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Men have walked on the moon, transplanted hearts and invented machines to think for them. But they cannot cure the common cold. A spokesman at the world-famous cold research center in Salisbury sounded . understandably bad- tempered when I spoke to him about it. They've been working on the problem for years but the most optimistic he could be was to hope that they would find a cure within the next 10 years. So what was their advice on coping with a cold meanwhile? «Ignore it», he said.

In urban areas we have about three colds a year and they are caused not by wet feet or sitting in a draught, but by a virus, or rather many viruses which are always changing so that a vaccine prepared from one is useless against the next. But every year the pharmaceutical companies spend millions of pounds trying to persuade us that their product will banish¹ the miseries of sneezing, running noses, sore throats, headaches and coughs. They admit they can't cure the cold, but they do promise to relieve² the symptoms.

We looked at 10 well-known brands of cold remedies and asked a doctor to explain, exactly what they contain, each ingredient is for, and his opinion on their effectiveness. Although none of the preparations had exactly the same ingredients, they fell into certain categories.

Nearly all contained a painkiller, either aspirin or paracetamol. These help to reduce temperature and relieve general aches and pains. Aspirin can irritate the stomach, so paracetamol is generally preferred.

None of the preparations was harmful, as long as you observed the warnings on the packets. The worst thing about them was the cost. Advertising and packaging had inflated the price of relatively cheap ingredients, and in many cases you could get the same relief from straightforward paracetamol taken with a warm drink of lemon and honey.

¹ to banish—отгонять

² to relieve—облегчать

Test № 24

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) слс дующие утверждения.

1. The cold research centre in Salisbury is known all over the world.

2. The pharmaceutical companies spend millions of money on developin a cure for the common cold.

3. Cold cures fell into certain categories though they actually contai the same ingredients.

4. The worst thing about the preparations, according to the author, i that they can be harmful.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What are common colds caused by?

2. What do the pharmaceutical companies promise in their adver­tisements?

. 3. Why is paracetamol generally preferred? 4. What caused the rise in the price of remedies for colds?

III. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Nearly all the preparations for colds contain paracetamol.

2. In northern areas they have about three colds a year.

№25

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

The problem with American parks system is that the parks are being, in the popular phrase, «loved to death». Too many people are visiting the system. It's said they are raining the plants with the pollution fromthedr cars, scaring the animals, destroying by their numbers the experience of being in a wild place the parks are supposed to offer.

It's hard for a visitor from Europe to feel that way. Three years ago we went to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming which is my favourite park of all. Yes, you could find yourself waiting behind a line of cars as someone tried to photograph a herd of animals with a pocket camera.

But then we drove a little way north, turned off the main road and found a small lake surrounded by fields of flowers, with the beautiful snow-capped range of the Tetons in the background. We saw a total of two other people during the whole long, sunny, perfect afternoon.

The busiest park in the system, the Great Smoky Mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina, can get 60,000 visitors on a single summer's day. That sounds plenty and it is. But all of these people are sharing an area only slightly smaller than the whole of Luxemburg, which has a permanent population seven times as great.

The basic argument is over how much should be done in the parks to satisfy human visitors. Should the accommodation be so basic that only true lovers of nature will be tempted to come? Or should they contain — as they increasingly do — comfortable bathrooms and colour TVs? Choose the former and you are necessarily excluding America's growing population of old people.

And exactly what should be preserved? Twenty years ago Yellow Stone, perhaps the most famous park of all, decided to change to a «hands-off» policy. Animals in danger of starving in the winter would be left to starve, just as nature intended. My advice is to stop trying too hard. Provide plenty of car parks and lodgings for visitors of all kinds. Ban radios and snowmobiles. But realize that for every thousand acres which are spoiled, there are a million which remain as beautiful as they were in George Washington's day.

Test № 25

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) сле­дующие утверждения.

1. Visitors from Europe notice that American parks are being destroyed.

2. In the Grand Tetons in Wyoming visitors .are not allowed to turn off the main road.

3. The Great Smoky Mountains can get seven times more people on a single summer day than the permanent population of Luxemburg.

4. The basic argument over national parks is about the accomodation that would satisfy human visitors.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What, according to the author, are the parks supposed to offer ?

2. Why did the author have to wait a few times behind a line of cars during his visit to the Grand Tetons' Park?

3. What accomodation should hotels have to welcome old age people'

4. What does the «hands off» policy which was introduced in the Yellow,

Stone park mean?