2. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What reasons are given for improved performance?

2. How did drugs distort world records in the 1980s?

3. What would the effect of ‘gene-doping’ be?

4. What was the original ‘Olympic spirit’?

3. Complete the following sentences using suitable words or phrases from the box and translate them:

equipment drugs gene therapy

1. If records fall, it is usually due to better _________, training and diet.

2. Scientists have already found ways to build muscle and increase stamina through _________.

3. One factor is the use of performance-enhancing _________.

4. If _________ were used now? It would be almost impossible to detect.

UNIT 4

The Pick-Up Primer

I. Vocabulary focus

1. Useful words for learning:

pick up - чувствительность, восприятие

to ingest - глотать, проглатывать

abuse - неправильное употребление

over-the-counter drugs - патентованные лекарства

acuity - острый характер

remedy - лекарство

claim - требование, претензия, иск

to enhance - увеличивать

herbal - травяной

euphoria - эйфория (мед.)

alertness - состояние тревоги

rejuvenation - омоложение

nausea - тошнота

mental agility - умственная активность

ginseng - женьшень

barbiturates - барбитураты

dull - притуплять (чувства)

drowsiness - сонливость

addiction - пагубная привычка

to alleviate - облегчать (боль)

dizziness - головокружение

faint - обморок, потеря сознания

2. Match the following adjectives with the corresponding nouns and translate them:

1. herbal a) remedy

2. powerful b) energy

3. muscular c) behavior

4. addictive d) drug

5. medical e) stimulant

6. antisocial f) supplement

7. mild g) pill

II. Reading

1. Read and translate text 1: Text 1

From caffeine to cocaine, stimulants have been ingested ever since man stayed up late enough to feel tired. Here’s what will wake you up - and bring you down

Thousands of years ago, Arab herdsmen discovered that coffee beans and khat leaves - which they were turned on to by stoned goats, according to myth - could relieve the monotony of the desert and keep them going well into the night. Long before white men discovered cocaine, native Peruvians chewed coca leaves to relieve hunger, thirst and fatigue on treks through the mountains. And in West Africa, generations of hunters turned to the iboga shrub - whose alkaloids boosted energy and in creased visual acuity - to help them make the kill. These days, the weary are opting for herbal energy boosters and so-called smart drugs.

The most powerful stimulants available today - amphetamines, for example - are considered dangerous drugs with a high potential for abuse, and their distribution and use is strictly controlled by the government. Although the way they act on the body is still not completely understood, stimulants are classified as sympathomimetic drugs - that is, they induce reactions that mimic those produced by the central nervous system. Not only do such drugs give you a powerful lift, they also drop you hard when the high abates.

Less powerful and less addictive stimulants, such as concentrated caffeine, are classified as over-the-counter drugs; their approval and use is monitored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And still others - namely, herbal remedies and nutritional supplements that make no specific medical claims - go largely unregulated; their purported modes of action and their effectiveness (claimed mainly by alternative healers) are generally mocked by the scientific and medical Establishment.

What follows is a guide to nine selected stimulants of varying popularity and efficacy. Consult your doctor (and perhaps your lawyer) before you take any of them.

AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENTS (smart nutrients)

What they do: Health-food companies claim they’re supposed to make you feel younger, more energetic and mentally sharper. Branched- chain amino acids (BCAAs), one category of smart drugs, are reputed to benefit athletic performance because, some people maintain, they build muscle, enhance protein synthesis in the body, reduce protein breakdown in the muscles and provide a source of muscular energy. BCAAs also supposedly stimulate the endocrine system, which produces muscle-building and energy-boosting hormones.

The downside: The FDA is skeptical of the benefits of amino acid supplements and calls some of them “potentially harmful.”

AMPHETAMINES (speed, bennies, black beauties, ice, crank)

What they do: Amphetamines, illegal except by prescription, are sympathomimetic drugs that cause euphoria, an increase in mental alertness and motor activity and a diminished sense of fatigue.

The downside: Weight loss, blurred vision, heart trouble, addiction, jail time, death.

BEE POLLEN

What it does: Herbalists contend that bee pollen - the fine powder produced by the anthers of flowers and gathered by bees - promotes rejuvenation of the body and increases stamina and the production of hormones (especially sex hormones). As a supplement, it is taken in granule form.

The downside: If you’re allergic to bees, you may be allergic to bee pollen.

COCAINE (coke, snow, blow, nose candy, Bolivian marching powder, rock or crack [ crystalline form])

What it does: When chewed like a cud by Andean Indians, the leaves of the coca bush (Erythroxylon coca) provide a euphoric lift and reduce sensations of hunger, thirst, fatigue and altitude sickness. When refined to its most potent forms - cocaine powder and crack - it’s among the most powerful and addictive central-nervous stimulants around, temporarily eliminating fatigue and producing seemingly boundless energy and alertness (as well as highly elevated blood pressure and a rapid heart rate).

The downside: Antisocial behavior (including paranoia and psychosis), addiction, profound weight loss, nosebleeds, a long prison sentence, death.

COFFEE (cafe, caffe, Kaffee, java, Joe)

What it does: The most potent component of coffee is caffeine, which is a powerful stimulant of the central nervous system. (Caffeine is also available in tablet form, like NoDoz.)

The downside: Too much coffee can cause restlessness, depression, a rapid heartbeat, tremors, insomnia, high urine output and nausea. Depending on your metabolism, one cup could cause these symptoms. A hundred cups of coffee (containing a total of about ten grams of caffeine) could kill you.

GINKGO

What it does: For centuries, Chinese physicians have used preparations made from the leaves and nuts of the ginkgo tree to improve circulation, promote mental agility, treat respiratory problems and boost sagging erections. Ginkgo is also believed to help slow the aging process and relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis and other problems associated with aging.

The downside: Some herbalists say taking large doses (more than three grams daily) for long periods of time can cause headaches and irritability.

GINSENG (sang, five-fingers root, garantogen, red berry)

What it does: Preparations (usually oral) made from all forms of the ginseng root have been used throughout Asia for centuries as a longevity tonic; the Greek root of the plant’s scientific name, Panax, means “panacea.” Some herbalists attribute aphrodisiac qualities to ginseng. Generally, though, ginseng is considered a mild stimulant, an enhancer of stamina and of athletic performance.

The downside: Ginseng is believed by herbalists to have androgenic effects - that is, when taken by pregnant women, it produces infants with enlarged nipples and pubic hair (yikes!).

GOTU KOLA (Asiatic pennywort)

What it does: Prepared from an herb found primarily in subcontinental Asia and Eastern Europe, gotu kola is often prescribed following a nervous breakdown because it is thought to help the body rebuild energy reserves and restore physical power.

The downside: Unknown.

GUARANA

What it does: Although Brazilian natives make a drink from the seeds and dried bark of this woody jungle vine, Americans take guarana for the most part in tablet form. Guarana causes alertness and excitation of the central nervous system - as well it should, since caffeine is its active ingredient.

The downside: All the risks of caffeine. See “Coffee.”

Notes:

primer - букварь

herdsman - пастух

to chew - живость

to mock - высмеивать

diminished - уменьшенный

blurred vision - нечеткое зрение

aphrodisiac - возбуждающий