Question

【題目】 Researchers from Pennsylvania University suggest that loud snoring can be caused by having a fat tongue. Scientists have long known that losing weight can help the condition, but now they know why. It explains why losing weight reduces the risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (阻塞性睡眠呼吸暫停).

Improved symptoms are linked to slimming down the unexpected part of the body - opening the door to better treatments. Professor Richard Schwab, chief of sleep medicine at Pennsylvania University, said: "Most clinicians, and even experts in the sleep apnoea world, have not typically focused on fat in the tongue for treating sleep apnoea."Having a large neck was previously believed to be the culprit(引起問題的事物). Prof Schwab said: "Now we know tongue fat is a risk factor and sleep apnoea improves when tongue fat is reduced, we have established a unique therapeutic target that we've never had before.

In sleep apnoea the airways become blocked - leading tosnoring. It blights the lives of four and two percent of middle aged men and women, respectively, in the UK. Long term, sleep apnoea is linked with a number of chronic diseases, including highblood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and depression.

Analyzing MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of the throat and nose of obese patients, the researchers found reducing tongue fat is the key. They found that a reduction in tongue fat volume was the key factor. Weight loss also resulted in a smaller pterygoid - the jaw muscle that controls chewing. This is irrespective of whether they appear to fall into the typical "high-risk" obese categories, said Prof Schwab.

He added: "Primary care doctors, and perhaps even dentists, should be asking about snoring and sleepiness in all patients, even those who have a normal body mass index, as, based on our data, they may also be at risk for sleep apnoea."

Twenty-two million Americans suffer from sleep apnoea, in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts, causing patients to wake up randomly throughout their sleep cycles. One of the recommended treatments is CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), which has been free on the NHS since March 2008.

【1】What can we learn from Prof Schwab?

A.People with high tongue fat must be at high risk of obesity.

B.Sleep apnea improves when tongue fat is reduced.

C.Patients with a normal body mass index won’t develop sleep apnea.

D.Most clinicians focus on the fat on the tongue to treat sleep apnea.

【2】What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A.The shape of tongue fat.

B.The harm of tongue fat.

C.The feature of tongue fat.

D.The cause of tongue fat.

【3】What does the underlined word “blight” in the third paragraph most probably mean?

A.harmB.affect

C.benefitD.cost

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】B

【3】A

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章闡述了最新研究的發(fā)現(xiàn)：舌頭脂肪和睡覺打鼾之間的關系。文章認為舌頭脂肪太厚容易引起打鼾和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暫停。

【1】

細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段Now we know tongue fat is a risk factor and sleep apnea improves when tongue fat is reduced, we have established a unique therapeutic target that we've never had before（現(xiàn)在我們知道舌脂是一個危險因素，當舌脂減少時，睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征會改善，我們已經(jīng)建立了一個獨特的治療目標，這是我們以前從未有過的）可知，Prof Schwab認為舌頭的脂肪和呼吸暫停綜合征有很大關系。如果舌頭的脂肪少了，就會改善睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征。故選B項。

【2】

主旨大意題。根據(jù)第2段"Most clinicians, and even experts in the sleep apnoea world, have not typically focused on fat in the tongue for treating sleep apnoea（大多數(shù)臨床醫(yī)生，甚至睡眠呼吸暫停癥領域的專家，都沒有把注意力集中在治療睡眠呼吸暫停癥的舌頭脂肪上）可知，舌頭上的脂肪和睡覺呼吸暫停綜合征有關卻被很多醫(yī)生忽略了。同時根據(jù)后句Now we know tongue fat is a risk factor and sleep apnea improves when tongue fat is reduced, we have established a unique therapeutic target that we've never had before（現(xiàn)在我們知道舌脂是一個危險因素，當舌脂減少時，睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征會改善）可知，舌頭脂肪減少，睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征的情況就會改善。綜合分析，該段主要在講舌頭脂肪的危害。故選B項。

【3】

詞義辨析題。根據(jù)第三段中的Long term, sleep apnoea is linked with a number of chronic diseases, including high blood pressure , heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and depression（長期來看，睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征與許多慢性疾病有關，包括高血壓、心臟病、2型糖尿病、中風和抑郁癥）可知前句強調(diào)的是睡眠呼吸暫停綜合征給許多英國人民帶來了危害。所以換線詞的意思是“ 危害”的意思。故選A項。