Pain is easier to endure if you know you can end it. Speakers at a session on pain at the British Association's psychology section have new evidence to support this idea for two common experiences of pain: in childbirth and at the dentist's. On the other side of the coin, their inability to control pain may explain why some people with continual pain have psychological problems as well.
Dr. J. Robinson found out about the phenomenon of self-controlled pain almost by accident. He was studying the effects of analgesics used to control pain during childbirth and as part of the experiment made it possible for women having their child to press a button which gave an automatic injection—instead of having all injections made by the doctor. Afterwards these women did not say that they had less pain than other women in childbirth, but they did use considerable less of the drug.
J. Atkins, a dental surgeon, has observed a similar phenomenon. As part of their efforts to make dentistry painless, Atkins and researchers at Aston University in Birmingham offered patients a switch they could flip to turn off the dentist's drill whenever they chose. But, after trying the switch on 50 patients Atkins gave up; none of the patients had ever flipped the switch.
Perhaps the extra endurance was because the Aston team also use other methods to make dentistry painless. Apparently few other dentists are so considerate. The end result, according to the Birmingham survey, is that British people avoid going to the dentist, with the consequence that almost 30% of people in England and Wales have lost all their teeth, and more than seven out of ten have lost at least six teeth. Less than half of the public pay regular visits to the dentist. To find out why, Atkins and psychologist Cumberbatch interviewed a sample of patients attending a dental hospital. The most common reason people gave for not having dental check-ups were fear and pain.
By using a little care and taking time to explain what will happen, Atkins feels, dentists could overcome these fears. There are techniques for giving injections without pain, and a "calm unhurried approach" to drilling can make that painless, too.
Sadly, few dentists seem to take much trouble with their patients. "I am not nervous when I go to the dentist, and I do not have any pronounced sympathy for those who are, " said one dentist. "I tend to take the point of view that they are being unreasonable at my expense."
The passage most possibly comes from______.
A．a medical textbook
B．a psychology textbook
C．a popular magazine
D．a serious magazine
All of us have felt pain. We have cut ourselves. We have been burned. Or we have had headaches. Some of us suffer pain rarely_______46)
Pain can take complete control of our body and mind, making it impossible to move and even to think. Yet we need pain. Without it, we would not know if we have hurt ourselves. It is our body's warning system_________47)
Pain is the most common reason we go to a doctor. It is the most common reason we take medicines. Until recently, however, most doctors knew of only a few drugs that stopped some pains_________(48) But new knowledge about the process of pain is helping them to control pain better.
Scientists have learned that the sense of pain is made up of both chemical and electrical signals_________(49) Scientists also have learned that the nervous system sends two different kinds of pain messages to the brain: one very fast, the ether slow.
The first message is the warning signal. It moves at a speed of 30 meters a second. In less than a second, the brain understands that part of the body is hurt and how badly it is injured________(50) It tells us not to use the injured part until it heals.
A．And others have painful attacks all the time.
B．These signals travel from nerve cells in the injured area, up the spinal cord (脊髓) to the brain, and back down again.
C．It tells us that we are injured and should do something about it.
D．They knew little about the process of pain itself.
E．The other message moves at a speed of only one meter a second.
F． And they send the second, slower message of pain to the brain.
第 46 题 请选择（46）处的最佳答案．
