1 . Persistently engaging in negative thinking patterns may raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, finds a new UCL-led study.
In the study of people aged over 55, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, researchers found ‘repetitive negative thinking’ (RNT) is linked to subsequent cognitive decline as well as the deposition (沉积) of harmful brain proteins linked to Alzheimer’s.
Lead author Dr Natalie Marchant (UCL Psychiatry) said, “Depression and anxiety in mid-life and old age are already known to be risk factors for dementia (痴呆). Here, we found that certain thinking patterns involved in depression and anxiety could be an underlying reason why people with those disorders are more likely to develop dementia.”
“We hope that our findings could be used to develop strategies to lower people’s risk of dementia by helping them to reduce their negative thinking patterns.”
For the Alzheimer’s Society-supported study, the research team from UCL, INSERM and McGill University studied 292 people over the age of 55.
Over a period of two years, the study participants responded to questions about how they typically think about negative experiences, focusing on RNT patterns like thoughts about the past and worry about the future. The participants also completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms. Their cognitive function was assessed, measuring memory, attention, spatial cognition, and language.
The researchers found that people who exhibited higher RNT patterns experienced more cognitive decline over a four-year period, and declines in memory (which is among the earlier signs of Alzheimer’s disease).
“We propose that repetitive negative thinking may be a new risk factor for dementia as it could contribute to dementia in a unique way,” said Dr Marchant.
Co-author Dr Gael Chételat commented, “Our thoughts can have a biological impact on our physical health, which might be positive or negative. Mental training practices such as meditation might help promoting positive while down-regulating negative-associated mental schemes.”
“Looking after your mental health is important, and it should be a major public health priority, as it’s not only important for people’s health and well-being in the short term, but it could also impact your eventual risk of dementia.”
1. What is repetitive negative thinking (RNT) connected to?| A．Thinking approach improvement in later years. |
| B．Anxiety disorders which occur in females solely. |
| C．Individuals of younger age, which is turning into a trend. |
| D．Later cognitive decline and the deposit of harmful brain proteins. |
| A．They have no substantial impact on dementia. |
| B．They might lead to people getting dementia easily. |
| C．They are relevant primarily in mid-life, not in old age. |
| D．They are primary contributors to depression and anxiety disorders. |
| A．Their daily routines and habits. |
| B．Their favorite personal experiences. |
| C．Their typical thinking about negative experiences. |
| D．Their perspectives on various mental health practices. |
| A．Controlling negative emotions is beneficial to health. |
| B．Repetitive negative patterns increase memory in a sense. |
| C．Mental health of the elderly always goes unnoticed in public. |
| D．Constantly engaging in thinking leads to one’s dementia in time. |
2 . That artificial food dyes (染料) are unhealthy is not news. Some are known to cause hyperactivity (多动症) in some children, affecting their ability to learn. But regulatory agencies (监管机构) around the world don’t necessarily agree on which food dyes are a problem, or why. That may soon change. A 2021 peer-reviewed report by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment concluded that artificial food dyes “cause or worsen neurobehavioral (神经行为的) problems in some children” and that the current levels that are regarded safe for consumption by the federal government are too high.
California is now considering requiring warning labels on food products and dietary supplements containing the seven most commonly used artificial dyes. The warning label requirement would put California on par with the European Union, which since 2010 has required food products containing certain artificial food dyes to carry warning labels about their negative effect on activity and attention in children.
Artificial dyes are used in foods for one reason: to make products look prettier. Bright colors make candies appealing, especially to kids. But dyes are also in chocolate cake mixes, salad dressings and other products that don’t seem to cry out for a color boost.
In Europe, it was the 2010 label lawmaking that triggered (引发) companies’ decisions to reformulate. “If you’re a company, you do not want to put a warning label on your product.” says Lefferts, an environmental health consultant. Warning labels are why European Starburst Fruit Chews are now colored with natural products, not the artificial dyes that brighten their North American counterparts (同类商品).
Given that artificial food dyes are used far more than needed, we need to be more cautious. After all, we don’t dye fresh fruits and vegetables, but we do dye candy and sprinkles, points out Joe Schwarcz, a chemistry professor at McGill University in Montreal. “The foods in which you find food dyes are foods that are poor in nutrition,” he says. “If you limit foods that contain food dyes, you automatically make your diet better.”
1. What can we learn about artificial food dyes from paragraph 1?| A．A 2021 report confirmed their negative effects. |
| B．The fact that they are harmful is newly revealed. |
| C．Regulatory agencies consider them a serious problem. |
| D．The Federal government thinks their current standard too high. |
| A．In opposition to. | B．In line with. | C．Ahead of. | D．Behind. |
| A．Food companies will stop coloring their products. |
| B．More fresh fruits and vegetables will appear in the market. |
| C．Food companies may replace artificial dyes with natural products. |
| D．It will be hard to find packaged foods without warning labels of dyes. |
| A．Approving. | B．Neutral. | C．Tolerant. | D．Concerned. |
3 . Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
Breakfast has been made out to be one of the most important meals of the day. It’s considered a serious mistake to skip it. And we’ll even go so far as to shame people for doing so.
