1 . A recent analysis from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine highlights the benefits of replacing animal products with plant-based foods. This analysis, which amplifies a previous study by the same committee, further emphasizes the significant impact of plant-based diets on weight loss, cholesterol (胆固醇) and fat intake in overweight adults.
The most significant finding is that both healthy and unhealthy plant-based foods contribute to weight loss when they replace animal products in the diet. This conclusion is significant because it underlines the potential of a plant-based diet, regardless of the specific type of plant-based foods consumed, in managing weight and improving overall health.
This analysis is a secondary examination of a prior study that involved 244 overweight adults. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group followed a low-fat vegan (素食的) diet, and the second made no changes to their diet. Obviously, the study set no restrictions on calorie intake, and the researchers did not give participants specific instructions on diet quality.
The study authors used two different indexes (指标) to assess: the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and the unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI). The hPDI emphasizes fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans, while the uPDI includes more refined grains and fruit juices. Higher scores on the indexes correlate with greater consumption of plant-based foods and reduced consumption of animal products.
The results revealed that after 16 weeks, participants on the vegan diet showed increased scores in both indexes. This increase significantly correlated with participants losing an average of about 13 pounds, mainly from reduced fat mass. The second group showed no change in their index scores.
Overall, the analysis provides strong evidence that eating plant-based foods is effective for weight management and health improvement.
1. What does the underlined word “amplifies” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Abuse. | B．Expand. | C．Launch. | D．Classify. |
| A．The causes of putting on weights. | B．The key insight on plant-based foods. |
| C．The significance of managing weights. | D．The specific types of plant-based foods. |
| A．By improving participants’ diet quality. |
| B．By following participants’ daily routines. |
| C．By monitoring participants’ calorie intake. |
| D．By comparing participants’ indexes scores. |
| A．Being on diet is the key to losing weight. |
| B．All plant products are beneficial to health. |
| C．Plant-based foods show promising results. |
| D．Animal products have no effect on weight. |
2 . Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers conclude that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favourite TV show is over.
According to Dr Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers’ markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as highquality meats for each meal.
After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.
In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity — or extreme overweight — among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.
1. In what way are the French different from Americans according to Dr Joseph Mercola?| A．They go shopping at supermarkets more frequently. |
| B．They squeeze eating between the other daily activities. |
| C．They regard eating as a key part of their life style. |
| D．They usually eat too much canned and frozen food. |
| A．Americans and the French |
| B．life style and obesity |
| C．children and adults |
| D．fast food and overweight |
| A．by contrast (对⽐) | B．by space |
| C．by process | D．by classification (分类) |
3 . Many people have low iron in their blood. But pregnant women need extra iron for their own health and their baby's health. Iron is important to the development of a baby's brain and central nervous system.
In poor countries, however, providing all pregnant women with iron supplements can be a financial issue. Some experts say giving supplements to babies after they are born is enough.
Someone who disagrees is Paul Christian, a nutritionist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Maryland. She and other scientists have been doing research in Nepal. She says their latest findings should settle any question about the value of making sure every pregnant woman receives iron supplements.
Iron is a micronutrient. Micronutrients are important substances that are found in small amounts in foods.
The researchers first completed a study among poor women in Nepal ten years ago. During pregnancy some of the women received supplements containing iron and folic acid.
Professor Christian says that study showed the supplements could improve child survival.
Now the children are older. The researchers returned to Nepal and tested their neurological(神经的) development. They found improved intellectual and fine motor abilities among those whose mothers had received iron and folic acid during pregnancy and for three months after.
The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Another new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, looks at levels of vitamin D in babies. It says newborns with the lowest levels were twice as likely to develop respiratory infections(呼吸道感染)as those with normal levels of vitamin D.
Vitamin D helps build strong bones and strengthens the body's defenses against disease. The vitamin is commonly added to cow's milk and also found in supplements. But vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin. The body naturally produces it from sunlight.
Carlos Camargo from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts and other researchers did the study. It followed more than nine hundred children in New Zealand until they were five years old.
1. The passage is intended to tell us that_________.| A．iron is as important as Vitamin D to people’s health |
| B．pregnant women need much more iron and Vitamin D |
| C．in poor countries babies are lacking iron and Vitamin D |
| D．iron and Vitamin D may lead to smarter, healthier children |
| A．iron | B．folic acid | C．vitamin D | D．supplements |
| A．providing all pregnant women with extra iron may be difficult for all countries |
| B．plenty of micronutrients can be found in foods that you eat in your daily life |
| C．it’s more possible for babies lacking vitamin D to suffer from respiratory infections |
| D．all the vitamins that you need to keep healthy can be received from the sunlight |
| A．a micronutrient | B．a food | C．a metal | D．a medicine |
1. What do we know about the woman?
| A．She enjoys the parties. |
| B．She has put on weight. |
| C．She does exercise regularly. |
| A．Cookies. | B．Hot dogs. | C．Natural foods. |
1. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
| A．The cause of a heart attack. |
| B．The advice on dealing with a heart attack. |
| C．The treatment for a heart attack. |
| A．Send the patient to hospital immediately. |
| B．Not give the patient anything to drink or eat. |
| C．Leave the patient sitting. |
| A．Most of them can recover completely. |
| B．Some of them are easier to suffer heart attacks again in the future. |
| C．Half of them won't suffer heart attacks any more in the future. |
