《考研英語閱讀理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 25 - TEXT THREE

Everyone is interested in whether different foods or nutrients affect our odds of getting diseases like cancer or of developing risk factors for those diseases, such as too much weight or high blood pressure. But there are many barriers to studying dietary change, which is why we still have no easy answers to the question of what, exactly, we should eat to be at our healthiest. It's also why you can be forgiven for often feeling whipsawed by headlines: Is coffee good or bad? What about alcohol, garlic, or chocolate?
This week researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that breast cancer survivors who cram their diets with fruits and vegetables are no more likely to escape a recurrence than women who stick to the usual five-a-day recommendation. Does that mean fruits and vegetables don't protect against cancer? No—just that in this specific group of women with breast cancer, the extra greens and additional apples didn't seem to help.
We asked researchers to explain why studies involving dietary changes are so hard to do—and what consumers should keep in mind when they read about them. Here's what the experts said:
Most diet studies take place in the real world. That means study subjects are keeping diaries of what they eat as they go rather than having their intake strictly controlled by someone else. You can give them meal advice, counseling, and how-to books up to their ears, but at the end of the day, they are on their own when it comes to what they put in their mouths. It's easier to get people to add something—like garlic, in the form of tasty sandwich spreads, or dark chocolate—than to take something away; no wonder a recent study comparing low-fat and low-carb diet plans found that almost no one was sticking to them by the end.
In studies focusing on diet, including the recent study on breast cancer recurrence, the amount of calories subjects reported eating would have caused them to lose far more weight than they actually did lose. The misreporting isn't necessarily vicious, but the inaccuracies add up. Say you're phoned about your daily intake on a day when it was someone's birthday at work and you had a slice of cake. You may not report it, thinking that a typical day wouldn't include the cake... forgetting yesterday's “special occasion” piece of pizza, and the Big Gulp of the day before. Or, despite the portion size guides you get, you characterize your bagel from the deli as a 4-ounce standard serving when a 4-ounce bagel hasn't been sighted in any major city for a decade.
“You can't put a camera in everyone's belly and see exactly what they ate,” says Christopher Gardner, a nutrition scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center who has recently published research on garlic and diet plans. You can get around this in some studies by taking objective measurements. Weight, for example, or if you're assessing intake of fruits and veggies, you can measure the level of pigments called carotenoids in the blood. In the breast cancer study, blood tests showed that the study subjects actually did eat more fruits and veggies (carotenoid concentration was 73 percent higher in those women after one year and 43 percent higher after four years). But objective measures can't definitively nail down whether someone is eating nutrients in certain proportions.
1. One can be forgiven for feeling whipsawed by those headlines because _____.
[A] there is no solid and convincing scientific hypothesis on these subjects
[B] the question about what the healthiest food is has no answers
[C] opinions on these subjects are quite contradictory
[D] there is no authoritative answer to these questions
2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the conclusion of the study on breast cancer recurrence?
[A] Women who stick to the five-a-day recommendation are less likely to have a recurrence.
[B] Women who eat extra greens and vegetables are less likely to escape a recurrence.
[C] Women could depend on fruit diet to avoid the breast cancer recurrence.
[D] Fruits and vegetables are no good to women with breast cancer.
3. From the results of the studies focusing on diet, it can be inferred that _____.
[A] the amount of calories set in diet could not help people to lose weight
[B] people are reluctant to take part in such studies
[C] it is difficult to get valuable conclusion from these studies
[D] this kind of studies is not objective enough
4. The fact that a 4-ounce bagel hasn't been sighted in any major city for a decade implies that _____.
[A] you should re-examine the standard size of the food you intake
[B] you tend to give an inaccurate report of your actual diet
[C] you fail to cooperate with the doctor by false record of your daily food
[D] you make a mistake in noting down the size of standard serving
5. The limitation of the objective measurements mentioned in the last paragraph is that _____.
[A] they could only assess the proportion of fruits and veggies study subjects have taken
[B] they could not have the subjects follow exactly the food proportion of their diet
[C] they could not identify the levels of all the nutrients in patients' blood
[D] they could not tell the exact proportions of nutrients study subjects have eaten

