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Honey—Food or Medicine? What do we know about honey?

游客2024-08-11  29
问题                         Honey—Food or Medicine?
   What do we know about honey? It’s sweet and sticky, it tastes great on bread and in hot drinks, and it’s a pleasant alternative to sugar. However, there’s a lot more to honey than meets the eye, and one day it may replace many of the items in our medicine cabinets.

   Doctors throughout history have appreciated the medicinal properties of honey. In Ancient Egypt it was used to treat cuts and burns. The Ancient Romans used it to help people with sleeping disorders and the Ancient Greek used it to cure skin diseases, ulcers and sores. More recently, German doctors mixed it with cod liver oil to treat battle wounds during WWI, and opera singers have been known to use it to boost their energy and soothe their throats.
   Today, as homeopathic medicine is becoming more popular, honey has been rediscovered as a natural remedy and is being used successfully to treat many ailments such as anaemia, arthritis, colds and stomach ulcers. It is particularly effective in the treatment of burns and wounds. Honey aerosol sprays have even been used to treat chronic bronchitis.
   The beauty industry has also recognized the natural benefits of honey and there are many cosmetic companies which use honey-based products. These include creams, lotions, soaps and face masks which claim to help heal blemishes, reduce the appearance of scars, moisturise the skin, soften wrinkles and make skin look younger and healthier. There are also a number of honey-based hair care products which claim to strengthen hair and make it softer, shinier and healthier.
   Honey and products containing honey have always been popular items in health food shops. Honey is sold in various forms as a remedy for sore throats, stomach ulcers and as a gentle, natural laxative.
   What is it then that makes honey such an effective natural remedy? Well, after many years of research, biochemists still can’t say for certain. They have, however, managed to identify some of the healing properties in honey. Firstly, honey contains low levels of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical which kills bacteria. Secondly, it creates a moist environment when spread onto a wound which speeds up the natural healing process. Scientists have also found that certain types of honey act as antibiotics. In fact, honey is actually more effective than some of our current antibiotics because it works on certain microbes and bacteria that have developed a resistance to current antibiotic treatment. However, researchers have also found some types of honey are more beneficial than others. For example, honey containing nectar from the Australian jelly bush and the New Zealand tea tree plant have been found to possess more medicinal properties than other varieties.

   Medical researchers are still working on identifying the role that honey could play in future medical practices, but they all agree that we should not be using the honey in our kitchen cupboards to treat ourselves. This is because many commercial brands of honey actually contain bacteria which could contaminate an open wound. They also agree, unfortunately, that simply eating honey has minimal health benefits.
Questions 56 to 60
Fill in the blanks below with information from the passage, using no more than three words for each blank.
[br]
选项
答案 varieties
解析 (由倒数第二段末尾“For example，honey containing nectar from the Australian jelly bush and the New Zealand tea tree plant have been found to possess more medicinal properties than other varieties”可知，澳大利亚松红梅和新西兰茶树的蜂蜜比其他品种更具有医药价值。因此填varieties，表示“种类；变体”。)
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