How much salt is too much salt? Unfortunately, it’s most likely the amount you’re consuming.
A new study published Monday in the journal JAMA found that cutting one teaspoon of salt a day results in a decline in blood pressure comparable to taking blood pressure medication.
Humans need sodium (钠), which is found in salt, for our bodies to work properly. It plays an important role in nerve and muscle function by allowing nerves to pulse with electricity and muscles to contract. But too much sodium can be bad for our health. It contributes to high blood pressure, or hypertension (高血压)which is a major cause of stroke and heart disease.
One way it does this is by making the body absorb more water. Extra sodium in the blood pulls more water into blood vessels (血管), which increases the amount of blood in the vessels. This increases blood pressure and, in some people, leads to high blood pressure and can damage vessels and even organs like the heart, kidney s and brain.
In this latest study, participants who cut out their daily salt intake by one teaspoon had lower blood pressure in just one week. This was even true for people already on blood pressure medication.
But how much sodium is in one teaspoon of salt? A teaspoon of salt has about 2,300 mg of sodium in it. And according to the FDA, Americans eat an average of 3,400 mg of sodium. So cutting out a teaspoon would be equivalent to cutting two-thirds of a person’s daily sodium intake.
But the researchers say that cutting out any amount of sodium will help lower blood pressure-at least more than no reduction at all.
1. What is the function of Paragraph 1?| A．To describe an interesting fact. | B．To present a confusing question. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the text. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．By causing muscle disorders. | B．By bringing about hypertension. |
| C．By directly damaging our organs. | D．By absorbing the water in blood vessels. |
| A．Equal. | B．Relevant. | C．Beneficial. | D．Important. |
| A．The Recommendation on the Intake of Salt |
| B．The Less Sodium We Have, the Better We Are |
| C．Cutting One Teaspoon of Salt May Improve Health |
| D．The Relationship Between Salt and Blood Pressure |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Some fourteen years ago, I read Diet for a New America by John Robbins. At that time I wanted to change the world by means of stopping animals from being eaten by people.
Diet for a New America paints a beautiful picture of the animal world, in which one is rich not only in intelligence and beauty but even in compassion (同情). It tells stories, for example, of dolphins saving sea mammals from predatory whales (食肉鲸) and saving humans from shipwreck. It appealed to my sense of compassion, one of the values I had always cherished deeply in my heart, no matter how stupidly or wisely I had tried to put it into practice. Having captured my compassion, the book naturally led me to sec human authority over animals as abusive and unjust. Diet for a New America also convinced me that consuming animal products is ecologically irresponsible and the major cause of human disease.
So I decided to make a change. I bought a tofu cookbook, and purged every form of animal flesh from my diet. Six months later, I went from vegetarian to vegan (素食主义者) and rid even eggs and dairy products from my diet. This diet was qualified as vegan in most respects, although I didn’t add some of the more extreme elements, like avoiding honey.
However, as time went by, my health became bad due to the diet without animal products. My parents were worried and took me to a doctor. The doctor suggested I change my diet. Finally, I gave up being a vegan. I included high-quality, nutrient-dense animal foods into my diet again. And I finally recovered.
Being a vegan isn’t suitable for everyone and I’m a good example of it. I should find other proper ways to protect animals and make their life easier.
1. What did the author want to do after reading Diet for a New America (no more than 10 words)2. What did the author think of human authority over animals after reading the book? (no more than 3 words)
3. What does the underlined word ‘‘purged" in Paragraph 3 probably mean? (1 word)
4. What happened to the author after becoming a vegan? (no more than 5 words)
5. What do you think of being a vegan after reading the text? Why? (no more than 20 words)
【推荐2】A balanced diet comprising of diverse and healthy foods is the key to promoting good health. After all, we are what we eat — research continues to prove that eating healthy food promotes good health and unhealthy food habits lead to a diseased body. Foods contain vital nutrients that aid our body’s metabolic function. However, a lack of consumption of these nutrients or feeding upon the wrong kinds of food leads to an accumulation of toxins within the body, resulting in chronic (慢性的) diseases in the long run.
A nutritious diet while ensuring overall well being, helps to maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), reduces the risk of several debilitating diseases like cancer, cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, osteoporosis and stroke. Thus a nutritious and healthy diet is important in the prevention and cure of various diseases.
There are several health conditions that can be caused or aggravated (加重) by the food we eat. However, there are also several foods that you can include in your diet to help prevent or treat diseases. It is simplest to draw up a balanced diet chart as this will ensure that you get all the nutrients you require on a regular basis. A nutrition diet chart is a diet chart that helps you to keep a track of your nutritional diet requirements and is a very useful tool when drawing up a personalized diet plan.
