Unit18 ?Drags and sport

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History of Drug Use in Sport

詞匯講解：

drug：藥品；

pharmacy store：藥店。

A

　　These days, the use of drugs to improve athletic performance is banned by most sporting organizations, due to long-term damage to health plus the need to ensure equality of opportunity for all athletes. The list of banned substances includes various stimulants, hormones, chemicals and steroids, as well as blood doping and the use of substances to mask drug use.

詞匯講解：

ban：禁止；

due to：源于…，因?yàn)椤?/p>

stimulant：興奮劑；刺激物；鼓舞的；

hormone：荷爾蒙；

steroid：類(lèi)固醇；

dope：輸入，把…放進(jìn)去；

mask：面具；

B

　　Historically, athletes have always searched for diets or training methods that would give them an advantage. It is said that the ancient Olympics were abandoned because of problems caused by drug use. The winners received rich rewards, so drug use and cheating were common. Similarly, drugs were used in other ancient competitions, such as by the Roman gladiators (professional fighters).

詞匯講解：

gladiator：角斗士；

C

　　There is evidence of drug use by athletes in the early 1800s, such as laudanum (opium) in an endurance walking race in 1807. Towards the end of the century, racers were given cocaine-based treatments to enable them to keep going in brutal 6-day cycling races. The winner of the 1904 Olympic marathon was given injections of strychnine, a deadly poison and a glass of brandy in the last stages of the race, to ensure he could finish. Although he nearly died, and never raced again, at that time the use of drugs for long distance races was considered positive, rather than being seen as either unfair or damaging to health.

詞匯講解：

cocaine：***；

injection：注射；

D

　　By the 1920s, the cyclists in the Tour de France were publicly commenting on the drugs they used to get them through the week. The rule book distributed in 1930 even reminded riders that they would not be officially supplied with drugs; in other words, they would have to find their own. It is also believed that amphetamines were first used in sport at the 1936 Olympics.

詞匯講解：

comment：評(píng)語(yǔ)，批注，發(fā)言；

amphetamines：安非他命；

E

　　Weightlifters were beginning to use anabolic steroids by 1954, for bulk and strength. Over the period from 1956 to 1972, statistics for Olympic shot putters show their weight increased by 14%, compared to 7% for a group of runners. When a research team tried to set up a study on the effect of steroids, they could not find a control group of weightlifters and throwers who were not using these drugs. In 1962, players in the English soccer league commented publicly on their use of amphetamines. In other words, there was still no sense of a need to conceal their drug use.

詞匯講解：

weightlifter：舉重運(yùn)動(dòng)員；

anabolic：合成代謝的；

F

　　The international Amateur Athletic Federation made drug use illegal in 1928. However, as there were no effective tests available at that time, this ban on drug use was only based on a policy of trusting the athletes' honesty. Much later, in 1966, the governing bodies of soccer and cycling banned illegal drug use; the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did the same the following year. The IOC tested athletes for the first time at the 1968 Olympics.

G

　　During the 1970s, anabolic steroids were added to the list of banned substances, as a test for these had become available. The opening of official secret police records in 1993 showed that doping had been a systematic state policy in East Germany for the past thirty years, often without the knowledge of the young athletes involved. Many still suffer from the effects, both physical and mental, of this extensive drug use. In the late 1990s, the use of human growth hormones (HGH) became widespread, followed by the use of EPO [erythropoietin] in blood doping. By 1999, the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] was formed.

詞匯講解：

extensive：廣泛，大規(guī)模，遼闊；

anti-：反…；

H

　　Although the ability to test effectively for drugs always seems to lag behind the development of new forms of performance-enhancing drugs, more and more drug cheats are now being detected. It is clear, though, that many athletes are still prepared to take the risk of being caught. Major sporting occasions such as the Tour de France and the Olympics regularly result in top athletes being stripped of their awards due to drug use. A silver medalist had to give up her medal after the 2008Olympics. In addition, even a horse was caught! A bronze medal winner was removed from his team after his horse tested positive for a banned substance.

詞匯講解：

strip：剝奪；

strip off：剝奪掉。

removed：刪除，清楚；搬移；廢止；升級(jí)；

substance：物質(zhì)。

I

　　Given that new drugs and practices such as stem cell doping are constantly being developed, it is a struggle for WADA to come up with a test to detect each new substance. It is estimated that the many different types of blood booster alone make up a $12 billion market. However, most people believe it is essential to research illegal substances, develop detection tests and continue testing athletes to find drug cheats. Educating the next generation of young athletes about the dangers of drug use is also vital.

詞匯講解：

vital：至關(guān)重要的。

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Table Completion

　　Fill in the gaps in the table using words or dates from the reading passage. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for any gap.

Date

Event

8) ________

Use of opium to increase stamina

End of 19th century

9) ________ for long distance cyclists.

10) ________

Use of d rugs in cycling races was written into ? official race??? documents.

1950s-1970s

First use of 11) ________ to increase body and muscle ? mass and weight.

12) ________

First time drug use was officially banned in sport.

13) ________

Use of hormones to improve athletic performance.

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