Although hard statistics are difficult to come by, there is substantial anecdotal evidence that use of performance-enhancing drugs, or doping, is rampant in professional sports. Of perhaps greater significance to society are the estimated 1.5 million amateur athletes who use steroids, either to improve their appearance or to emulate the performance of their favorite professional athletes. This chemical epidemic is a pernicious threat to both the nation’s health and our collective sense of “fair play.”
Nonprescription anabolic steroids have been illegal in the United States since 1991, and most professional sports leagues have banned them since the 1980s. These bans are partly a matter of fairness—a talented athlete trained to the peak of her ability simply cannot compete with an equivalent athlete using steroids—but also based on issues of health. Anabolic androgenic steroids (“anabolic” means that they build tissues; “androgenic” means that they increase masculine traits) have been linked to liver damage, kidney tumors, high blood pressure, balding, and acne. They function by increasing the body’s level of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone. In men, this dramatic increase in testosterone can lead to the shrinking of testicles, infertility, and the development of breasts; in women, it can lead to the growth of facial hair and permanent damage to the reproductive system. Steroids have also been linked to a range of psychological problems, including depression and psychotic rage.
The punishments for getting caught using steroids are severe, and the serious health consequences are well documented. Despite this, millions of professional and amateur athletes continue to use performance-enhancing drugs. Why is this? One clear pattern is that many athletes will do whatever it takes to get an edge on the competition. Since the 1950s, Olympic athletes have played a catand-mouse game with Olympic Committee officials to get away with doping, because the drugs really do work. Athletes who dope are simply stronger and faster than their competitors who play fair. Professional athletes in football and baseball have found that steroids and human growth hormone can give them the edge to score that extra touchdown or home run, and in the modern sports market, those results can translate into millions of dollars in salary. For the millions of less talented athletes in gyms and playing fields across the country, drugs seem like the only way to approach the abilities of their heroes in professional sports.
The other clear pattern, unfortunately, is that it has been all too easy for abusers to get away with it. Steroid abuse is often regarded as a “victimless crime.” One of the favored ways to trick the testers is to use “designer” steroids. There are thousands of permutations of testosterone, such as THG, that can be produced in a lab. Chemists have discovered that they can create new drugs that produce androgenic effects but do not set off the standard doping tests. Other methods have been to use the steroids but stop a few weeks before testing, to use other chemicals to mask the traces of steroids, or to switch in a “clean” sample of urine at the testing site. Other athletes use steroid precursors, such as androstenedione, that have androgenic effects similar to those of steroids but are not illegal because they are not technically steroids. The sad fact is that unless the government and professional sports organizations are willing to get tough on the steroid problem, the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports is not going to end.
1. What appears to be the primary purpose of this passage?A. To educate readers about the health threats involved in the use of performanceenhancing drugs
B. To analyze the ways in which professional athletes have eluded attempts to screen for performance-enhancing drugs
C. To discuss the reasons why performance-enhancing drugs are a dangerous and persistent problem for society
D. To complain about the inadequate efforts by government and professional sports organizations to eliminate the problem of performance-enhancing drugs
E. To argue that athletes, both professional and amateur, should not use performance enhancing drugs on the grounds that they are both dangerous and unfair
2. According to the passage, all of the following are known potential consequences of steroid use except for which of the following?A. Damage to reproductive organs
B. Decreased blood pressure
C. Increases in the user’s strength and speed
D. Kidney tumors
E. Increased risk of depression
3. The author’s attitude toward the problem of steroid abuse is best described as which of the following?A. Cautious but optimistic
B. Judgmental but supportive
C. Ambivalent but resigned
D. Curious but subjective
E. Concerned but pessimistic
4. Which of the following can be inferred about a long-distance race in which both athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs and those who do not use these drugs compete?A. The athletes using the drugs will be caught by the proper authorities and ejected from the race.
B. The athletes using the drugs will have a better chance of winning the race.
C. The athletes using the drugs will use steroid precursors that produce effects similar to those of androgenic drugs but are not technically steroids.
D. The athletes using the drugs are more likely to be professionals in their sport than the athletes who do not use such drugs.
E. The athletes using the drugs will be more likely to use any means possible to win the race, including intentional sabotage of the other racers’ equipment.
5. The relationship of an athlete who does not use performance-enhancing drugs to an athlete who does use such drugs is most similar to which of the following?A. The relationship of a farmer selling milk from cows that have been given bovine growth hormone, a legal drug that promotes greater than normal milk production, to a farmer selling milk from cows that have not been given bovine growth hormone
B. The relationship of a chess player to a competitor who uses psychological tricks in order to gain an advantage
C. The relationship of a boxer in the lightweight class to a boxer in the heavyweight class
D. The relationship of a person taking a standardized test according to the rules to a person taking the same test while using an illegal hidden calculator
E. The relationship of a person entering a pig in an agricultural contest to a person entering a guinea pig in the same contest
6. According to the passage, which of the following can be inferred about the “designer” steroid THG?A. It can increase masculine traits in users without setting off standard doping tests.
B. It does not cause the health problems associated with traditional anabolic steroids.
C. Even if professional sports organizations could detect THG, they would take no action against those who use it.
D. It is a chemical permutation of progesterone, a hormone that has powerful effects on the human body.
E. Because it is a “designer” steroid, it is more expensive than generic steroids.
7. Which of the following best expresses the role of the third paragraph in the overall structure of the passage?A. It redirects the theme of the passage from presenting a problem to explaining the reasons for the problem’s severity.
B. It introduces a new concept that defines the rest of the passage.
C. It provides an answer to a question posed in the first two paragraphs.
D. It refutes the central hypothesis of the second paragraph and poses a question that is answered in the following paragraphs.
E. It narrows the focus of the passage from the general themes of the first two paragraphs to the more specific themes of the last two paragraphs.
close
Updated on: 13 Sep 2019, 03:16
44%
(03:10) wrong 
