Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbours, even pets, will all do the trick, but the biggest longevity (长寿) boost seems to come from marriage or an equivalent relationship. The effect was first noted in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows (寡妇)and widowers  were at a much higher risk of dying than their married peers. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man’s life and two to a woman’s. The effect holds for all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.
　　Even if the odds are stacked against you, marriage can more than compensate. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago has found that a married older man with heart disease can expect to live nearly four years longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. Likewise, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn’t smoke. There’s a flip side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their spouse’s death, and caring for a spouse with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems. Even so, the odds favour marriage. In a 30-year study of more than 10,000 people, Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School describes how all kinds of social networks have similar effects.
　　So how does it work? The effects are complex, affected by socio-economic factors, health-service provision, emotional support and other more physiological (生理的) mechanisms. For example, social contact can boost development of the brain and immune system, leading to better health and less chance of depression later in life. People in supportive relationships may handle stress better. Then there are the psychological benefits of a supportive partner.
　　A life partner, children and good friends are all recommended if you aim to live to 100. The ultimate social network is still being mapped out, but Christakis says: “People are interconnected, so their health is interconnected.”
【小题1】William Farr’s study and other studies show that _________.

A．social life provides an effective cure for illness

B．being sociable helps improve one’s quality of life

C．women benefit more than men from marriage

D．marriage contributes a great deal to longevity

【小题2】Linda Waite’s studies support the idea that _________.

A．older men should quit smoking to stay healthy

B．marriage can help make up for ill health

C．the married are happier than the unmarried

D．unmarried people are likely to suffer in later life

【小题3】It can be inferred from the context that the “flip side” (Line 4, Para. 2) refers to _________.

A．the disadvantages of being married

B．the emotional problems arising from marriage

C．the responsibility of taking care of one’s family

D．the consequence of a broken marriage

【小题4】 What does the author say about social networks?

A．They have effects similar to those of a marriage.

B．They help develop people’s community spirit.

C．They provide timely support for those in need.

D．They help relieve people of their life’s burdens.

【小题5】What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．It’s important that we develop a social network when young.

B．To stay healthy, one should have a proper social network.

C．Getting a divorce means risking a reduced life span.

D．We should share our social networks with each other.

Scientists have discovered that living to the age of 100 may have nothing to do with the lifestyle you lead and everything to do with the type of genes you have.

For the lucky carriers of “Methuselah” genes， worries over smoking， eating unhealthily and not getting enough exercise may not be as necessary as to those of us without the special gene pattern.   The “Methuselah” genes could give extra protection against the diseases of old age such as cancer and heart disease. They could also protect people against the effects of the unhealthy lifestyles that we believe will lead us to an early death， scientists say. However， the genes are very rare.

The genes include ADIPOQ， which is found in about 10 percent of young people but in nearly 30 percent of people living past 100. They also include the CETP and the ApoC3 genes， which are found in 10 percent of young people， but in about 20 percent of people over 100 years old.

Some of those genes were discovered by a research group at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York， led by Professor Nir Barzilai. The team studied the genes of over 500 people over 100 years old， and their children.

The studies show that tiny mutations (变异) in the make-up of some genes can greatly increase a person’s lifespan. Barzilai told a Royal Society conference that the discovery of such genes gave scientists clear targets for developing drugs that could prevent age-related diseases， allow people to live longer and stay healthy.

David Gems， a researcher at University College London， believes that drugs to slow ageing will become widespread.

“If we know which genes control longevity (长寿) then we can... target them with drugs. That makes it possible to slow down ageing，” he told The Times.

“Much of the pain and suffering in the world are caused by ageing. If we can find a way to reduce that， then we are obliged to take it.”

1.Which genes could give extra protection against the diseases of old age？ (No more than 3 words) (2 marks)

__________________________________________________________________________　

2. Whom did Barzilai’s team study？ (No more than 10 words) (2 marks)

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What can greatly increase a person’s lifespan？ (No more than 10 words) (3 marks)

__________________________________________________________________________

4.What can scientists do if they are aware which genes control longevity？(No more than 6 words) (3 marks)

__________________________________________________________________________.　

 

LONDON----Here’s a new warning from health experts: Sitting is deadly.
Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods — even if you also exercise regularly — could be bad for your health. And it doesn’t matter where the sitting takes place — at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV — just the overall number of hours it occurs. Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.
　　In an editorial published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Elin EkblomBak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.
　　While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.
　　"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Ekblom-Bak said. She explained that genes regulating(调节) the amount of glucose（葡萄糖） and fat in the body start to shut down.
　　Even for people who exercise, spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day — but still spend a lot of time sitting — might get more benefit if that exercise were spread across the day, rather than in a single bout.（一回）
　　Still, in a study published last year that tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about a dozen years, researchers found people who sat more had a higher death risk, independently of whether or not they exercised.
　　"We don’t have enough evidence yet to say how much sitting is bad," said Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, who led the Canadian study. "But it seems the more you can get up and interrupt this sedentary behavior, the better."
　　Figures from a U.S. survey in 2003-2004 found Americans spend more than half their time sitting, from working at their desks to sitting in cars.
　　Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible tooffset those effects.
　　"People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits," Ekblom-Bak said. "But when they’re in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible," she said.
【小题1】What is the best title for the text?

A．Not Sitting Too Much While Working	B．How To Avoid Sitting Too Much
C．Sitting Too Much Could Be Deadly	D．More And More People Sit Too Much

【小题2】According to the research,______________.

A．the more time you spend in exercising in a single bout, the healthier you will be.

B．those who often sit too much are sure to grow fat or suffer from a heart attack.

C．regular exercise is effective to get rid of the side effect of sitting too much.

D．you had better not sit for more than four hours in a single bout.

【小题3】How does the danger of sitting too much affect the human body?

A．It results in a higher death risk.

B．It increases glucose and fat in the body.

C．It makes a person unable to exercise long enough in a day.

D．It causes the gene to fail to balance the glucose and fat in the body.

【小题4】In the opinion of Ekblom-Bak, you’d better have a rest in the office by________.

A．sending your friends e-mails

B．having a walk around your office

C．chatting online or playing computer games

D．listening to music with your head on the desk.

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Many teachers worry about the effects of television on young people. According to studies, any children spend	(1) ________
more time watching television than they spend in school. Because	(2) ________
so much viewing, children may not be develop	(3) ________
the habit of read and the ability to enjoy themselves.	(4) ________
No one worries much about the radio program	(5) ________
young people listen to, although radios can be very noise.	(6) ________
Teachers also wonder about the effects of television commercials. On	(7) ________
one year the average child will see 25000 television	(8) ________
commercials, all planned and written by grownups to make	(9) ________
children to want things that they don’t real need.	(10) ________