likely to suffer from colds, according to a new study. " It"spossiblethatbeingupbeathelpsthe
bodyfight illnesses", says Sheldon Cohen, the study"s lead researcher from Camegie Mellon
University( CMU) in Pittsburgh.
In a previous study,Cohen and his colleagues put cold-causing viruses into the noses
of 334 healthy adults. People who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to
develop sniffles, coughs , and other cold symptoms. People who showed positive feelings
were also less likely to mention symptoms to their doctors , even whenmedical tests
detected those symptoms.
Those findings were interesting, but they didn"t prove that a person"s attitude affects
whether he or she gets sick. Instead,it was still possible that a person"s underlying
personality is what matters.Evidence suggests, for instance, that certain people are
naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic , with high self-esteem and a sense
of control over life. This would mean that who we are, not how we feel, ultimately
decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more ( personality or emotions) , the CMU team
interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone
every evening for 2 weeks. At the end of the interviewing period, people got nose drops
that contained either cold or flu viruses. Then, each person stayed in an isolated room
for 5 0r 6 days. The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get
infected. Their symptoms, however, differed depending on the types of emotions that
they had reported over the previous 2 weeks. Among those who reported good moods
and had been infected with the flu virus, for example,28 percent developed coughs and
stuffy noses. On the other hand, those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had
been less upbeat.
B. An Interesting Way to Beat Colds
C. Be Outgoing and Optimistic to Fight Colds
D. What Matters More, Personality or Emotions?
B. developed cold symptoms more slowly
C. were less likely to have cold symptoms detected
D. were less likely to feel cold symptoms
C. Emotions.D. Attitudes.
B. something that results in cold
C. signs that something exists , especially something bad
D. changes in your body or mind that show that you are not healthy
When one person gains weight , their close friends oftenfollow. Researchers have just
offered evidence in a study that says obesity (肥胖) appears to spread through social ties.
But the findings might also offer hope.
If friends help make obesity acceptable , then they might also be influential in losing the
fat.The researchers note that support groups are already an effective tool in dealing with
other socially influenced problems , likealcoholism (酗酒 ) .
The findings appeared in the New EngLand Journal of Medicine. The researchers used
information collected from 12, 000 people. It was collected between 1972 and 2003 as
part of the Framingham Heart Study.
The information was highly detailed. There was even contact information(联络信息 )
for close friends of the people in the study.
The researchers examined more than 40 , 000 social ties. They found a person"s
chances of becoming severely overweight increased by 50% if a friend had become
obese.
A sister or brother of a person who became obese had a 40% increased chance of
becoming obese. The risk for a wife or husband was a little less than that.
Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School was a lead researcher in the study.
He says there is a direct causal relationship (因果关系) betweena persongetting fatand
being followed in weight gain by a friend.
The study found that the sex of the friends was also an influence. In same-sex
friendship, a person had a 71%increased risk of becoming obese. Men had a 44%
increased risk of becoming obese after weight gainin a brother. In sisters ,it was 67% .
The researchers also considered the effect of where people lived in relation to each
other. James Fowler of the University of California,was the other lead expert. He says
a friend who lives a few hundred kilometers away has as much influence as one in the
same neighhorhood. He says the study demonstrates the need to consider that a major
part of people"s health is tied to their social connections.
Both researchers say their research shows that obesity is not just a private medical
issue , but a public health problem.
B. Friends might also play a part in losing weight.
C. One might have positive influence on one"s friend.
D. Friendship may have little to do with one"s health.
B. Social problems like alcoholism are easy to deal with.
C. Friends usually don"t follow each other to lose weight.
D. One might influence others on their social behavior.
B. 40%
C. 67%
D. 71%
B. one"s health has nothing to do with friends
C. social connections have effects on one"s life
D. a friend living faraway has the same influence as one"s neighbor
B. friends living closer have greater influence on one"s health
C. social relationship is closely connected with people"s health
D. people"s physical condition is subject to social connections
Starving polar bears are eating one another in the Arctic. Flowers are blooming
(盛开) too soon and die. The ice caps are melting so fast that rising water levels will
threaten coastal towns along Florida within several decades. These are just a few
examples of the terrible consequences of climate change discovered by a new research
in Nature that paints a dark portrait of what a warming world will look like in the years
to come.
