Researchers have just offered evidence in a study that says obesity (肥胖)

appears to spread through social ties,much like a virus. When one person gains  

weight,their close friends often follow. But the findings might also offer   

hope.   

 If friends help make obesity acceptablethen they might also be influential in losing the fat. The researchers note that support groups are already an effective tool in dealing with other socially influenced problems,like alcoholism.

The findings appeared in the New England J ournaI of Medicine. The  researchers used information collected from 12,000 people. It was collected between 1971 and 2003  as part of the Framingham Heart Study.  

 The information was highly detailed. There was even contact information for close friends of the people in the study.

The researchers examined more than 40,000 social ties. They found that a person’s chances of becoming severely overweight increased by 57 % if a friend had become obese.

 A sister or brother of a person who became obese had a 40 % increased chance of becoming obese. The risk for a wife or husband was a little less than that.

Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School was a lead investigator in the study. He says there is a direct causal relationship between a person getting fat and being followed in weight gain by a friend.

The study found that the sex of the friends was also an influence. In same-sex friendships,a person had a 71% increased risk of becoming obese. Men had a 44 % increased risk of becoming obese after weight gain in a brother. In sisters,it was 67%.

The researchers also considered the effect of where people lived in relation to each other. James Fowler of the University of California,San Diego,was the other lead investigator. He says a friend who lives a few hundred kilometres away has as much influence as one in the same neighbourhood. He says the study demonstrates the need to consider that a major part of people’s health is tied to their social connections.

Both investigators say their research shows that obesity is not just a pri

vate medical issue,but a public health problem.

1. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

   A. Obesity has a negative influence on a close friend.

   B.  Friends might also play a part in losing weight.

   C.  One might have a positive influence on one’s friend.

   D.  Friends usually don’t follow each other to lose weight.

2. Who is most likely to gain weight?

   A. A man who has a fat brother.

   B.  A husband who has a fat wife.

   C.  A wife who has a fat husband.

   D.  A woman who has a fat female friend.

3. Which of the following statements does the passage disagree with?

   A. You are sure to lose weight if you have a skinny friend.

   B.  If one gains weight,one’s friends are likely to get fat.

   C.  A person’s health is closely linked with his/her social relationship.

   D.  Even if a friend lives far away,the influence still remains.

4. The reason why the study involves both family members and friends is that

   A. researchers fail to find a more different sample

   B.  researchers have different ideas for family members and friends

   C.  researchers can meet these people regularly

   D.  researchers can compare the results

 Recently,one of my best friends,whom I’ve shared just about everything

with since the first day of kindergarten,spent the weekend with me. Since I

moved to a new town several years ago,we’ve both always looked forward to

the few times a year when we can see each other.

Over the weekend,we spent hours and hours,staying up late into the night,talking about the people she was hanging around with. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend,about how he experimented with drugs and was into self-destructive behaviour. I was blown away!She told me how she had been lying to her parents about where she was going and even stealing out to see this guy because they didn’t want her around him. No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she deserved(值得) better,she didn’t believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.

I tried to convince(使确信) her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting nowhere. I just couldn’t believe that she really thought it was acceptable to hang out with a bunch(—串) of losers,especially her boyfriend.

By the time she left,I was really worried about her and exhausted by the experience. We’d been friends for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could defeat anything.

A few days later,she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation,and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend.

1. In the writer’s opinion,her friend        .

   A. was a girl with no self-respect

   B.  could find a better boyfriend

   C.  was brave enough to stick to her own choice

   D.  didn’t value the writer’s suggestion

2. What did the writer worry about?

   A. She would lose the friendship with her.

   B.  Her friend s parents would be worried about their daughter.

   C.  Her friend would get into great trouble with the boy.

   D.  Her friend’s boyfriend would be in great trouble.

3. We may learn from Paragraph 3 that the writer          .

   A. didn’t want to go anywhere else

   B.  understood her friend’s hanging with her boyfriend

   C.  couldn’t believe that her friend’s choice was acceptable

   D.  doubted that she could in any way help her friend

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

   A. Friendship starting from childhood is not reliable.

   B.  Friendship is a cure for any injury in life.

   C.  Friendship should be everlasting once begun.

   D.  Friendship can have magical power in life.

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