EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Placebo Effect

A sugar pill, by every chemical measure, does nothing. And yet patients who swallow one, convinced that it is a powerful drug, frequently report that their pain eases, their nausea subsides, or their mood lifts. This is the placebo effect, and for decades it was dismissed as a nuisance—a statistical ghost that clinical trials had to subtract before judging whether a real treatment worked. More recently, however, researchers have come to see the phenomenon not as noise to be eliminated but as a window onto the intricate dialogue between mind and body. The mechanism is far from mystical. Brain imaging shows that the mere expectation of relief can trigger the release of the body's own painkillers, the endorphins, and can quiet the neural circuits that register pain. In other words, belief is translated into measurable chemistry. The ritual surrounding treatment matters too: a pill taken from the hand of a confident, attentive physician tends to outperform the identical pill dispensed without ceremony. Even the colour and price of a tablet can shift how strongly it acts. These findings carry a provocative implication. If expectation can heal, then the way medicine is delivered—the words a doctor chooses, the warmth of the encounter—is not mere bedside manner but part of the therapy itself. Critics caution against overstating the case: placebos rarely shrink tumours or mend broken bones, and trumpeting their power risks luring desperate patients toward quackery. Still, the lesson is hard to ignore. The brain is not a passive recipient of medicine but an active participant in healing, and a discipline that once treated the mind as an inconvenient variable may have to learn to enlist it as an ally.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

Doctors should deceive patients with sugar pills whenever real treatments are unavailable.
Placebos are powerful enough to replace conventional drugs for most serious illnesses.
Clinical trials have become unreliable because they cannot account for the placebo effect.
The placebo effect, once treated as a statistical nuisance, is now seen as evidence of a genuine mind-body interaction worth harnessing.

Phrase

not as noise to be eliminated but as a window onto the intricate dialogue between mind and body

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

プラセボ効果は『邪魔な雑音』から『心身の対話を映す窓』へと評価が転換した、が論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「The placebo effect, once treated as a statistical nuisance, is now seen as evidence of a genuine mind-body interaction worth harnessing.」

正解

本文は (1) 砂糖の錠剤が症状を和らげる→ (2) かつては差し引くべき nuisance だったが今は mind と body の対話を映す窓と見る→ (3) 仕組みは神秘でなく期待が化学に変わる→ (4) 治療の届け方も療法の一部、という流れ。最終段の enlist it as an ally まで一貫して『邪魔者から活用すべき現象へ』という転換を述べるので、これが主旨。

「Placebos are powerful enough to replace conventional drugs for most serious illnesses.」
= 重い病の大半で通常薬に取って代われるほど強力 ━ 本文は placebos rarely shrink tumours or mend broken bones と明言しており言い過ぎ。
「Clinical trials have become quite unreliable because they cannot properly account for the placebo effect in any way.」
= プラセボ効果を扱えず臨床試験は信頼できない ━ 試験はむしろプラセボ分を差し引くと述べられており、試験が信頼できないとは言っていない。
「Doctors should deceive patients with sugar pills whenever real treatments are unavailable.」
= 本物の治療がない時は砂糖の錠剤で患者を騙すべき ━ 欺瞞の推奨は本文にない。論点は心身相互作用の活用であって欺瞞ではない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
by every chemical measure	あらゆる化学的尺度で	by every chemical measure, it does nothing
be dismissed as ~	~として一蹴される	It was dismissed as a nuisance.
a window onto ~	~を映す窓	a window onto the mind-body link
not A but B	AではなくB	not noise but a window
come to see ~ as ...	~を…と見るようになる	researchers came to see it as a window

❝例文

The effect was long dismissed as a mere nuisance.
その効果は長らく単なる邪魔者として一蹴されていた。
Researchers came to see the data as a window onto the brain.
研究者はそのデータを脳を映す窓と見るようになった。
By every chemical measure the pill is inert.
あらゆる化学的尺度でその錠剤は不活性だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は第1段末の 'not X but Y' と最終段の結論文を結ぶ。両方が同じ転換を示すなら、それが主旨である可能性が高い。

問 2

According to the passage, how was the placebo effect generally regarded for many years?

As the single most important factor in the success of any medication.
As a proven cure that physicians actively prescribed to their patients.
As a supernatural force that science was unable to investigate at all.
As an unwanted statistical artefact that trials had to remove before evaluating a real treatment.

