新概念英语4册第28课
2004-09-01 12:17
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Patients and Doctors
This is a sceptical age, but although our faith in many of the things in which our forefathers fervently believed has weakened, our confidence in the curative properties of the bottle of medicine remains the same as theirs. This modern faith in medicines is roved by the fact that the annual drug bill of the Health Services is mounting to astronomical figures and shows no signs at present of ceasing to rise. The majority of the patients attending the medical out-patients departments of our hospitals feel that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine, a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment, and the doctor in charge of the department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements. There is no quicker method of disposing of patients than by giving them what they are asking for, and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked and have little time for offering time-consuming and little-appreciated advice on such subjects as diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits, etc., the bottle, the box, and the jare are almost always granted them. Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who has such faith in the bottle of medicine, especially if it be warpped in white paper and sealed with a dab of red sealing-wax by a clever chemist. It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained of a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs Carlyles's. Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained, of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering, and of what had previously been wrong with his wife, but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be of equal benefit in another, and comforted by the thought of the help he was bringing to his friend, he hastened to Henry Taylor's house. History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in all probability he did. The great advantage of taking medicine is that it makes no demands on the taker beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste, and that is what all patients demand of their doctors -- to be cured at no inconvenience to themselves.
这是一个怀疑的年代，但是尽管我们父辈曾热诚相信的东西在我们这里的信念已经减弱了，我们对于写有疗效的药瓶的信心和他们是相同的。这一点可以从每年健康服务的药物帐单的天文数字得到证实，而且到目前为止，没有停止增长的迹象。在我们医院的医疗门诊部的大部分病人总觉得没有得到足够的治疗，除非他们带回家一些写着疗效的药瓶，一包药丸，或者是一小罐药膏。而部门的责任医师太过于情愿，以至于不能满足在他们的要求。在没有比给予病人自己要求的药能更快打发他们的了。因为医疗服务的大部分人都过度操劳，很少有时间给予既耗时又得不到病人重视的一些建议，例如饮食，合理生活，以及戒掉坏习惯等等。药瓶药罐也几乎允许他们这么做。不仅仅是一些无知的没有受过教育的人对药物有这种信任，
This is a sceptical age, but although our faith in many of the things in which our forefathers fervently believed has weakened, our confidence in the curative properties of the bottle of medicine remains the same as theirs. This modern faith in medicines is roved by the fact that the annual drug bill of the Health Services is mounting to astronomical figures and shows no signs at present of ceasing to rise. The majority of the patients attending the medical out-patients departments of our hospitals feel that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine, a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment, and the doctor in charge of the department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements. There is no quicker method of disposing of patients than by giving them what they are asking for, and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked and have little time for offering time-consuming and little-appreciated advice on such subjects as diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits, etc., the bottle, the box, and the jare are almost always granted them. Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who has such faith in the bottle of medicine, especially if it be warpped in white paper and sealed with a dab of red sealing-wax by a clever chemist. It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained of a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs Carlyles's. Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained, of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering, and of what had previously been wrong with his wife, but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be of equal benefit in another, and comforted by the thought of the help he was bringing to his friend, he hastened to Henry Taylor's house. History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in all probability he did. The great advantage of taking medicine is that it makes no demands on the taker beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste, and that is what all patients demand of their doctors -- to be cured at no inconvenience to themselves.
这是一个怀疑的年代，但是尽管我们父辈曾热诚相信的东西在我们这里的信念已经减弱了，我们对于写有疗效的药瓶的信心和他们是相同的。这一点可以从每年健康服务的药物帐单的天文数字得到证实，而且到目前为止，没有停止增长的迹象。在我们医院的医疗门诊部的大部分病人总觉得没有得到足够的治疗，除非他们带回家一些写着疗效的药瓶，一包药丸，或者是一小罐药膏。而部门的责任医师太过于情愿，以至于不能满足在他们的要求。在没有比给予病人自己要求的药能更快打发他们的了。因为医疗服务的大部分人都过度操劳，很少有时间给予既耗时又得不到病人重视的一些建议，例如饮食，合理生活，以及戒掉坏习惯等等。药瓶药罐也几乎允许他们这么做。不仅仅是一些无知的没有受过教育的人对药物有这种信任，
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