The researchers analyzed 829 abnormal phenomena-including melting glaciers
(冰川)-along with nearly 30, 000 changes in plants and animals.and found that about
90% of them are in sync
(同步) with scientists" predictions about how global warming will change the planet.
"In the past three decades, average global temperatures have risen about 0. 60C
and are projected to jump by about l.7℃ by the end of the century," says Cynthia
Rosenzweig, who leads the Climate Impacts Group at NASA"s Goddard Institute
for Space Studies at Columbia University in New York. " We"ve already seen that
a relatively low amount of warming, "she says , " can result in a broad range of changes. "
The unnatural warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases , especially carbon
dioxide produced by cars and coal-powered plants, brings trouble for entire ecosystems.
In North America alone, scientists have identified 89species of plants . such as the
American holly , which have flowered earlier in the spring. In Spain , apple trees bloom
35 days ahead of schedule. in response to the higher temperatures. Other wildlife ,
liketheinsects that use certain plants for food and the birds that feed on the insects, must
then move forward their seasonal stirrings and mating patterns to survive.
To try to follow this time shift.some birds such as robins.the classic symbol of
winter"sthaw , are returning toColorado fromtheir migrations some two weeks earlier
than in years past. All these changes can throw a food chain in disorder, some bird
species that arrive before the insects reappear may starve to death.
"Around the world, plants and animals "are waking up to an earlier alarm clock than
they used to, "says "rerry Root, a biologist from Stanford University.
to_____.
B. present the results of a recent research
C. indicate the earth is now in great danger
D. call readers" attention to the new research
B. global warming has changed all the plants and animals
C. melting glaciers have caused the worst side effects
D. scientists made wrong predictions about the future of earth
B. Because certain trees bloom a month ahead of time.
C. Because they need to follow some insects for food.
D. Because the plants they use to hunt food bloom late.
B. They used to come back when spring came.
C. They used to predict the change of weather.
D. They usually migrate when seasons change.
B. Humans Are Causing the World to Heat Up
C. The Terrible Consequences of Climate Change
D. Global Warming Is Changing Nature"s Clock
cancer, intelligence Such news stories may lead us to believe our lives are being revolutionized by
genetic discoveries. We may be close to changing and getting rid of mental illness, for example and
identify the causes of crime, personality, and other basic human weaknesses.
But these hopes, it turns out, are based on faulty assumptions about genes and behavior.
In many cases, people are motivated to accept research claims by the hope of finding solutions
for frightening problems, like breast cancer. Accepting genetic causes for their characteristics can
relieve guilt about behavior they want to change but can"t. Efforts made to fight against them, at
growing expense, have made little or no visible progress. The public wants to hear that science can
help.
Meanwhile, genetic claims are being made for many ordinary and abnormal behaviors, from
addiction to shyness and even to political views and divorce . If who we are is determined from
pregnancy, then our efforts to change or to influence our children may be useless. There may also
be no basis for insisting that people behave themselves and obey laws. Thus, the revolution in thinking
about genes has great consequences for how we view ourselves as human beings.
Most claims linking emotional disorders and behaviors to genes are statistical in nature. The
research finds are insufficient for deciding that alcoholism or manic-depression (躁狂抑郁症患者)
is inherited. In the late 1980s, genes for manic-depression were identified by teams of geneticists. The
claims have now been definitively proved wrong.
Genetic data on the major mental illnesses make it clear that they can"t be reduced to purely genetic
causes. According to Myrna Weissman, Ph.D., Americans born before 1905 had a 1 percent rate
of depression by age 75. Among Americans born a half century later, 6 percent become depressed
by age 24! Similarly, while the average age at which manic-depression first appears was 32 in the mid
1960s, its average beginning today is 19. Only social factors can produce such large shifts in rate and
age of beginning of mental disorders in a few decades.