There’s news about how breakfast is vital for our health and other news about how it’s not.
One study group looked at the common claim that skipping breakfast causes weight gain. Their 2013 analysis found past studies used improper language which suggested a causal relationship between skipping breakfast and obesity. The relationship in some cases indeed may be more correlative (相互关联的) than cause-and-effect.
Unscientific methods
There’s a whole body of research that connects breakfast with weight loss. But the methods behind a lot of those studies don’t always hold up.
Profit-seeking funders
The often quoted reports about the benefits of breakfast are mainly funded by breakfast cereal (早餐麦片) companies, such as Kelloggs or Quaker Oats. For them, it is a marketing strategy.
It’s hard to say whether or not breakfast has any amazing health benefits. What we do know is that breakfast’s greatest importance is undeserved, given the current scientific literature available. In this case, the simplest advice might be the best. Just listen to your own body and do whatever works best for you.
| A．Flooding studies |
| B．Misleading language |
| C．But what really happens when we don’t eat breakfast |
| D．But is breakfast’s top spot among three meals deserved |
| E．Most of the headlines claim to be based on the results on scientific studies |
| F．Their businesses depend on people’s believing that breakfast means ready-to-eat cereal |
| G．They aren’t actually testing what would happen if we were to change our breakfast behavior |
1. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?
| A．Boss and clerk. | B．Doctor and patient. | C．Customer and shop assistant. |
| A．She has a serious headache. |
| B．She can’t earn the respect from the man. |
| C．She has worked long today. |
| A．Put files on the “in” tray. | B．Take a day off. | C．Apologize to him. |
1. Why does the woman call the man?
| A．To ask for sick leave. |
| B．To advise him to see a doctor. |
| C．To ask him why he was absent. |
| A．He has an upset stomach. | B．He has a runny nose. | C．He has chills. |
6 . Modern science suggests that a healthy lifestyle matters much to how long you can live and how well you live. Here are some tips for you to form a healthy lifestyle.
Keep a scientific diet. Keep in mind that sugar can be removed from our diet completely. Over intake of sugar is one of the main reasons for getting fat. Over intake of protein or fat and low intake of fiber can also lead to getting fat. Only a few grams of protein do we need every day to keep our body in order. Like rain to crops, not the more the better.
Be always in a good mood. There is a relationship between the mood and health. A good mood keeps you in high spirits. Thanks to the Internet, we can enjoy and learn much without going out. Take a look at some online shops and pick up some bargains, enjoy music and movies and chat with good friends. Just keep happy.
Enough sleep. Two studies show the reasons why teenagers and adults don’t have enough sleep. With teenagers, a major reason is mobile phone use; with adults, it’s work. Meanwhile, a third study of young children shows that lack of sleep in early life may lead to serious problems in future. Everyone needs at least 8hour sleep to recover from tiredness and the hurt caused by hard work in the daytime.
Proper exercise. Do exercise to keep away from fatness. Because of the quick pace of the modern life, you don’t have time to do exercise every day, but at least three times a week and 45 minutes each time.
1. The author wrote this passage to ________．| A．tell the readers how to take proper exercise every day |
| B．ask people to care about their health rather than their work |
| C．provide some advice on how to form a healthy lifestyle |
| D．make some surveys among those who have health problems |
| A．Low intake of protein. | B．Over intake of sugar. |
| C．Low intake of fat | D．Over intake of fiber. |
| A．don't have enough exercise | B．use mobile phones too much |
| C．eat too much sugar every day | D．have too much homework |
| A．45 minutes. | B．90 minutes. | C．115 minutes. | D．135 minutes. |
1. 活动的目的;
2. 活动的内容;
3. 活动的意义。
注意：词数80左右;开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear John,
How are you doing?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Looking forward to your reply.
Yours truly,
Li Hua
8 . Wellness for Younger Tastes
Wellness, or yangsheng in Mandarin, is no longer a term exclusive to the middle-aged and elderly. Faced with intense competition in education and their careers, those born in the 1990s and 2000s have already started a journey to safeguard their health. As the pursuit of wellness becomes an essential pastime for many young people, a trend known as “New Chinese-style Wellness” has taken over social media platforms.
Given the long hours facing a computer for work, young people often experience muscle discomfort in their shoulders and neck. Besides using a meridian massage (按摩) device, they may also get regular professional massages at hospitals to ease these issues.
| A．Many young people are riding the trend |
| B．Furthermore, it advocates for light exercise |
| C．There is a reflection of young people’s consumption trends |
| D．Having a balanced and healthy diet has always been important |
| E．“New Chinese-style Wellness” emphasizes the idea of dietary therapy |
| F．Modern young people have a different lifestyle from the older generation |
| G．The demand for health and wellness among modern individuals is significant |
9 . Scientists continue to discover ways in which a lack of sleep affects our mental and physical health — now a new study reveals that a serious lack of sleep can even influence the way we see other people.
