Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic 183
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 183 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 183
READING PASSAGE – 2
HOW MEDICINES ARE DEVELOPED
Strolling into a pharmacy for a prescribed medication or an over-the-counter remedy, few people are aware of the long developmental process of the product they are purchasing.
In fact, any medicine dispensed by a pharmacy or hospital is the sole successful compound out of hundreds of similar ones that underwent rigorous testing, and it has taken around 15 years’ research and considerable expenditure before it has reached the shelves.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
First, a pharmaceutical company selects an illness, preferably one for which there are quantities of sufferers. Then, research and development commence. Research is conducted in a laboratory whereas most testing occurs in hospitals and clinics ideally across several countries.
In laboratory tests, over a two-year period, a particular drug molecule is identified. Studies are performed on its toxicity before the molecule is clinically trialled on humans.
Clinical testing can take up to ten years. Throughout, patients are monitored continually. As soon as any serious problem is encountered, the medicine is withdrawn.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
In Phase I, healthy volunteers take the drug to see what a safe dosage is, and what constitutes its side effects – those annoying reactions like nausea, drowsiness, tingling, tremors, or weight gain. The medicine may be returned to the lab if it seems too toxic, or its side effects are too distressing.
Small groups of patients are used to determine the effectiveness of treating their particular disease or condition in Phase II. Dosage levels may be adjusted as a result of this phase. Phase III is a comparative trial in which thousands of patients compare the new medicine with one already widely in use, or with a placebo (a sugar pill which patients believe is the drug).
If all proceeds smoothly, medical journals review the results, indicating whether the benefits of the medicine to a large number of patients outweigh any deleterious effects. National regulatory bodies grant final permission for sale. Sometimes, where there are existing treatments which are cheaper and equally effective, the body may refuse a licence to the pharmaceutical company. The regulator also decides whether the cost of the final product will be borne entirely by patients, or subsidised in part by the state.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
Just before the regulator has its say, a name is chosen for the medicine – a process involving three months’ work by an advertising agency. There are so many pharmaceutical products available today that it is no longer easy to distinguish one from another. Three-syllable product names are considered memorable for medicines, and ones with a whiff of Greek about them too since many scientific words in English are derived from this language.
After the newly-named medicine has been approved for sale by the national authority, it is launched onto the market. Further monitoring takes place post release, and if problems are reported, a decision is made by the national body as to whether the product should be withdrawn, or sold to the public accompanied by a warning label.
Pharmaceutical companies usually patent their new medicines for a decade or more to prevent other companies from copying them, and to profit from sales since their investment has been onerous. However, on expiration of the patent, other companies can manufacture their own versions, dubbed generic medicines. In spite of their having lower profit margins, generics may steal the market from pharmaceutical majors, being far less costly to consumers.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
With this lengthy process of checks and balances, it may seem unlikely that any medicine could reach the public that was still unsafe. However, there have been examples of this – some disastrous. In the early 1960s, a drug to relieve pregnant women of the symptoms of morning sickness, called Thalidomide, was prescribed in the UK and elsewhere. A small proportion of children born to these women had serious physical defects including too few fingers, or limbs that were severely stunted.
Conversely, there is the Aspirin phenomenon. The active ingredient in this drug comes from the bark of the willow tree, meaning its manufacturing costs are negligible. There is a growing body of scientific evidence that shows this inexpensive painkiller is effective against a wide range of other ailments from heart disease to cancer. For patients, Aspirin wins out over far more expensive and extensively-tested compounds. It may even become the out-of-patent wonder drug.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
Next time you dash in to your pharmacy for Xenyphol or Zilovin, or some other improbablynamed concoction, ponder for a moment on the arduous process of producing that pill.
Questions 14-22
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
Questions 23-26
Choose the correct letter: A, B, C, or D.
23. An out-of-patent medicine made by any pharmaceutical company is called
A. a copy.
B. generic.
C. onerous.
D. a version.
24. Thalidomide was given to women who were
A. suffering the ill effects of pregnancy.
B. trying to get pregnant.
C. suffering from physical deformities.
D. very stunted.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
25. Since the active ingredients in Aspirin come from a tree, its production costs are
A. quite high.
B. very high.
C. quite low.
D. very low.
26. The writer suggests patients will buy Aspirin because
A. it is cheap and particularly effective against heart disease.
B. it is a highly effective painkiller.
C. it is inexpensive and suitable for multiple conditions.
D. it has been extensively tested.
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
Question 27
Choose TWO letters: A-E.
Which TWO of the following are the writer’s views of some names of medicines?
A. They are more readily accepted if they have three syllables.
B. They should come from Greek.
C. They are sometimes hard to pronounce.
D. They are made up too quickly.
E. They do not sound believable
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
IELTS Reading Test Practice Academic
ANSWERS
14. PERFORMED
15. SERIOUS PROBLEMS
16. VOLUNTEERS
17. SIDE EFFECTS
18. PLACEBO
19. 3/THREE
20. CHEAPER
21. STATE
22. WARNING
23. B
24. A
25. D
26. C
27. A AND E