1 . A good meal has a positive impact on one’s mood. Those who feast on Christmas buffet almost enjoy an immediate rise in their blood sugar. That will prompt a flood of chemicals that act as happy hormones to rush through their brains.
But the pleasure goes deeper. Tyrosine and tryptophan are needed for the production, respectively, of dopamine, a neurotransmitter (神经传递素) that controls feelings of pleasure and reward, and serotonin, another such, which helps regulate mood. And cranberries are high in vitamin C, which is involved in converting dopamine to noradrenaline, another neurotransmitter, and a lack of which seems to be associated with depression.
With mental-health disorders rising, a growing number of scientists are investigating how food or nutritional supplements affect the mind. But separating the brain’s nutritional needs from those of the rest of the body is difficult. Not possible for now, at least. And, compared with other fields, nutritional science is understudied. That is partly because it is hard to do well. Randomised controlled trials (rcts), used to test drugs, are tricky. Few people want to stick to an experimental diet for years. Instead, most nutritional science is based on observational studies that try to establish associations between particular foods or nutrients and diseases. They cannot be used to definitively prove a causal ( 因 果 关 系 的 ) connection between a disease and a particular contributing factor in a diet. But as with smoking and lung cancer, put together enough of these kinds of trials and causal narratives begin to emerge.
It is now clear that some diets are particularly good for the brain. One recent study concludes that sticking to the “Mediterranean diet”, high in vegetables, fruit, pulses and wholegrains, low in red and processed meats and saturated fats, decreases the chances of experiencing strokes, cognitive impairment and depression. Other recent work looking at a “green” Mediterranean diet high in polyphenols found it reduced age-related brain atrophy. Another version, the mind diet, emphasises, among other things, eating berries over other kinds of fruit and seems to lessen the risk of dementia.
Scientists think such diets may work by reducing inflammation in the brain. This, in turn, may affect areas such as the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory and mood regulation—and where new neurons grow in adults. Studies in animals show that when they are fed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (from walnuts, for example), flavonoids (consumed mainly via tea and wine), antioxidants (found in berries) and resveratrol (found in red grapes), neuron growth is stimulated and inflammatory processes are reduced. This fits with research suggesting that those who regularly eat ultra-processed, fried and sugary foods, which increase inflammation in the brain, heighten their risk of developing depression.
1. Which of the following words can replace “tricky” in Paragraph 3?| A．Rare. |
| B．Tough. |
| C．Traditional. |
| D．Contradictory. |
| A．By keeping at an experimental diet for years. |
| B．By carrying out randomized controlled trials. |
| C．By identifying a particular contributing factor. |
| D．By comparing findings of certain kinds of trials. |
| A．A diet rich in fruit is good for cognitive abilities. |
| B．People fond of sugary foods may be a risk lover. |
| C．Red grapes add fuel to inflammation in the brain. |
| D．Drinking tea can solve age-related brain problems. |
| A．The links between diets and diseases. |
| B．The significance of Mediterranean diet. |
| C．The function of various neurotransmitters. |
| D．The influence of nutrients on mental health. |
2 . Gene-edited Foods: Yes or No?
Gene-edited foods could soon be hitting supermarket shelves in the UK as the government announced plans to allow gene-edited foods to be sold unlabeled in British supermarkets, promoting an outcry from some consumers who claim they “should be given a choice”.
GE foods are produced using the gene-editing tool CRISPR, which edits the existing DNA of a plant or animal. Unlike genetically modified food, gene-edited food contains no “foreign” DNA from other species. Scientists use a specialized protein to make tiny changes to the organism’s DNA that could occur naturally or through selective breeding.
Environment Secretary George Eustice insisted that GE products would not need to be advertised as such because they are “fundamentally natural”. However, Scotland and Wales both vowed to reject the move, and Britain’s biggest supermarkets have so far refused to confirm if they will stock the foods.
Now let’s take a closer look at some of the GE foods that could be on shelves in the UK as early as next year.
Vitamin D-boosted tomatoes
Tomatoes have been genetically engineered to produce more vitamin D. Researchers claim that the “super” fruits could help reduce the risk of developing diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease and dementia (痴呆).
Mushrooms that don’t go brown
A variety of white button mushroom has been genetically edited so that it doesn’t go brown when sliced. The researchers used CRISPR to remove a small piece of one gene that causes mushroom browning. Thus it can stay on supermarket shelves for longer, reducing food waste.