When we’ve gone without sleep, we spend less time fixing our eyes on others’ faces, the study shows. As that’s an important part of reading social signals from those around us, our relationships are likely to suffer. “Since facial expressions are helpful in understanding the emotional state of others, spending less time focusing on faces after serious sleep loss may increase the risk that you misunderstand others’ feelings, “ says sleep researcher Lieve van Egmond from Uppsala University in Sweden.
The study authors recruited 45 participants who went through a night without sleep, and another night with 8 hours of sleep, separated by at least a week. In each case, eye-tracking sensors were used the morning after to monitor the subjects as they looked at images of faces. A mix of expressions were shown on the faces: happy, angry, fearful. Participants were also asked to assess the attractiveness, trustworthiness of the faces they saw. When it came to face focus, there was a drop in duration (持续时间) between 6. 3 — 10. 6 percent after sleep loss, and this drop happened regardless of the emotion being shown. Overall, faces were regarded as less trustworthy and less attractive after a night without sleep.
“The finding indicates that sleep loss is associated with more negative social impressions of others, “ says neuroscientist Christian Benedict from Uppsala University. “This could result in less motivation to interact socially.”
It’s perhaps no surprise that a lack of sleep makes us less likely to want to engage with others, but the study adds some interesting data to the mix. Negative social impressions of people after sleep loss may lead to social withdrawal by those with sleep issues, suggest the researchers.
1. Lack of sleep may contribute to ____________.| A．misreading others’ emotions | B．becoming angry and fearful |
| C．focusing on others’ faces seldom | D．behaving in a different way |
| A．Require participants to evaluate the expressions. |
| B．Divide participants into two groups. |
| C．Monitor participants during the whole course. |
| D．Ask participants to finish the experiment in a row. |
| A．People lack of sleep are more likely to stay at home. |
| B．The more we sleep, the more likely we are to interact socially. |
| C．The focus duration will drop less concerning happy faces. |
| D．People with sleep loss will have a bad social impression of others. |
| A．Lack of sleep makes us less attractive and trustworthy. |
| B．Sleeping loss impacts our mental and physical health. |
| C．Lack of sleep influences our social relationship. |
| D．Sleeping loss leads to paying little attention to others. |
10 . While some allergies (过敏症) disappear over time or with treatment, others last a lifetime. For decades, scientists have been searching for the source of these lifetime allergies.
Recently, researchers found that memory B cells may be involved. These cells produce a different class of antibodies known as IgG, which war d off viral infections. But no one had identified exactly which of those cells were recalling allergens or how they switched to making the IgE antibodies responsible for allergies. To uncover the mysterious cells, two research teams took a deep div e into the immune cells of people with allergies and some without.
Joshua Koenig and his team conducted extensive research, analyzing over 90,000 memory B cells from individuals with birch (桦树) and dust mite (尘螨) allergies, as well as those without allergies, using RNA sequencing. This analysis revealed a specific type of memory B cell, termed MBC2, that plays a crucial role in the immune response that leads to allergies. In further studies involving individuals with peanut allergies, the sameMBC2 cells were found to increase in number and produce IgE antibodies during treatment s aimed at desensitizing (脱敏) the body to peanut allergens.
Parallel research by Maria Curotto de Lafaille and her team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai confirmed these findings, showing an abundance of similar memory B cells in children with peanut allergies compared to those without. These cells were found to be primed to switch from producing protective IgG antibodies to the allergy-causing IgE antibodies. This switch is facilitated by the production of RNA for IgE, which does not translate into the protein until the cells encounter allergens. A protein called JAK, crucial for signaling this transition, has been identified, suggesting that inhibiting JAK could prevent the production of IgE antibodies.
By identifying and targeting the memory cells responsible for allergic reactions, it may be possible to predict the course of an individual’s allergy and potentially eliminate the allergic response altogether. Cecilia Berin from Northwestern University emphasizes the potential of this research to wipe out not just individual allergies but all allergic responses by focusing on the elimination of these specific memory B cells. This promising direction suggests a future where lasting relief from allergies could become a reality.
1. Why did scientists investigate the immune cells of individuals with and without allergies?| A．To explore the distinctions between IgG and IgE. |
| B．To uncover new antibodies known as IgG and IgE. |
| C．To reveal cells associated with the development of allergies. |
| D．To identify cells responsible for defending against allergies. |
| A．MBC2s make antibodies and proteins that prevent allergies. |
| B．Allergists are capable of predicting whether an allergy will last or disappear. |
| C．JAK plays a role in controlling antibody production when exposed to allergens. |
| D．Memory B cells generate both RNA for IgE and the corresponding protein. |
| A．The cells are dying. | B．The cells are switching antibody types. |
| C．The cells are not functioning well. | D．The cells are resistant to treatment. |
| A．RNA Sequencing Is Applied in Immunology Research |
| B．Specific Cells Related to Peanut Allergies Are Identified |
| C．Unmasking Cells’ Identities Helps Diagnose and Treat Allergies |
| D．Newfound Immune Cells Are Responsible for Long-lasting Allergies |