Phrase

a statistical ghost that clinical trials had to subtract before judging whether a real treatment worked

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

かつてプラセボ効果は『試験が差し引くべき統計上の幽霊=邪魔者』とされていた。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「As an unwanted statistical artefact that trials had to remove before evaluating a real treatment.」

正解

第1段で it was dismissed as a nuisance—a statistical ghost that clinical trials had to subtract と述べる。statistical ghost を statistical artefact、subtract を remove、judging を evaluating に置換した『試験が本物の治療を評価する前に取り除くべき望ましくない統計上の産物』が正解。

「As a proven cure that physicians had once actively prescribed to their own patients.」
= 医師が積極的に処方した実証済みの治療 ━ かつての評価は『邪魔者』であり、処方すべき治療とは見なされていなかった。
「As a supernatural force that science was unable to investigate at all.」
= 科学が一切調べられない超自然の力 ━ 第2段は The mechanism is far from mystical と明言しており逆。
「As the single most important factor in the success of any medication.」
= あらゆる薬の成功で最も重要な唯一の要因 ━ そのような最上級の主張は本文にない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
be dismissed as a nuisance	邪魔者として退けられる	it was dismissed as a nuisance
a statistical ghost	統計上の幽霊	a statistical ghost in the data
subtract A before V-ing	Vする前にAを差し引く	subtract it before judging
whether ~ worked	~が効いたかどうか	judging whether a treatment worked
for decades	何十年も	for decades it was ignored

❝例文

The effect was dismissed as a statistical nuisance.
その効果は統計上の邪魔者として退けられた。
Trials subtract the placebo response before judging a drug.
試験は薬を判定する前にプラセボ反応を差し引く。
For decades the data was treated as noise.
何十年もそのデータは雑音として扱われた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『how was X regarded』型は時制 (was / had to) に注目し、かつての評価を述べた文を探す。比喩 (statistical ghost) は中立語 (artefact) に置換されることが多い。

問 3

According to the passage, what does brain imaging reveal about how placebos work?

The brain blocks all incoming signals once any pill is swallowed.
Endorphins are released only when a genuine drug is administered.
Expecting relief can prompt the body to release its own painkillers and calm pain-registering circuits.
Sugar pills contain trace chemicals that directly stimulate the brain.

Phrase

the mere expectation of relief can trigger the release of the body's own painkillers, the endorphins, and can quiet the neural circuits that register pain

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

脳画像→期待だけでエンドルフィン放出を促し、痛みを記録する神経回路を鎮める。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Expecting relief can prompt the body to release its own painkillers and calm pain-registering circuits.」

正解

第2段で Brain imaging shows that the mere expectation of relief can trigger the release of ... endorphins, and can quiet the neural circuits that register pain と述べる。trigger the release を prompt to release、quiet を calm に置換した選択肢が本文と一致する。

「Sugar pills contain trace chemicals that directly stimulate the receptors in the brain.」
= 砂糖の錠剤は脳を直接刺激する微量化学物質を含む ━ 本文は錠剤が by every chemical measure does nothing と述べており、効くのは期待であって錠剤の化学成分ではない。
「The brain blocks all incoming signals once any pill is swallowed.」
= 錠剤を飲むと脳は全ての信号を遮断する ━ 本文は痛みの回路を quiet する (鎮める) と言うだけで『全信号を遮断』とは言っていない。
「Endorphins are released only when a genuine drug is administered.」
= エンドルフィンは本物の薬を投与した時のみ放出される ━ 本文はまさに期待だけで放出されると述べており正反対。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
the mere expectation of ~	~という期待だけで	the mere expectation of relief
trigger the release of ~	~の放出を引き起こす	trigger the release of endorphins
quiet the circuits	回路を鎮める	quiet the neural circuits
be translated into ~	~に翻訳される	belief is translated into chemistry
register pain	痛みを記録する	circuits that register pain

❝例文

Expectation alone can trigger the release of endorphins.
期待だけでエンドルフィンの放出を引き起こせる。
The drug quiets the circuits that register pain.
その薬は痛みを記録する回路を鎮める。
Belief is translated into measurable chemistry.
信念は測定可能な化学反応に翻訳される。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は段落を特定 (ここは第2段の brain imaging) してから動詞句 (trigger / quiet) を置換語 (prompt / calm) と照合する。錠剤の化学成分への言及は第1段の『何もしない』と矛盾する罠。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Placebo Effect

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

not as noise to be eliminated but as a window onto the intricate dialogue between mind and body

a statistical ghost that clinical trials had to subtract before judging whether a real treatment worked

the mere expectation of relief can trigger the release of the body's own painkillers, the endorphins, and can quiet the neural circuits that register pain

EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Placebo Effect