Bread that reduces cancer risk from burnt toast
Acrylamide (丙烯酰胺), a substance that can cause cancer, is created when bread is baked or toasted. Researchers have edited the genome (基因组) of wheat to reduce its production of the cancer-causing chemical.
Chickens resistant to bird flu
Researchers have used gene-editing techniques to grow chicken cells that are unable to replicate the bird flu virus in a lab. They edited a section of chicken DNA to make it resistant to the virus.
1. What can be known about GE foods?| A．They edit their own existing DNA. |
| B．They have foreign DNA from other species. |
| C．They are completely as natural as ordinary foods. |
| D．They are exactly the same as genetically modified foods. |
| A．The UK government supports GE foods. | B．George Eustice is against GE foods. |
| C．Some consumers object to GE foods being sold. | D．Britain’s biggest supermarkets welcome GE foods. |
| A．vitamin D-boosted tomatoes’ | B．mushrooms that don’t go brown |
| C．bread that reduces cancer risk from burnt toast | D．chickens resistant to bird flu |
3 . With all the dietary information online, it can be hard to know what tips to follow. Watch out for these words and expressions.
Fat Is Good
It doesn’t matter if you are part of the fat is GOOD for you or BAD for you group, the important question to ask is the source of the fat. If it comes from a land-based animal, and is likely to be solid at room temperature, then it is saturated (饱和的) fat whereas if it comes from fish or plants, and it is likely to be liquid at room temperature, then it is unsaturated fat. All the evidence indicates that eating more unsaturated fat than saturated fat lowers your risk of dying early.
Natural Sugar Is Better
The vast majority of sugar we consume is sucrose (蔗糖). It is the white powdered stuff we cook with and is made up of glucose and fructose. How about sugar from honey? It is often marketed as natural and better for you. Actually, it just has its own distinct flavour, but is as sweet because of glucose and fructose.
High-pH Water
Some people think we need to eat alkali (碱) food to maintain our blood at a pH of 7.4. But everything we eat or drink passes through the stomach, which, at a pH of 1.5, is the most acidic part of the body. It is then neutralised to a pH of 7. So, nothing we eat will change the pH of our blood.
Don’t Eat Anything That You Can’t Pronounce
Whether foods are natural or highly processed, they are all full of chemicals. Are you supposed to fear “phenylthiocarbamide”, because you can’t pronounce it? This is simply the chemical responsible for the bitter taste found in brassicas, the plants in the cabbage and mustard family.
Don’t Eat Food With More Than Five Ingredients(佐料)
Simple foods are not necessarily healthier for you. If I, for instance, use Chinese five spice powder in a recipe, that would count as one of the five ingredients. However, what if I added the typical components of five spice powder separately into a dish? Does that mean my recipe suddenly becomes bad because it has more than five ingredients?
1. According to the passage, healthier fat ______.| A．can be found in fish and plants | B．comes from land-based animals |
| C．remains solid at room temperature | D．can lower the death rate of elders |
| A．diets can help adjust the pH of our blood | B．honey sugar can do more good than sucrose |
| C．foods with more ingredients may be as healthy | D．chemicals we can recognize are safer to take in |
| A．To compare tips on food choices. | B．To introduce different health concepts. |
| C．To recommend fitness recipes to readers. | D．To warn us of some dietary misunderstandings. |
4 . I couldn’t sleep at all last night, and my sister believes it was because I ate a bowl of really spicy (辛辣的) food before bedtime. However, I was skeptical about the connection between spicy foods and sleep. Can eating spicy foods before bedtime truly impact one’s sleep quality? Some people believe that eating spicy foods before bedtime can disrupt sleep by increasing body temperature and causing heartburn. It may be worth avoiding spicy foods close to bedtime.
To find out the relation, the researchers in Australia conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of spicy foods on sleep. They provided a group of individuals with delicious late-night meals, alternating (交替) between spicy and mild options. The results revealed that consuming spicy foods led to disrupted sleep patterns, causing participants to take longer to fall asleep and sleep for shorter time. This data supported the belief that there is a correlation between eating spicy foods and experiencing sleep disturbances.
While the exact mechanism(机制)by which spicy foods influence sleep remains unclear, researchers have proposed several possibilities. One is that stomach discomfort resulting from spicy food consumption may affect sleep quality. Additionally, the long digestion (消化) of spicy foods could delay the start of sleep. Furthermore, spicy foods contain something that can raise body temperature, which has been linked to poor sleep in previous studies.
