PaginePaginepagineapp.comRead the text. Answer using evidence from the text.
In clinical trials, some patients receive an inactive treatment — a sugar pill or saline injection — without knowing it. Remarkably, many report feeling better. This is the placebo effect.
The effect is strongest for symptoms the brain helps regulate, such as pain, nausea and fatigue. Brain imaging studies show that expecting relief can trigger the release of the body’s own pain-relieving chemicals.
Context matters. Studies have found that more expensive-looking pills, injections rather than pills and warm, attentive doctors can all strengthen placebo responses. In some studies, patients improved even when told they were taking a placebo.
Because of the placebo effect, new drugs must outperform placebos in controlled trials to be approved. The effect also reminds doctors that how care is delivered can influence how patients heal.
| Central idea | |
|---|---|
| Key detail 1 | |
| Key detail 2 |
Worksheets › Grade 12 English › Reading Informational Text › Reading Informational Text
Free Grade 12 English worksheet (Common Core RI.11-12.1): read the informational text "The Placebo Effect", find the main idea and answer questions with evidence. Skill: Key ideas and details in informational text. Level: Grade 12 — also suits Year 13 (UK).
Yes — it is free to print for home or the classroom. Sign in with a free Pagine account, then use the Print button or save it as a PDF.
It is designed for Grade 12 (ages 17–18), but use it with any child who is ready.
Key ideas and details in informational text.
Pagine's free library has 20,000+ children's books you can read in the Pagine e-reader or the free Pagine app — sorted by age and grade, with free audiobooks too.
Reading Informational Text: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work (Grade 12) · Reading Informational Text: Should Social Media Companies Be Regulated Like Publishers? (Grade 12) · Reading Informational Text: The Great Migration (Grade 12) · Reading Informational Text: Dark Matter (Grade 12)
All 5 reading informational text sheets → · Grade 12 English: all 10 skills → · All Common Core grades
Pair this grade 12 worksheet with a story. Pagine's free library has 20,000+ children's books — classic novels, drama, poetry and non-fiction, classics and free audiobooks — that you can read right in the Pagine e-reader on any phone, tablet or computer, with adjustable text size and night mode. No ads.
Browse free grade 12 books → · Grade 12 reading level · Free audiobooks · High school reading list
📱 Get the free Pagine app — log every book your child reads (scan the barcode or search), set reading goals, and watch streaks and badges grow. Download on the App Store · Get it on Google Play