  It's been estimated that prescription drug abuse in the United States affects at least six million people.

   
  
These three mothers want the government's help in restricting the distribution of these drugs, and for doctors to be more alert to potential drug abuse by teens.

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

3 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

4 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。

5 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

6 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

10 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

11 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。