Scientists actively debate whether disorders like alcoholism are more or less biologically driven.
If they are mainly biological-rather than psychological, social, and cultural-then there may be a genetic
basis for them. In 1990,Kenneth Blum, Ph.D., of the University of Texas, and Ernest Noble, M.D.,
of the University of California, Los Angeles, found a certain gene in 70 percent of a group of alcoholics,
but in only 20 percent of a non-alcoholic group. But in 1993 Joel Gelernter, M.D., of Yale and his
colleagues surveyed all the studies that examined this gene and alcoholism. Different from Blum and
Noble"s research, the results were that 18 percent of non-alcoholics, 18 percent of problem drinkers,
and 18 percent of severe alcoholics all had the gene. As for Blum and Noble"s work, a more reasonable
model is that genes may affect how people experience alcohol. Perhaps some people"s nerves are more
activated by alcohol. But although genes can influence reactions to alcohol, they cannot explain why
some people continue drinking to the point of destroying their lives.
Therefore, claims that our genes cause our problems, our misbehavior, even our personalities are
more a mirror of our culture"s attitudes than a window for human understanding and change.
B. changed
C. misunderstood
D. disturbed
B. We are close to finding solutions to human weaknesses.
C. The public wants scientists to help fight against illnesses.
D. Americans became depressed at an early age for genetic causes.
B. We may think of who we are differently
C. We can change our children"s behavior
D. We need to make greater efforts to behave ourselves
B. Genes can explain why people drink too much.
C. Perhaps drinking is more rewarding for alcoholics.
D. There was no link between gene and alcoholism.
B. Nature and Education
C. Here"s the Myth of Genes
D. Genetic Discoveries
researchers.
Their study found that theobromine , found in cocoa, was nearlv a third more effective in stopping
coughs than codeine,which was considered the best cough medicine at present.
The Imperial College London researchers who published their resulcs online said the discovery could
lead to more effective cough treatment. "While coughing is not necessarily harmful it can have a major
effect on the quality of life,and this discoverv could be a huge step forward in treating this problem. " said
Professor Peter Barnes.
Ten healthy volunteers were given theobromine,codeine or a placebo, a pill that contains no medicine,
during the experiment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill. The
researchers then measured levels of capsaicin,which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign
of how well the medicines arc stopping coughs.
The team found that . when the volunteers were given theobromine , the capsaicin needed to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group. When they were given codeine they needed
only slightly higher levels of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.
The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a nerve activity , which causes
coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side
effects such as sleepiness.
B. can be harmful to people"s health
C. cannot be separated from chocolate
D. can be a more effective cure for coughs
B. Codeine.
C. Capsaicin.
D. Placebo.
B. were divided into three groups
C. received standard treatments
D. suffered little side effects
B. Chocolate May Cure Coughs
C. Cough Treatment:A Hard Case
D. Theobromine Can Cause Coughs
This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year,
people are dying of cancer, more people contract (感染)HIV, more teens are using
drugs, etc. You know this because you"ve heard all the statistics on the news and in
the paper. But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers
are going up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases
of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the
diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics
mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous.
For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the
chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical,found in most cancerous
umors(肿瘤 ) ,is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes
complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once.
After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class
voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true,
yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made the mistake
because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the
chemical"s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being
said. When one finds a new fact or number , one should try to consider other
important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always
remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and
will leave out information that is different to his view. For example, look again at
the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people may die each year when
skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous?
If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number
of people who are in danger of a lightening strike. When you think about it ,skiing
is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics. lf we
teenagers are to be left this world. we had better be able to think critically, and
form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another"s. To be warned
is to be prepared.
B. We get a lot of" false statistics from the media.
C. There are around us more and more murders,diseases etc.
D. Statistics alone without full background doesn"t give us an accurate picture of things.
B. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.
C. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.
D. To warn us of the harmful substance around us.
B. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true
C. too much information will make readers feel confused
D. readers are not able to analyze so much information at once
B. We should leam to think critically and look at problems from all sides.
C. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.
D. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong
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