1997年Passage 3

　　Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don't realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase "substance abuse" is often used instead of "drug abuse" to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.

　　We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.

　　Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning "mind-manifesting") because they seemed to radically alter one's state of consciousness.

　　60. The word "pervasive" (Line 1, Paragraph 2) might mean _____.

　　[A] widespread

　　[B] overwhelming

　　[C] piercing

　　[D] fashionable

　　[答案] A

　　[解題思路]

　　文章第二段第一句話指出"We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves"(在我們生活的這個社會中，物質(藥物)在醫療和社交方面的使用都很廣泛：服用阿斯匹林可以緩解頭痛，應酬時要喝酒，早晨醒來喝咖啡來提神，抽一支香煙可以穩定情緒等等)，從冒號后面的內容可以判斷這里指的是各種物質的使用非常廣泛，因此即使不知道pervasive這個詞語的意思也可以判斷出正確答案為A。其它幾個選項與文章上下文的意思不符合。

　　[題目譯文]

　　"persuasive"(第二段第一行)的意思可能是 。

　　[A] 普遍的

　　[B] 勢不可擋的

　　[C] 敏銳的

　　[D] 時尚的