Counterfeit medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredients (原料) of the real thing.
People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases the counterfeits cause death. Twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen (醋氨芬). The medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing. The medicine was produced by a local drug company that used a dangerous substitute to save money.
The problem of counterfeit medicines is especially serious in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The WHO estimates that up to thirty percent of medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeits. The problem is less widespread among industrialized countries. The WHO says counterfeits make up less than one percent of the illegal drug market in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.
But the agency also says as much as fifty percent of the medicine sold on the Internet is counterfeit.
Much is being done to fight counterfeit drugs. Several companies are developing ways to make counterfeits easier to identify (鉴定). And there are existing methods, like a machine that can quickly identify chemicals in pills to confirm if the pills are real. Other ideas include things like special tracking (跟踪) codes for drug packages. People could send a text message with the code and get a message back, which proves that what they bought is listed in a database. Some drug makers and other companies put three-dimensional images called holograms (全息图) on their products as a security device.
小题1:The underlined word “counterfeits” means _______.
A．qualified products
B．sub-standard medicines
C．real pills
D．false products小题2: Last year twenty children in Bangladesh died because of _______.
A．unclean water
B．acetaminophen
C．unreal drugs
D．online medicines小题3: We can draw a conclusion from the passage that ______.
A．we had better not buy medicines online
B．more and more people will buy products online
C．medicine companies don’t pay much attention to counterfeit drugs
D．it is very cheap and convenient to buy medicines online小题4: What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．It shows the danger of counterfeit drugs
B．Special tracking codes for drug packages are used to identify counterfeits.
C．Some measures are being taken to fight counterfeit drugs
D．It reveals the reasons why counterfeit drugs are widespread.小题5: Which of the following country may have serious problems of counterfeit medicines?
A．France.
B．America
C．New Zealand
D．India
