Question

  A super drug that could remove Alzheimer's(痴呆症) ，heart disease and diabetes(糖屎病) and help people live to 100 is being developed by scientists. Their research is based on the iden?tification of three genes that improve long and healthy lives and prevent diseases of aging. Medi?cally controlling the proteins made by the " longevity genes" will allow millions to live longer, predicts Nir Barzilai.

Those people whose DNA strongly features the three genes are 80 percent less likely to de?velop Alzheimer's. The genes also fight against the deadly impact of smoking, bad diet,obesity and lack of exercise.

  Already，several laboratories are working on a pill to imitate the benefits of the genes and Dr Barzilai thinks it could be tested within three years. The pill could remove some diseases that damage the old people. "The advantage of finding a gene that involves longevity is that we can develop a drug that will imitate exactly what this gene is doing," he said. "The biology we're trying to uncover is that if we can imitate that,long life can be really terrific."

  Of the three longevity genes, two increase the production of so-called good cholesterol(胆固醇) ，which reduces the risk of heart disease. The third prevents diabetes. They were discov?ered by Dr Barzilai's team while studying the DNA of 500 Ashkenazi Jews with an average age of 100. The chances of living that long are one in 10,000 but the study group―which shared relatively few common ancestors―was 20 times more likely to hit the century. Dr Barzilai said, "Thirty percent of them were overweight and 30 percent smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for more than 40 years,however they could still live to 100."

  But Andrew Ketteringham, of the Alzheimer's Society, said. " Alzheimer's disease, a most common disease, is likely to be caused by a combination of genetic disposition(遗传倾向) ，lifes?tyle and life events. Many genes are probably involved.”

(   ) 1. According to the text， some people are able to live to one hundred years because of

   A. magical medicine   B. three special genes

   C.  having no disease   D. once being sportsmen

(   ) 2. Why does the discovery of the longevity genes mean a lot?

   A.Because it can bring great benefits to economic development.

   B.Because it can help people change their unhealthy genes.

   C.Because it helps produce a drug that can make people live longer.

   D.Because it will help scientists to build up a new branch of biology. 

(   ) 3. From Paragraph 4 we can infer that        .

   A.longevity genes cannot help reduce diseases

   B.the study group is all from the same family

   C.good habits have no effects on the health of people

   D.the longevity genes may protect the people from the harm of bad habits 

(   ) 4. What is Andrew Ketteringham's attitude toward the study?

   A. Positive.   B. Critical.   C. Neutral.   D. Satisfied.

Answer 1

1—4 BCDB 

A长寿是很多人的梦想。美国科学家正在研发一种能使人长寿的药。

1.B细节理解题。根据第一段...is based on the identification of three genes…可知，百岁老人长寿的原因是他们拥有三个特殊的基因。

2.C推理判断题。根据第三段"The advantage of finding a gene that involves longevity is that we can develop a drug that will imitate exactly what this gene is doing"可知，发现与长寿有关基因的重大意义就在于它有助于人们研制长寿药品。

3.D推理判断题。从第四段可知，研究对象中的一些人有着不好的生活习惯，但因为有长寿基因，仍然能活到100岁。

4.B观点态度题。根据最后一段开头的"but" 和内容可知，Andrew Ketteringham对这项研究持批评的态度，他认为有很多基因都时人类的疾病产生着影响，不仅仅是研究中涉及到的那三种。