1. One can be forgiven for feeling whipsawed by those headlines because _____.
[A] there is no solid and convincing scientific hypothesis on these subjects
[B] the question about what the healthiest food is has no answers
[C] opinions on these subjects are quite contradictory
[D] there is no authoritative answer to these questions
1. 人們看到那些新聞標題會覺得很迷茫，這可以理解，因為 _____。
[A] 關(guān)于這些主題的研究還沒有得出可靠和可信的科學假設
[B] 關(guān)于什么食物是最健康的這個話題是沒有答案的
[C] 關(guān)于這些話題的觀點分歧很大
[D] 這些問題不存在權(quán)威的答案
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：推理題。根據(jù)第一段：But there are many barriers to studying dietary change, which is why we still have no easy answers to the question of what, exactly, we should eat to be at our healthiest. 即因為要進行飲食變化調(diào)查的障礙很多，所以在該問題上并沒有一定的答案，因此，選項D最為符合題意。
2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the conclusion of the study on breast cancer recurrence?
[A] Women who stick to the five-a-day recommendation are less likely to have a recurrence.
[B] Women who eat extra greens and vegetables are less likely to escape a recurrence.
[C] Women could depend on fruit diet to avoid the breast cancer recurrence.
[D] Fruits and vegetables are no good to women with breast cancer.
2. 關(guān)于對乳腺癌復發(fā)的研究得出的結(jié)論，下列哪項陳述是正確的？
[A] 堅持一天五頓飯建議的婦女的復發(fā)幾率要小一些。
[B] 多吃綠色蔬菜和水果的婦女并不能避免復發(fā)。
[C] 婦女可以依靠水果餐來避免乳腺癌復發(fā)。
[D] 水果和蔬菜對于患有乳腺癌的婦女沒有好處。
答案：B　難度系數(shù)：☆
分析：細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段：...breast cancer survivors who cram their diets with fruits and vegetables are no more likely to escape a recurrence than women who stick to the usual five-a-day recommendation. 即該研究報道表明，吃大量的蔬菜和水果并不能避免乳腺癌的復發(fā)，那么選項B是正確的。選項D，雖然蔬菜和水果不能幫助婦女避免癌癥復發(fā)，但是還是對她們的身體有好處的，因此這個敘述是不正確的。
3. From the results of the studies focusing on diet, it can be inferred that _____.
[A] the amount of calories set in diet could not help people to lose weight
[B] people are reluctant to take part in such studies
[C] it is difficult to get valuable conclusion from these studies
[D] this kind of studies is not objective enough
3. 從飲食研究的結(jié)果來看，可以推斷出 _____。
[A] 食物中卡路里的數(shù)量并不能幫助人們減肥
[B] 人們不愿意參加這樣的研究
[C] 要從這些研究中得到有價值的結(jié)論很難
[D] 這類的研究不夠客觀
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：推理題。根據(jù)第五段：...the amount of calories subjects reported eating would have caused them to lose far more weight than they actually did lose. 即這種研究的結(jié)果表明，接受實驗者報告的自己攝入的卡路里的數(shù)量本來可以讓他們減掉更多的體重的，這和他們自己報告的情況不夠切實有關(guān)。由此可知，這樣的研究不夠客觀。因此，答案為D。
4. The fact that a 4-ounce bagel hasn't been sighted in any major city for a decade implies that _____.
[A] you should re-examine the standard size of the food you intake
[B] you tend to give an inaccurate report of your actual diet
[C] you fail to cooperate with the doctor by false record of your daily food
[D] you make a mistake in noting down the size of standard serving
4. 已經(jīng)有十年在任何一個大城市都沒有出售這種4盎司的百吉餅了，這個事實說明了 _____。
[A] 你應該重新檢查你攝入食物的標準量
[B] 你更容易給出與你實際飲食情況相左的報告
[C] 你錯誤地報告了自己每日的飲食，不能和醫(yī)生很好地合作
[D] 你在記錄標準飲食量時犯了一個錯誤
答案：B　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：推理題。根據(jù)第五段：Or, despite the portion size guides you get, you characterize your bagel from the deli as a 4-ounce standard serving when a 4-ounce bagel hasn't been sighted in any major city for a decade. 說明，盡管吃了許多百吉餅，卻報告說只吃了4盎司的那種，那么可以看出報告有誤。因此，答案為B。選項C錯誤的原因在于，盡管報告有誤，但是沒有說明這就是不與醫(yī)生合作。
