Have you eaten too much over the holidays? You should try fidgeting for a while. Those around you might not like it, but scratching (moving your nails against a part of your body) and twitching (moving suddenly and quickly when you don’t want to) is an important way of burning up calories .

 American researchers have found that some people’s squirming (continuously turn your body when nervous) and wigging (move in small movements, especially from side to side) equals several miles of slow running each day.

 The scientists, based at the National Institute of Health’s laboratory in Phenix, Arizona, are studying why some people get fat and other stay slim.

  In one study 177 people each spent 24 hours in a room in the institute where the amount of energy is measured by their oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. By the end of the day, some people had burned up 800 calories in toe-tapping, (moving the front part of your foot up and down) finger-drumming (hitting your fingers continuously and lightly against something hard) and other nervous habits. However, others had burned up only 100 calories.

  The researchers found that slim women fidget more than fat women, but there was no significant difference in men. Heavy people burn up more energy when they fidget than thin people do.

31. Which of the following can be used to explain the meaning of “fidgeting”?

A. scratching and twitching                B. squirming and wigging

C. slow running                              D. moving one’s body nervously

32. According to the scientists, the reason why some people get fat and other people stay slim is that ____ .

A. thin people burn up less calories than fat people

B. fat people burn up more calories than thin people

C. those who burn up more calories than others will be thinner

D. those who fidget more than others will be thinner

33. Scientists found in the experiment that _________ .

A. the energy burned up by fat people when they fidget was more than that burned up by thin people

when they fidget

B. some people’s fidgeting burned up more than 800 calories, but some people’s fidgeting burned up less

than 100 calories

C. slim women fidget more than fat women but fat men fidget more than thin men

D. thin men fidget more than fat men

34. If someone is thin in a pleasant way, we say they are __________.

A. skinny      B. bony        C. slim          D. underweight

35. Scientists think a fidget habit to be ___________.

A. a way to lose fat                     B. a nervous habit annoying the people around

C. a better exercise than slow running      D. a habit of thin people