Given these findings, it is advisable to avoid consuming spicy foods before bedtime to promote better sleep. Next time, I will follow my sister’s advice and opt for a milder meal in the evening to ensure a restful night’s sleep.
1. What do people usually think of eating spicy foods before bedtime?| A．It can make people addictive to it. |
| B．It can be bad for digestion. |
| C．It can make sleep difficult. |
| D．It can lead to an increase in energy levels. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By studying papers. |
| C．By doing an experiment. | D．By doing interviews. |
| A．Spicy foods take long to digest. |
| B．Body temperature has no effect on sleep. |
| C．Bad eating habit changes sleep patterns. |
| D．Sleep problems may be caused by bad habits. |
| A．To forbid children from having spicy foods. |
| B．To suggest not eating spicy foods before bedtime. |
| C．To promote some healthy food that is not spicy. |
| D．To keep up with the latest healthy food research. |
5 . Stacy Dean, an official at the US Department of Agriculture, was inspired by a visit to Watkins Elementary, in Washington, D. C. Students grow vegetables in their school garden. They also roll up their sleeves in the school’s kitchen to participate in a FRESHFARM FoodPrints class, which integrates cooking and nutrition education.
“Who’s next?” asks instructional coach Regina Green, as kids throw vegetables into the pan and the smell of fresh ginger and onions fills the air. “We grew these in our garden,” Jessie Gibson, one of the students, says proudly. Then he measures and pours dry ingredients into a bowl.
“Our family has tried new things because of the program,” says Catie Kelley, whose two children have participated in the FRESHFARM program. “They come home with the recipes,” Kelley says. “It’s fun because it’s things that we don’t usually make at home,” so it has encouraged them to try novel combinations. She says the kids take more of an interest at the grocery store to identify foods they’ve tried in the program.
Dean wants to have the science around healthy eating integrated. A block to scaling up these types of programs is money. The program relies on grants and receives some federal funding, but it’s not enough to expand the program to all the schools that could benefit.
In fact, there are other problems. At a time when diet-related disease is a leading cause of death, and unhealthy eating habits are rooted in US culture, it’s unrealistic to think that a cooking curriculum could overcome such a sweeping, societal problem. “We know from years of evidence that we need multiple things to come together to support healthy eating,” says Angela Odoms-Young, a professor of maternal and child nutrition at Cornell University.
Despite these challenges, programs like FRESHFARM can help kids expand their choices by introducing them to new tastes. At first, many kids are turned off by the bitter taste of greens. But through the magic of cooking, processing the onions, and blending in fresh ginger, kids can be inspired.
1. What inspired Dean during the visit to Watkins Elementary?| A．The coach’s skillful performance. |
| B．Students’ getting more access to nature. |
| C．The integrated hands-on cooking. |
| D．Students’ gardening and cooking. |
| A．They pay more attention to healthy eating. |
| B．They have a more harmonious relation. |
| C．They show more interest in shopping. |
| D．They have enriched their recipes. |
| A．Advocating healthy eating needs joint efforts. |
| B．A cooking curriculum should be promoted. |
| C．Nutrition helps put students on a healthy path. |
| D．Food is fundamental to life and good health. |
| A．Complex. | B．Widespread. | C．Effective. | D．Easily-operated. |
6 . While an analysis of the Global Dietary Database for the years 1990, 2005, and 2018 found overall consumption of sweetened drinks increased—by nearly 16% worldwide over the 28-year period studied—regional intake widely varied, researchers say.
Sugary drinks have been widely associated with overweight and heart related diseases, which are among the leading causes of death and years lost to disability globally. Many national guidelines recommend limiting added sugars to less than 5% to 10% of daily calories, and because sodas (汽水) add no nutritional value, some countries tax their consumption to help their residents meet this goal.
The study, published in Nature Communications, is the latest presentation of how adults in 185 countries drink sugar-sweetened beverages (饮料). Intakes varied widely by world region. In 2018, the average person consumed 2.7 servings of sugary drinks per week, but this ranged from 0.7 servings per week in South Asia to 7.8 servings per week in Latin America. And some of the highest sugary drink intakes in the world were among urban, highly educated adults in Sub-Saharan Africa (12.4 servings per week) and in Latin America (8.5 servings per week). “We were struck by the wide variations by world regions in 2018; that Latin America had the largest intakes at all time points despite an overall decrease overtime; and that Sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest increases across all time points,” says Laura Lara-Castor, a PhD candidate at Tufts University.