5. The limitation of the objective measurements mentioned in the last paragraph is that _____.
[A] they could only assess the proportion of fruits and veggies study subjects have taken
[B] they could not have the subjects follow exactly the food proportion of their diet
[C] they could not identify the levels of all the nutrients in patients' blood
[D] they could not tell the exact proportions of nutrients study subjects have eaten
5. 最后一段提到的客觀衡量的局限性在于 _____。
[A] 它們只能估計被研究者的水果和蔬菜的攝入量
[B] 被研究者無法嚴格遵循這些衡量規(guī)定的食物比例
[C] 它們分辨不了被研究者血液中所有營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)的水平
[D] 它們提供不了被研究者已攝入營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)的確切數(shù)量
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆☆
分析：細節(jié)題。根據(jù)最后一段：In the breast cancer study, blood tests showed that the study subjects actually did eat more fruits and veggies (carotenoid concentration was 73 percent higher in those women after one year and 43 percent higher after four years). But objective measures can't definitively nail down whether someone is eating nutrients in certain proportions. 可見，這種血液測量可以測出接受試驗者攝入的食物和蔬菜的具體量，卻不能確定人們是否攝入了一定量的營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)。因此，答案為D。

人們都很想知道，不同的食物或營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)是否會影響到我們患癌癥等疾病的幾率，或引發(fā)導致這些疾病的危險因素，如肥胖或高血壓。但是要進行飲食變化的研究有太多的障礙，這就是我們?yōu)槭裁床荒茌p松而確切地告訴人們什么食物是最健康的。這也就是為什么人們經(jīng)常會被報紙頭條弄得一頭霧水：咖啡有利還是有害健康？酒、大蒜和巧克力呢？
本周的《美國醫(yī)學協(xié)會期刊》上刊登了一篇報道，稱在患乳腺癌而后康復的女性中，每天吃大量蔬菜和水果的人的癌癥復發(fā)率并不比堅持接受每天五頓飯建議的人更低。那么這是不是就意味著蔬菜和水果不能防癌呢？是的，對患有乳腺癌的女性來說，額外的綠色蔬菜和蘋果無濟于事。
我們會問研究者，為什么食物變化的研究這么難做呢？消費者應該怎樣看待媒體上的各種評價？專家是這樣回答的：
大多數(shù)的飲食研究是在現(xiàn)實生活中進行的，這就意味著研究主體只是每天記錄下自己所吃的食物，而不是由別人嚴格控制其飲食。你可以給他們一些用餐建議，告訴他們應該吃些什么，但是這一天里，他們往自己嘴里究竟塞了些什么東西就由不得別人了。讓人們往食物里加上點什么——如夾在美味的三明治里面的大蒜，或是黑巧克力——要比讓他們把這些食物拿走容易得多。最近的一項比較低脂和低碳食物的研究表明，到最后幾乎沒有人堅持這種食譜，這就不足為奇了。
關(guān)于飲食的研究，包括最近對于乳腺癌復發(fā)的研究中，按照報告的卡路里攝入量，這本可以使他們的體重下降得更多。這種誤報不一定是惡意的，但是確實有各種不精確的因素。比如，你某天打電話匯報自己每天吃的東西，而那天正好是一個人的生日，你吃了一塊蛋糕。但你可能不會提到這塊蛋糕，覺得正常情況下你是不會吃蛋糕的。同樣，你忘記了昨天吃過的“特殊事件”比薩，前天吃的Big Gulp?；蛘呤潜M管你吃了很多，但你卻說自己從熟食店買的百吉餅只有標準的4盎司，而實際上這十年以來，已經(jīng)沒有任何一個大城市還在出售4盎司的百吉餅了。
“你不可能在每個人的肚子里都安裝一臺照相機，看看他們到底吃了什么。”斯坦福預防研究中心的營養(yǎng)師Christopher Gardner說，他剛剛發(fā)表了關(guān)于大蒜和飲食計劃的研究。在一些研究中，你可以采用客觀的方法來避免以上情況發(fā)生。比如，在檢測人們蔬菜和水果的攝入量時，可以測量人們血液中的一種叫做類胡蘿卜素的色素水平。而在乳腺癌研究中，血液檢測表明，受試者確實吃了更多的水果和蔬菜（一年后，接受測試的女性體內(nèi)的類胡蘿卜素濃度高了73%，四年后提高了43%）。但是客觀的方法不能確定人們是否攝入了一定比例的營養(yǎng)。