However, it must be noted that all opathic medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. Whereas a nutritious healthy diet can rectify underlying causes of diseases and restore one to wholeness of mind and body. Once we realize the connection between a wholesome balanced diet and good health, our food will be our medicine and maintaining good health will be a matter of making the right food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle.
1. According to the passage, what can we do to make sure we have the nutrients we need?| A．Curing diseases promptly. |
| B．Eating more nutritious food. |
| C．Drawing a nutrition diet chart. |
| D．Drawing a personalized diet plan. |
| A．A constant lack of consumption of nutrients may lead to chronic diseases in the long run. |
| B．A balanced diet chart can help you carry out a personalized diet plan to mainly lose weight. |
| C．A nutritious diet can cure cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and stroke. |
| D．A nutritious and healthy diet is the only key to preventing and curing diseases. |
| A．A nutritious diet. |
| B．A healthy lifestyle. |
| C．A nutritious diet chart. |
| D．A personalized diet plan. |
【推荐3】Today，we are constantly bombarded with media reports about research on the right diet to follow to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle or lose weight—but it’s hard to know which one to pick and，once chosen，it's harder still to stick to it.And now there’s another choice to get our teeth into.
A flexitarian(弹性素食者)diet involves eating plant—based foods and only occasionally eating meat and fish.This eating style allows you to supplement some ingredients that you wouldn’t get in a stricter vegan(素食主义者)diet—another trend growing in popularity.And like veganism，flexitarianism isn’t about eating carefully to help you lose a few pounds—it’s something people choose for ethical reasons，to help the planet.And a study into the global food system and how it affects the climate，has found that eating mainly plant-based foods is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all by 2050.
This research found that food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve to achieve this.But without a single solution，a combined approach is needed.Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford was one of the lead authors of the report.He told the BBC“We really found that a combination of measures would be needed to stay within environmental limits and those include changes towards healthier more plant—based diets.”
But whereas vegans think it's wrong for animals to be killed for food，flexitarians believe eating meat once in a while is acceptable.And Dr Springmann agrees—as long as we“treat it as a luxury，it’s probably OK but you shouldn’t have more than one serving of red meat，which includes beef and pork，per week.”And here’s another fact to digest:If we moved to this type of diet，the study found that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture would be cut by more than half.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the topic. | B．To entertain the readers. |
| C．To ask for information. | D．To present an idea. |
| A．is the most popular eating style | B．involves eating no meat |
| C．benefits the environment | D．only balances the nutrition |
| A．It’s wrong to kill animals for food. |
| B．Improving farming practices makes no sense. |
| C．A plant-based diet has nothing to do with climate change. |
| D．Combined measures are needed for environmental protection. |
| A．Methods of keeping fit | B．Choose a flexitarian diet |
| C．Measures to protect the environment | D．Keep a strict vegan diet |
【推荐1】Whenever you see a tiny, uninhabited (无人居住的) tropical island, you will see a coconut (椰子) tree there, standing tall. How did it get there? It made an unlikely journey through a truly tough environment. It doesn’t have a map or a GPS, nor does it have a sail or an engine, but that little coconut contains within it everything it needs to make its journey.
Water is required to sprout (发芽) when the coconut gets to the new shore. On its journey it will be surrounded by water, but it can’t use that salt water, so the coconut packs its own sweet water. The coconut’s husk (外壳) provides flotation and protection through the journey and it sticks out of the water just enough to catch the wind and act like a sail.
With great courage the coconut sets off for an unknown destination. Falling from the tree, it gets bounced around in the surf. Again and again it tries to get out into the open ocean, and once it does, it starts catching the wind, catching the ocean currents and it is on its way.
In the middle of this vast ocean, with huge waves, the little coconut shows no fear. We build huge ships, but when a storm comes, those ships head to the nearest port until the storm passes. Not the small coconut. With each wave it goes up and with each wave it will tumble down. That storm has been harnessed to help it on its way. Then one day with a high tide it gets washed up onto a new shore. Quietly it puts down its roots and grows strong and tall.
The coconut makes the most of what it has. It grasps each opportunity without hesitation and finds its niche, the place where it can be. We also have the essentials we need to find our niche. We just need to make use of our courage and find a place within us where we can be at ease with ourselves.
1. What is unusual about the coconut according to paragraph 1?| A．Why it jumps into the ocean. | B．How it reaches a desert island. |
| C．How it offers guidance to sailors. | D．Why it grows in an extreme environment. |
| A．To feed the new coconut tree. | B．To keep it balanced on the ocean. |
| C．To attract seed-spreading animals. | D．To protect its husk from salt water. |
| A．Employed. | B．Overcome. |
| C．Ignored. | D．Identified. |
| A．Life is not all roses. | B．No way is blocked to courage. |
| C．Opportunity seldom knocks twice. | D．The longest journey begins with the first step. |
【推荐2】People’s first memories are all autobiographical (自传式的), or memories of significant experiences in their lives, and these events typically didn’t happen before the age of 2 or 3. In fact, most people can’t remember things from the first few years of their lives—a phenomenon researchers have called infantile amnesia.