“These results suggest that more work is needed such as marketing regulations, food labeling, and soda taxes.” Information from the Global Dietary Database, which gathers hundreds of survey results, also revealed a relationship between sugary beverages and socio-economic status. “Sugar-sweetened beverage intake has increased in the past few decades despite efforts to decrease their appeal,” says researchers. “Some populations are especially easily affected, and our findings provide evidence to inform the need and design of national and more targeted policies to reduce their intake worldwide.”
1. What is the main concern about sugary drinks?| A．They are just a barrier to weight loss. | B．They are linked to health issues. |
| C．They are far from nutrition standard. | D．They are a total waste of money. |
| A．To increase income for the government. | B．To promote the sales of healthier drinks. |
| C．To discourage people from drinking sodas. | D．To set a limit to the price of sugary drinks. |
| A．Sugary drink consumption trends. | B．Impact of soda taxes on purchases. |
| C．Regional variations in dietary habits. | D．Global dietary information analysis. |
| A．Sugary drinks have nothing to do with economic status. |
| B．The appeal of sugary drinks cannot be underestimated. |
| C．Some people are very particular about the sugary drinks. |
| D．National policies on sugary drinks are more than enough. |
7 . Research studies indicate that children who eat breakfast perform better at school. Maybe it works that way for adults too since our brains need fuel to work properly.
Skipping breakfast is a common way for people who are trying to lose weight, but unfortunately, it’s usually not a successful way. Your body (or more likely, your brain) expects to be refueled a few times each day. When you don’t eat breakfast, you may feel so hungry by lunchtime that you eat more foods than you normally would, which cancels out the calories you cut by skipping breakfast. You may also be tempted to choose foods that are not the healthiest choices when you feel like you are starving.
For many people, eating breakfast may be an important part of a weight loss diet. Research studies tell us that people who eat breakfast are more likely to keep up a healthy weight. Some experts believe that breakfast keeps your metabolism (新陈代谢) running higher. In fact, it takes three or four days of eating nothing before the body starts changing down your metabolism. It’s more likely that people who regularly eat breakfast also make good dietary choices the rest of the day.
Breakfast should include a healthy source of protein and plenty of fiber; the combination will help satisfy your hunger and will keep you feeling full until lunchtime. The protein can come from low-fat meat, low-fat dairy products, or nuts. Eggs are also a good source of protein. High-fiber foods, include fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
If you really don’t like to eat breakfast in the morning, you can split it up into two smaller meals. Eat a hard-boiled egg, or a small cup of yogurt at home before you leave for work, and then about an hour or two later, take a break from work and snack on an apple and a handful of healthy nuts like pecans or walnuts.
1. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?| A．Eating breakfast keeps us healthier than skipping it. |
| B．Skipping breakfast isn’t very useful for losing weight. |
| C．Our brain needs a lot of fuel to work properly. |
| D．What healthy food we should eat for breakfast |
| A．Pretended. | B．Determined. | C．Attracted. | D．Warned. |
| A．low-fat meat | B．low-fat dairy products |
| C．vegetables | D．eggs |
| A．a news report | B．a personal diary |
| C．a biology book | D．a healthy life website |
8 . In a new study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular (心血管) health.
Although it’s well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies are often hampered by factors like genetic differences, upbringing and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles.
The trial consisted of 22 pairs of identical twins. The study authors selected healthy participants without cardiovascular disease and matched one twin from each pair with either a vegan or omnivore (杂食) diet. The vegan diet was entirely plant-based, including no meat or animal products while the omnivore diet included chicken, fish, eggs and other animal-sourced foods.
During the first four weeks, a meal service delivered 21 meals per week. For the remaining four weeks, the participants prepared their own meals. The participants were interviewed about their dietary intake and kept a record of the food they ate. 43 participants completed the study.
“Our study used a generalizable diet accessible to anyone, because 21 out of the 22 vegans followed through with the diet,” said Christopher Gardner, a professor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “This suggests anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months, with the most change seen in the first month.”
The researchers found the most improvement over the first four weeks of the diet change. The participants with a vegan diet had significantly lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (脂蛋白胆固醇) levels, which are associated with improved cardiovascular health than the omnivore participants. The vegan participants also showed approximately a 20% drop in fasting insulin (胰岛素) —a higher insulin level is a risk factor for developing diabetes. The vegans also lost an average of 4. 2 more pounds than the omnivores.
