17．Research shows that keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises，according to scientists．They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat．
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks，even if they ate more．US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown．White fat stores calories and makes us fatter，while brown burns energy to produce heat．Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult，normally requiring long-term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system．
However，scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown．The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice．Those，who lived alongside a greater number of mice，had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their"couch potato"fellows．
Study author，Dr Matthew During，whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism，said，"I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs．"Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing，he added，"It's not just a sedentary（久坐的）lifestyle and high calorie foods，but an increasing lack of social activities．"Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death； it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent．Social activities are very vital．"
12．What information can we get from the first two paragraphs？C
A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter．
B．Social excitement helps gain more weight．
C．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat．
D．It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown．
13．Which of the following statement does the text support？B
A．The mice lacking social life lose more weight．
B．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing．
C．The research findings haven't been published so far．
D．Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result．
14．We can conclude from the text thatD．
A．the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment
B．a(chǎn) sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life
C．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life
D．surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication
15．What's the main idea of the text？B
A．Socializing is unnecessarily important in people's daily life．
B．Socializing contributes to people's losing weight．
C．White fat can be changed into brown fat．
D．Brown fat is of benefit to people's health．
分析 本文講述了一項關(guān)于減肥的研究．以小老鼠的例子告訴人們應該積極參加社交活動多鍛煉，而不是總是呆在不動．
解答 12．C．細節(jié)理解題；根據(jù)第二段第二句話"US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown．White fat stores calories and makes us fatter，while brown burns energy to produce heat．"美國研究者認為，社交興奮感可以把"白色脂肪"轉(zhuǎn)化為"棕色脂肪"，從而有助于減肥．"白色脂肪"儲存卡路里，使人們長胖，而"棕色脂肪"能夠燃燒能量，產(chǎn)生熱量．故C正確．
13．B．細節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第二段"White fat stores calories and makes us fatter，while brown burns energy to produce heat．Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult，normally requiring long-term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system．"可知通過社交可以增加棕色脂肪的水平；故選B．
14．D．推理判斷題．根據(jù)最后一段"Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing，he added，"It's not just a sedentary（久坐的） lifestyle and high calorie foods，but an increasing lack of social activities．"可知網(wǎng)絡會影響人們面對面的交流；故選D．
15．B．主旨大意題．根據(jù)文章第一段Research shows that keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises，according to scientists得出； 科學家研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，與在跑步機上鍛煉幾個小時相比，跟朋友一起參加社交活動更有利于保持苗條身材．研究人員表示，社交活動和朋友聚會能幫助提高體內(nèi)"棕色脂肪"的含量，這種脂肪可以燃燒卡路里，產(chǎn)生熱量．所以有助于減肥．選B．
點評 考察學生的細節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力，做細節(jié)理解題時一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進行比較，再做出正確的選擇．在做推理判斷題不要以個人的主觀想象代替文章的事實，要根據(jù)文章事實進行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
