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LG/JUN 2015/ELC501
TOTAL: 40 MARKS
Read the following article and answer ALL the questions that follow.
Pain is Not the Ultimate Enemy
I
Americans are probably the most pain-conscious people on the face of the
earth. For years they have had it drummed into them through electronic and
print media that any hint of pain is to be banished as though it were the
ultimate evil. As a result, they are becoming a nation of pill-grabbers and
hypochondriacs, escalating the slightest ache into a searing ordeal. 5
Approximately 80 per cent of the worlds pain pills are consumed in the United
States, according to a 2011 congressional testimony from the American Society
of Interventional Pain Physicians.
II
III
We know very little about pain and what we do not know makes it hurt all the
more. Indeed, no form of illiteracy in the United States is as widespread or 20
costly as ignorance about pain. Almost everyone can rattle off the names of at
least a dozen drugs that can deaden pain from every conceivable cause, all the
way from headaches to hemorrhoids. There is far less knowledge about the fact
that about 90 per cent of pain is self-limiting, that it is not always an indication of
poor health, and that, most frequently, it is the result of tension, idleness, 25
suppressed rage, unhealthy lifestyle, or any of the other abuses encountered in
modern society.
IV
Most doctors are profoundly troubled over the extent to which the medical
profession today is taking on the trappings of a painkilling industry. Their offices
are overloaded with people who are morbidly but mistakenly convinced that 30
something dreadful is about to happen to them. It is all too evident that the
campaign to get people to run to a doctor at the first sign of pain has
boomeranged. Physicians find it difficult to give adequate attention to patients
genuinely in need of expert diagnosis and treatment because their time is
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soaked up by people who have nothing wrong with them except a temporary
indisposition or psychogenic ache.
V
If ignorance about the nature of pain is widespread, ignorance about the way
painkilling drugs work is even more so. What is not generally understood is that
many of the much hyped painkilling drugs inhibit the mechanism in the body
that alerts the brain to the fact that something may be wrong. The body can pay
a high price for suppression of pain without regard to its basic cause. The most
ignored fact of all about pain is that the best way to eliminate it is to eliminate
the abuse of painkillers. Instead, many people reach almost instinctively for
painkillers: aspirins, tranquillisers, sleeping pills, and dozens of other analgesics
or desensitising drugs.
35
40
45
VI
A study in 1991 found prescription painkillers the most commonly misused drug
among professional athletes. Another study in 1991 showed that 75 per cent of
college athletes used them for sports-related injuries. Professional athletes are
sometimes severely disadvantaged by trainers whose job is to keep them in
action. The more famous the athlete, the greater the risk that he may be 50
subjected to extreme medical measures when injury strikes. Many star athletes
are cut down in their prime as they themselves become victims of overzealous
treatment of their injuries.
VII
The king of all painkillers, of course, is aspirin. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) permits aspirin to be sold without prescription, but the
drug, contrary to popular belief, can be dangerous and, in sustained doses,
potentially lethal. Aspirin is self-administered by more people than any drug in
the world. Some people are aspirin-poppers, taking ten or more a day. What
they do not know is that the smallest dose can cause internal breeding. Even
more serious is the fact that aspirin is an antagonist to collagen, which has a
key role in the formation of connective tissues. Since many forms of arthritis
involve the disintegration of the connective tissues, the steady use of aspirin
can intensify the underlying arthritic condition.
VIII
IX
55
60
Besides aspirin, there are other painkilling drugs which are known to have
dangerous side effects. Dr. Daphne A. Roe of Cornell University, at a medical 65
meeting in New York City in 1974, presented startling evidence of a wide range
of hazards associated with sedatives and other pain suppressants. Some of
these drugs seriously interfere with the ability of the body to metabolise food
properly, producing malnutrition. One of these drugs is opioids which can
suppress ones appetite. In some instances, there is also the danger of bone- 70
marrow depression, interfering with the ability of the body to replenish its blood
supply.
Pharmacies received and ultimately dispensed the equivalent of 69 tonnes of
pure oxycodone and 42 tonnes of pure hydrocodone in 2010 being the last year
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for which statistics are made available - enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 75
24 5-mg Vicodins to every person in the United States. The Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) records data on shipments from distributors to
pharmacies, hospitals, practitioners and teaching institutions. The drugs are
prescribed and sold to patients, but the DEA does not keep track of what
quantity individual patients receive. Part of the reason for the increase is the 80
aging U.S. population with pain issues and a greater willingness by doctors to
treat pain.