However, research suggests that infants (婴儿) can form other kinds of memories. Within the first few days of life, infants can recall their own mother’s face and distinguish it from the face of a stranger. A few months later, infants can demonstrate that they remember lots of familiar faces by smiling most at the ones they see most often.
But if so, why do people experience infantile amnesia? Though it still isn’t clear whether it’s because we can’t form autobiographical memories, or whether we just have no way to retrieve (找回) them, scientists have a few guesses.
One is that autobiographical memories require you to have some sense of self. Researchers have tested this ability using a mirror recognition task called the rouge test. It involves marking a baby’s nose with a spot of red lipstick.
Researchers then place the infant in front of a mirror. Infants younger than 18 months just smile at the baby in the reflection, not showing any evidence of recognizing themselves or the red mark on their face. Between 18 and 24 months, infants touch their own nose, even looking embarrassed, suggesting that they connect the red dot in the mirror with their own face—they start to form some sense of self.
Another possible explanation is that because infants don’t have language until later in the second year of life, they can’t form narratives about their own lives that they can later recall. Finally, the hippocampus (海马体), which is the region of the brain that’s largely responsible for memory, isn’t fully developed in the infancy period.
Scientists will continue to investigate how these factors may contribute to infantile amnesia.
1. What can infants do in their first few months?| A．Memorize most of their family members. |
| B．Distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar faces. |
| C．Remember a string of events from the recent past. |
| D．Identify their own reflections in the mirror. |
| A．See their reflections as themselves. |
| B．Ignore the marks on their faces. |
| C．Enjoy playing with their reflections. |
| D．Show a strong interest in the mirror. |
| A．Infants’ inability to recall memories. |
| B．Infants’ immature hippocampus. |
| C．Infants’ undeveloped communication skills. |
| D．Infants’ unsteady autobiographical memories. |
| A．When do babies start remembering things? |
| B．Why is it hard to retrieve lost memories? |
| C．How do kids form their first memories? |
| D．Why can’t we remember being a baby? |
【推荐3】Some risk factors are reported to impact the severity of COVID-19.Among them was fatness or obesity.
In a healthy body, fat tissue(脂肪组织） serves as storage of energy in times of food shortage and it is also full of immune cells. In thin , healthy individuals, it produces anti-inflammatory(消炎的)and protective factors. If , however, the fat tissue becomes unhealthy, as often happens in people with obesity it can produce chemical signals that promote inflammation, raising the rise of some infectious diseases like COVID-19.a Researchers are studying the mechanisms by which this inflammation occurs.One assumption is that when fat cells become overloaded with nutrients,the intercellular stress can set off an “inflammatory cascade(级联反应）”“With obesity, people store a lot of nutrients in fat cells, but they also begin to release more than normal as they grow,"says Andrew Greenberg,director of an obesity laboratory.“These enter the blood and bind to immune cells in the liver and muscle. And this leads to the release of inflammatory factors.”
Poor diet can also play a role in increasing inflammation. It changes the composition of the intestinal microbiome(肠道菌群），probably producing toxins(毒素），and obesity allows the toxins to be released into the bloodstream.
While diet can be harmful and inflammatory, good nutrition does the opposite. Some nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, can work to diminish inflammation.One eating plan is the Mediterranean diet, which is thought to provide people with protective compounds.
Greenberg says more research is needed to determine whether supplements, including fish oil, and fiber, can work to treat inflammation and boost immunity associated with obesity. The most reliable approach, is weight loss. And a small amount can make a difference.“They don't have to be at their ideal body weight,” Greenberg says.“Even losing 5 to 10 percent of a person's weight helps improve their condition.”According to a 2017 study, a 20-minute session of walking can stimulate in anti-inflammatory response.
1. According to the text,fat tissue________.| A．is beneficial to obese people |
| B．protects people from getting too thin |
| C．is linked with people's immune system |
| D．makes people feel full without eating |
| A．Fat cells. |
| B．Intercellular stress. |
| C．Poor diet. |
| D．Infectious diseases. |
| A．Cause. |
| B．Change. |
| C．Promote. |
| D．Reduce. |
| A．Firm determination to fight for ideal body. |
| B．High expectations of more research about nutrition. |
| C．Great importance of having a good weight management. |
| D．Practical ways to tackle inflammation related to obesity. |
【推荐1】The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed “the Garden City”, almost certainly the source of Howard’s name for his later building plan of towns. Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: Though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression (萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard’s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide range of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.
