单选题 Celebrate. Celebrate. Physicians are delighted with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel"s recommendation earlier this year that Vioxx and its cousins Bextra and Celebrex (all medicines known as Cox-2 inhibitors) should remain on the market , despite evidence they increase heart disease risk in some people. The panelists reached their decision after weighing all the data and concluding the benefits of these pain-relieving drugs outweighed the risks.
Specifically, these scientists acknowledged that, for some patients, these prescription drugs were uniquely effective in reducing pain from arthritis and other causes. For others—concerned about ulcers associated with aspirin and other OTC analgesics—the Cox-2 inhibitors offered the advantage of minimizing potentially serious effects of stomach irritation.
Now is an appropriate time for everyone to take a fresh look at the benefit-risk equation for Vioxx and the other Cox-2 inhibitors.
The risks, increased risk of heart disease in some who use the drugs—have been well publicized. Much less publicity has been given to a spectrum of real and potential benefits that go way beyond reduced risk of stomach irritation. These little—discussed benefits would have been lost, perhaps permanently—had Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex been driven from shelves in pursuit of perfect safety, an unattainable goal.
For example, there is substantial evidence Cox-2 inhibitors can reduce development of colon polyps, which may become colon cancer indeed. Celebrex is FDA-approved for those genetically prone to colon cancer. Ironically, the 2004 study that revealed the elevated heart attack risk of Vioxx was primarily designed to further establish the drug"s effectiveness in protecting against colon cancer. And while the results of that interrupted trial have not yet been published, there is good reason to believe they will confirm the protective effects against colon cancer established in research over the last 10 years.
At the time of its withdrawal from the market last fall, studies of Vioxx as well as the other Cox-2 drugs suggest that they had other anti-cancer properties as well, possibly reducing the risk of malignancies of a number of sites, including the lung and esophagus.
Had these drugs been dismissed, their untapped promise for prevention would have evaporated well before it was evaluated and applied to save lives. Fortunately, cooler and wiser heads prevailed.

单选题 The phase "on the market" underlined in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 The FDA advisory panel recommends that Cox-2 inhibitors should be ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第一段的内容“Physicians are delighted with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel"s recommendation earlier this year that Vioxx and its cousins Bextra and Celebrex (all medicines known as Cox-2 inhibitors) should remain on the market”可知，Cox-2抑制剂应该在市场上继续销售，所以D项正确。A项“Cox-2抑制剂应该被用于临床试验”，B项“Cox-2抑制剂应该被小心利用”，C项“Cox-2抑制剂应该被用来治疗心脏病”，这三项和文中第一段内容不符。

单选题 The word "outweighed" underlined in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 What does the passage say about Cox-2 inhibitors?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第二段的内容“the Cox-2 inhibitors offered the advantage of minimizing potentially serious effects of stomach irritation.”可知，Cox-2抑制剂类的药物能够最大限度地减小对胃的刺激。据此可知，应该选择C。A项“它能阻止关节炎”，文中说的是减轻关节炎，不是预防阻止；B项“它的功能被夸大了”，文中没有提到；D项“它的危险和益处是相同的”，文中说益处多于危险，所以才能不下架，这三项都不符合题意。

单选题 The word "equation" underlined in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 Cox-2 inhibitors were once banned from the market because they were found to increase the risk of triggering ______.

单选题 The possible benefits of Cox-2 inhibitors ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第五段的“there is substantial evidence Cox-2 inhibitors can reduce development of colon polyps, which may become colon cancer indeed.”和第六段的“that they had other anti-cancer properties as well, possibly reducing the risk of malignancies of a number of sites, including the lung and esophagus.”可知，Cox-2抑制剂可以在更广阔领域内发挥效用，所以应该选择D。A项“几乎不能超越它的危险”，文中说益处多余危险；B项“应该被彻底地研究”，文中没有提到；C项“将显示在治疗胃病方面”，这已经是既成的现实，不是可能的益处，所以这三项都不正确。

单选题 The primary purpose of the 2004 study about Vioxx was to ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第五段的内容“Ironically, the 2004 study that revealed the elevated heart attack risk of Vioxx was primarily designed to further establish the drug"s effectiveness in protecting against colon cancer.”可知，A项“确定它在癌症预防方面的作用”符合题意。B项“确定它是否抵抗癌症”，C项“揭示它在引起心脏病方面潜在的危险”，D项“阻止致力于抑制剂缺陷的研究”，这三项和文中内容不符合。