“Based on these results, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet,” Gardner said. But that doesn’t mean going completely vegan. Adding more plant-based food into your diet is the key to better heart health.
1. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “hampered” in paragraph 2?| A．Affected. | B．Enhanced. | C．Destroyed. | D．Accompanied. |
| A．Each of them was charged for 21 meals. |
| B．They cooked by themselves in the later part. |
| C．They regularly reported the food they delivered. |
| D．Half of them went on a vegan diet consistently. |
| A．More people tend to have an omnivore diet. | B．Choosing a more plant-based diet is challenging. |
| C．A vegan diet has insignificant effects on health. | D．The suggested diet is easily accepted by people. |
| A．They will develop a weaker heart. | B．Their cholesterol level will be the lowest. |
| C．They will have a healthier weight. | D．Their insulin will be stopped from working. |
9 . People who eat just two servings of red meat per week may have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (糖尿病) compared to people who eat fewer servings, and the risk increases with greater consumption, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
While previous studies have found a link between red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes risk, this study, which analyzed a large number of type 2 diabetes cases among participants being followed for an extended period of years, adds a greater level of certainty about the association.
Type 2 diabetes rates are increasing rapidly in the U.S. and worldwide. The disease is not only a serious burden, but also a major risk factor for kidney disease, cancer, and dementia.
For this study, the researchers analyzed health data from 216,695 participants from the Nurses' Health Study, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Diet was assessed with food frequency questionnaires every two to four years, for up to 36 years. During this time, more than 22,000 participants developed type 2 diabetes.
The researchers found that consumption of red meat, including processed and unprocessed red meat, was strongly associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Participants who ate the most red meat had a 62% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate the least. Every additional daily serving of processed red meat was associated with a 46% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and every additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat was associated with a 24% greater risk.
The researchers also assessed the potential effects of substituting one daily serving of red meat for another protein source. They found that substituting with a serving of nuts was associated with a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and substituting with a serving of dairy products was associated with a 22% lower risk.
In addition to health benefits, substituting red meat for healthy plant protein sources would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions: and climate change, and provide other environmental benefits, according to the researchers.
1. What sets the new study apart from previous research?| A．Different focus areas. | B．Scientists from Harvard. |
| C．Unique research methods and findings. | D．More participants and longer follow-up period: |
| A．By describing the research process. | B．By presenting the data of health risk. |
| C．By providing background information. | D．By comparing different kinds of meat. |
| A．Adding. | B．Decreasing. | C．Swapping. | D．Ignoring. |
| A．A medical journal. | B．A cook book. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．A fashion magazine. |
10 . If you’re eating protein (蛋白质), you could be swallowing hundreds of tiny pieces of plastic each year, research finds.
A new study by researchers with the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto found microplastics — tiny particles ranging from one micrometer to a half-centimeter in size — in nearly 90 percent of protein food samples tested.
The researchers analyzed more than a dozen different types of common proteins that could wind up on the average American’s plate, including seafood, pork, beef, chicken, to fu and several plant-based meat alternatives. They estimated that an American adult could consume, on average, at least 11,000 microplastic pieces per year.
The study’s findings provide further evidence of the availability of small plastic particles — which have been discovered everywhere from Antarctic snow to inside human bodies — and how they can end up in the food we eat and the water we drink.
“While we still really don’t have any idea what the human health consequences of this are, if there are any at all, we need to take this seriously because this is a problem that’s not going away on its own, and it’s only going to get worse the more plastic we use and throwaway,” Leonard said. But Leonard and other experts cautioned against using the findings to draw final conclusions about how microplastics can dirty food and the amount of plastic that could be hiding in proteins.
The study’s sample size was not big enough and the researchers noted that there was high variability in microplastic concentrations in the samples. The researchers also only counted microplastic particles that were larger than or equal in size to 45 micrometers. “It just highlights that we need to do more research,” said Bianca Datta, a food scientist not involved in the new research.
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．The nature of plastic particles. | B．The researchers’ discovery. |
| C．The variety of foods on a dining table. | D．The conclusion of the research. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Critical. | C．Confident. | D．Concerned. |
| A．To show the limitation of the research. |
| B．To highlight the danger of microplastic concentrations. |
| C．To appeal for environmental protection. |
| D．To stress the urgency of the study. |
| A．Stay away from plastics | B．Possible effects of food processing |
| C．You may be eating plastics | D．A poisoned food system |
