Question

Professional footballers have worryingly poor teeth that could be affecting their performance on the football ground, say dentists. Their study on players at eight clubs in England and Wales, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine，showed nearly 4 out of 10 had cavities (蛀牙）and that athletes often had worse teeth than the general population. Regularly taking sugary foods is one possible explanation.

The dentists, from the International Centre for Evidence-Based Oral Health at University College London, examined 187 players’ sets of teeth. They found 53% had dental erosion (腐蚀），45% were bothered by the state of their teeth and 7% said it affected their ability to train or play. Around 40 % had cavities, compared with 30 % of people of a similar age in the general population.

Prof Ian Needleman, one of the researchers, said： “These are individuals who otherwise invest so much in themselves so it，s a surprising finding.

“There are two main groups — some have a catastrophic Professional footballers have worryingly pooreffect, they have very serious disease that stops them in their tracks and they cannot play or train.

“There'11 be others experiencing pain affecting sleep or sensitivity every time they take a drink. ”

At this level of athlete, even small differences can be quite telling.

Nutrition is one of the primary suspects with having too many sugary or acidic foods during training potentially accounting for cavities and erosion. A lot of air in the mouth during exercise can also dry it out so there is less protection.

While these findings are worrying, clubs are attaching greater importance to dental health and educating their players. According to StijinVandenbroucke, head of medicine and sports science at West Ham United, oral health is an area where many athletes have greater problems than the general population and there are clear benefits of oral disease prevention for athletes and clubs.1.What does the passage tell us about professional footballers teeth?

A. Nearly 4 out of 10 players in the UK suffer from toothaches.

B. They have been invested a great deal by individual players.

C. Many players' poor teeth bother their career and daily life.

D. British footballers teeth are examined regularly.

2.What mainly results in professional footballers' poor teeth?

A. Experiencing too much training.

B. Eating food with too much sugar.

C. Breathing in lots of air during exercise.

D. Having little education of oral disease prevention.

3. These findings are worrying clubs because____.

A. footballers aren’t willing to give up sugary or acidic food

B. they've spent much on their players' oral disease prevention

C. footballers have more serious tooth problems than the public

D. players' oral disease may lead to bad performance in games

4.This passage is most probably taken from____.

A. a dentist's diary B. a sports newspaper

C. a medicine magazine D. a science report

Answer 1