1. How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?| A．By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago. |
| B．Through his observation of the country life. |
| C．Through the combination of different ideas. |
| D．By taking other people’s advice. |
| A．Making comments on. | B．Giving an explanation of. |
| C．Giving a description of. | D．Making use of. |
| A．Each one would continue to become larger. |
| B．People would live and work in the same place. |
| C．Their number would continue to rise. |
| D．Each one would contain a certain type of business. |
| A．City and Countryside. | B．The Invention of the Garden City. |
| C．A New City in Chicago. | D．A Famous Garden City in England. |
【推荐2】Every now and then you may hear news of satellites sent into space. On Feb 21, for example, US company SpaceX took 46 satellites into orbit. On Feb 27, China sent 22 satellites into space. Why do we need so many satellites? What do they do for us?
At present, there are more than 3,000 active satellites moving around the Earth. They have all kinds of roles, from transmitting TV signals, giving you directions on the road, to helping scientists with their research. For example, the 22 satellites China just sent up are part of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统). Shared bikes that use BeiDou chips can provide more accurate positioning, making them easier to find. Drones can also use BeiDou while flying.
Before satellites, TV signals didn’t reach very far. Mountains or tall buildings would block the signals. Phone calls to faraway places were also a problem. Setting up telephone wires over long distances is difficult. With satellites, TV signals and phone calls can be sent directly to a satellite and back down to different locations on Earth. SpaceX’s Starlink project is trying to go further. It plans to use satellites to provide people with internet all over the globe.
Satellites can also provide information about clouds, oceans, land and ice. They help scientists predict changes in weather and climate. By monitoring wildfires and volcanoes, satellites help emergency workers deal with natural disasters. Farmers can use satellite images to decide the best time to water their fields.
Some satellites fly near other planets. They may look for water on Mars or take close-up pictures of Saturn’s rings. In 2020, video website Bilibili sent a satellite into space. Its job is to look at other planets and share the pictures and videos with Bilibili’s users.
1. Why are satellites the US and China have sent to space mentioned at the beginning of the passage?| A．To show which country has the most satellites. |
| B．To compare the two countries’ satellite developments. |
| C．To prove the popularity of satellites in space. |
| D．To lead up to the topic of the functions of satellites. |
| A．shared bikes work longer | B．drones fly farther |
| C．locate things more accurately | D．provide people with internet |
| A．To control its drones with BeiDou chips. |
| B．To provide its users with data of other planets. |
| C．To contribute to the search for signs of life on Mars. |
| D．To inform the emergency staff of natural disasters. |
| A．travel guidebook. | B．science newspaper. |
| C．historical book. | D．sports magazine. |
【推荐3】Do you like travelling to other places, cities and countries? Many people do. Tourism is a huge industry —— it’s as large as or larger than the oil, food and car industries. It creates so many jobs that one in every ten people in the world works in tourism.
However, for many people and places, tourism is not a completely positive thing. Some places receive millions of tourists a year, which leads to problems for local people. When tour buses block roads, it’s hard for local people to get to work or school. Often, international companies open up, and small shops and restaurants close down. Another problem is accommodation — in Barcelona and New York, for example, many flats and houses are used as tourist accommodation, so homes for local people have become expensive and hard to find.
Tourism can have an effect on the environment as well. Natural areas are ruined to make space to build hotels and tourist facilities, and building them consumes a lot of energy and resources. Historic buildings are damaged, such as those in Venice by large cruise ships (游轮) entering the city. These ships also do ham to animal and plant life. More tourism means more crowds, noise, rubbish and pollution.
Some governments have already taken actions. In Barcelona and New York, there are now limits on short-term rental accommodation. The number of cruise ships entering Venice is limited now too. Importantly, individual tourists can help by choosing better ways of visiting places. For example, if tourists visit Venice on a cruise ship but they sleep and eat all their meals on the ship, does the local community in Venice really benefit from their visit? If not, it could be better to choose a different form of tourism, one that benefits the city and local people more.
Despite some problems, if we can make tourism more sustainable (可持续的), everyone can benefit from it, and people can continue to enjoy visiting these places in the future.
1. Why is it hard for New Yorkers to buy cheap houses?| A．Because tourists buy local flats and houses. |
| B．Because many houses are needed for travelers. |
| C．Because the government provide little land to build houses. |
| D．Because the houses international companies sell are expensive. |
| A．To stress plants and animals die from them. |
| B．To show tourism wastes energy and resources. |
| C．To explain why tourism is not environmentally friendly. |
| D．To suggest the necessity of preventing the development of tourism. |
| A．The cruise ship is not a good choice for tourists. |
| B．Tourism should be developed in a sustainable way. |
| C．Local community in Venice shows no interest in tourism. |
| D．Governments have done extremely well in developing tourism. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Disapproving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
