Question

A nerve-zapping（電擊神經(jīng)）headset caused people to get rid of fat in a small preliminary study. Six people who had received the stimulation（刺激）lost on average about 8 percent of the fat on their trunks in four months, scientists reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience,

The headset stimulated the vestibular nerve（前庭神經(jīng)）, which runs just behind the ears. That nerve sends signals to the hypothalamus, a brain structure thought to control the body’s fat storage. By stimulating the nerve with an electrical current, the technique shifts the body away from storing fat toward burning it.

Six overweight and obese people received the treatment, consisting of up to four one-hour-long sessions of stimulation a week. Because it activated the vestibular system, the stimulation created the sensation of gently rocking on a boat or floating in a pool, said the study’s co-author Jason McKeown of the University of California, San Diego.

After four months, body scans measured the trunk fat for the six people receiving the treatment and three people who received unreal stimulation. All six in the treatment group lost some trunk fat, despite not having changed their activity or diet. In contrast, those in the unreal group gained some fat. Researchers suspect that changes in the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within human cells are behind the difference. “The results were a lot better than we thought they’d be,” McKeown said.

Earlier studies found that vestibular nerve stimulation causes mice to drop fat and pack on muscle, resulting in what McKeown called Schwarzenegger mice. Though small, the current study suggests that the approach has promise in people. McKeown and his colleagues have started a company based on the technology and plan to test it further.

1.What is an electrical current used for?

A. Causing the body to bum its fat.

B. Controlling the body’s storage of fat.

C. Seeing if the headset will be affected.

D. Speeding the process of one’s digesting.

2.What’s the probable reason for the different results in participants?

A. The length of stimulation they received.

B. The type of stimulation they received.

C. The difference in their vestibular system.

D. The way chemicals process in their body.

3.Which is true about McKeown’s current findings?

A. They have a kind of practical value.

B. They go against those of earlier tests on mice.

C. They were widely recognized at the meeting.

D. They have been tested by MeKeown’s company.

4.What can be the best title of the text?

A. The science of zapping fat

B. A new trial of weight loss

C. Zapping certain nerves leads to fat loss

D. Exercise for weight loss and get fit

Answer 1