American this year will swallow 15, 000 tons drugs of aspirin, one of safest and most effective invented by man. [1] ______ The most popular medicines in the world today, it is an ef- [2] ______ fective pain reliever. Its bad effects are relatively mild, and it is cheap. For millions of people suffered from arthritis, it is the [3] ______ only thing that works. Aspirin, in short, is truly the 20th - century wonder drug. It is also the second largest suicide drug and is the leading cause of poisoning between chil- [4] ______ dren. It has side effects that, if relatively mild, are largely [5] ______ unrecognized among users. Although aspirin was first sold by a German company in 1899, it has been around more longer than that. Hippocra- tes, in ancient Greece, understood the medical value of the leaves and tree bark which today are known to contain salic - [6] ______ ylates(水杨酸盐), the chemical in aspirin. During the 19th century,there was a great number of experimentation in Eu- [7] ______ rope with this chemical and it led in the introduction of aspi- rin. By 1915, aspirin tablets were available in the United [8] ______ States. A small quantity of aspirin (two five - grain tablets) relieves pain and inflammation. It also reduces down fever [9] ______ by interfering with some of the body’s reactions. Specifical- ly, aspirin seems to slow down the formation of the acids in- volved in pain and the complex chemical reactions that cause fever. The chemistry of these acids is not fully under- stood, and the slowing effect of aspirin is well known. [10] ______