X
XI
Adapted from:
Cousins, N. (2003). Pain is not the ultimate enemy. In S.V. Buscemi & C. Smith
(pp. 276-279), 75 Reading plus (7th ed.). McGraw Hill.
QUESTION 1
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(4 marks)
QUESTION 2
Identify the issue presented in the article.
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(2 marks)
QUESTION 3
Identify the authors position on the issue presented in this article.
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(2 marks)
QUESTION 4
Explain what the author is implying when the author states The most ignored fact of all
about pain is that the best way to eliminate it is to eliminate the abuse of painkillers (lines
41-43)?
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(2 marks)
QUESTION 5
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Identify the stated main idea of paragraph VIII and give ONE MAJOR supporting detail that
supports this main idea.
a) Stated main idea :
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b) Major supporting detail :
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(2 marks)
QUESTION 6
Write out the implied main idea of paragraph XI.
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(2 marks)
QUESTION 7
Read each of the following statements. Decide whether each statement is a Fact or an
Opinion and explain why. Write your answer in the space provided.
a) Americans are probably the most pain-conscious people on the face of the earth.
(Paragraph I)
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Since many forms of arthritis involve the disintegration of the connective tissues, the
steady use of aspirin can intensify the underlying arthritic condition. (Paragraph VII)
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(6 marks)
QUESTION 8
Identify the type of support for each supporting detail with the following options. Use each
option only once.
Expert opinion
Statistics
Historical data
Examples
Expert testimony
Supporting Details
a
)
b
)
c)
d
)
Type of Support
(4 marks)
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Painkillers are the only treatment available for professional athletes injuries.
Painkiller abuse is prevalent in professional sports.
Team doctors and coaches are ignorant of the dangers of painkillers.
Professional athletes are at risk of over-reliance on painkillers due to the
increased pressure for higher performance.
I and II only
II and III only
I and IV only
II and IV only
(2 marks)
QUESTION 10
Identify two (2) specific categories of people who are the writers intended audience.
a) ___________________________
b) ___________________________
(1 mark)
QUESTION 11
The tone of the author can best be described as
a)
b)
c)
d)
neutral
caring
sympathetic
concerned
(1 mark)
QUESTION 12
State the authors purpose for writing such an article.
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_________________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
QUESTION 13
Evaluate the type of bias demonstrated by the author in the following lines and provide at
least four (4) instances from the language used in the text to support your evaluation:
The indiscriminate use of painkilling drugs is making psychological cripples and
chronic sufferers out of millions of people. The unremitting barrage of advertising
for painkilling drugs, especially on television, has set the stage for mass anxiety
neurosis. Almost from the moment children are old enough to sit upright in front of
a television screen, they are being indoctrinated into the hypochondriacs
clamorous and morbid world. Little wonder so many people fear pain more than
death itself.
.
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(3 marks)
QUESTION 14
Draw a possible conclusion based on the reasoning used in the given text:
Americans are probably the most pain-conscious people on the face of the earth. For years
they have had it drummed into them through electronic and print media that any hint of pain
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is to be banished as though it were the ultimate evil. As a result, they are becoming a nation
of pill-grabbers and hypochondriacs, escalating the slightest ache into a searing ordeal.
Approximately 80 per cent of the worlds pain pills are consumed in the United States,
according to a 2011 congressional testimony from the American Society of Interventional
Pain Physicians
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
QUESTION 15
Draw a possible conclusion based on the reasoning used in the given text.
Pharmacies received and ultimately dispensed the equivalent of 69 tonnes of pure
oxycodone and 42 tonnes of pure hydrocodone in 2010 being the last year for which
statistics are made available - enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to
every person in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) records
data on shipments from distributors to pharmacies, hospitals, practitioners and teaching
institutions. The drugs are prescribed and sold to patients, but the DEA does not keep track
of what quantity individual patients receive. Part of the reason for the increase is the aging
U.S. population with pain issues and a greater willingness by doctors to treat pain.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
(1 mark)
QUESTION 16
Evaluate the validity and credibility of the authors argument in the article. Explain your
answer with evidence or points from the article.
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(3 marks)
QUESTION 17
Evaluate the authors argument for completeness. Provide evidence that contributes to the
completeness or incompleteness of the argument in this article.
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(3 marks)
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