题目内容
Babies born in summer are more likely to become short-sighted in late life, a study has shown.
As many as a quarter of all cases of short-sightedness are caused by too great an exposure to sunlight in the first weeks of life, say eye experts.
They are advising all parents to put sunglasses on their babies during the first weeks.
Scientists had already established that over-exposure to sunlight caused short-sightedness in animals.
Researchers who compared the months in
which babies were born with whether they needed glasses later on say the
principle also applies to humans.
A study of almost 300,000 young
adults─the largest of its kind─showed that those born in June and July had a 25
per cent greater chance of becoming severely short-sighted than those born in
December or January. Research leader Professor Michael Belkin, of Tel Aviv
University, said it was because prolonged illumination(光照) causes the eyeball to
lengthen, causing short-sightedness.
Hence the more light a newborn is exposed to, the more the eyeball lengthens and the worse the short-sightedness will be.
The mechanism which lengthens the eyeball is associated with levels of melatonin(褪黑激素), a pigment (色素) which protects the skin against harmful rays of the sun.
In young babies not enough melatonin is released as protection, meaning they are more vulnerable to sunburn and changes to eyeball shape.
Sight expert Professor Daniel O’Leary, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said “At the moment we don’t know the precise cause of why light exposure affects sight, but the evidence seems to prove that it is one of the reasons for people becoming short-sighted.”
1. Babies born in summer are more likely to be short-sighted ____________.
A. because the summer sun is too strong for babies
B. because babies born in summer have lengthened eyeballs
C. if they are exposed to much sunlight in the first weeks after they are born
D. if parents don’t know a proper way to protect their babies’ eyes
2. Melatonin is a kind of material to ___________.
A. prevent the eyes from becoming near-sighted
B. protect the skin from harmful sun rays
C. make our body strong
D. protect babies’ eyes from summer sun
3. From what Professor Daniel O’Leary says we can conclude that ___________.
A. there is no evidence that short-sightedness is related to exposure to sunlight
B. whether light exposure affects sight still needs to be further proved
C. he believes that light exposure can cause short-sightedness
D. he tries to give the cause of why light exposure affects sight
4. The underlined word “vulnerable” in the passage probably means __________.
A. easy to be harmed B. resistant
C. protective D. changeable
C
B
C
A
【解析】
Money, jewels and important documents are not the only valuable placed in banks these days. Some mothers store their breast milk in banks.
There’re ten breast banks set up across the United States, where mothers can donate their extra milk for other women’s babies. Experts say breast milk is the best food for babies. The World Health Organization says it is the only food babies should get during the first six months of life, in most cases. Breast milk is especially important for babies born too early. Sometimes these premature babies must stay in the hospital for many weeks.
James Cameron is a doctor who treats newborns at Lutheran Children’s Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He says breast milk is almost like medicine. Doctor James Cameron said, “The fact is that there are so many different proteins and specialized sugars in the breast milk that the mom’s able to make that help provide immunity. It’s very important for the health of the newborn.”
There are several reasons some mothers may not be able to breastfeed. Some are not able to produce enough milk. Others might be taking medicines or have medical problems that prevent the process.
Lucy Baur lives near Fort Wayne. She fed her milk to both her children and always had more milk than they needed. She wanted to donate to the Indiana Mothers Milk Bank in Indianapolis. But freezing and shipping milk can be costly. Then, a donor station opened near her home.
Milk donations in the United States work like this: Donors must be willing to provide almost three liters of breast milk. They freeze the milk and take it to the station. There, employees warm the milk and mix it with other mothers’ milk. Then, the milk is heated to kill bacteria. After that, the technicians test samples of all the milk to make sure it is safe and healthful. The milk is re-frozen and sent to the main milk bank. The milk bank transports the milk to hospitals to feed premature or sick babies. Donors are tested for diseases before any milk is accepted. They are not permitted to smoke tobacco, use illegal drugs or drink too much alcohol.
【小题1】The purpose of setting up breast milk banks is to_____.
| A．store extra fresh milk for school children |
| B．provide milk to children who go hungry |
| C．help mothers donate milk to other babies |
| D．offer free breast milk to premature babies |
| A．it protects them from any possible disease |
| B．it contains rich nutrients that they need |
| C．it is the only food that babies can eat |
| D．it benefits them as the best medicine |
| A．milk bank employees | B．milk bank doctors |
| C．milk bank nurses | D．breast milk donors |
a. The mixed breast milk is heated to kill bacteria.
b. Breast milk is donated by mothers, frozen by them and sent to the stations.
c. The breast milk samples are tested for safety reason.
d. Different donors’ breast milk is warmed and mixed together by the station.
e. The milk is frozen again and sent to the main milk bank.
| A．bdace | B．bcdea | C．badec | D．cbaed |
Olivia and Jack are the most popular names in Britain for babies born in 2008, according to a survey made by the website Bounty. Jack has been top for 14 years since it took over from Thomas.
Grace — made famous by the Hollywood star Grace Kelly — slipped back into third place behind Ruby, the name of singer Charlotte Church’s daughter.
Summer climbed 28 places from 44th to 16th. Ava — the name of singer Myleene Klass’s daughter — also leapt 15 places to 19th.
The troubles of the singer Amy Winehouse perhaps had an effect on the popularity of the name. It dropped three places to 23rd. Rebecca is also on the wane(变弱), ranking 48th. So is Courtney, which ranked 88th.
Theo, obviously inspired by England’s teenage football hero Theo Walcott, is among the biggest climbers in the boy’s list, rising from 70th to 58th.
An employee of Bounty said, “Baby names have witnessed the biggest changes over the last decade as parents are increasingly influenced by celebrities. The Bounty baby name poll also shows parents are continuing to be creative and inspirational about the names they choose for their children. Some parents want a name that’s totally unique, and names such as Zebedee, Selim and Zenon are now emerging and growing in popularity. Others are simply breaking with convention and becoming bolder in their choice of names.”
“While politicians’ names may be growing in popularity in America, British politicians don’t influence our choice of names in the UK. Traditional royal names continue to be supreme(最高的) in the boys’ top 100,” The employee said.
【小题1】Which of the following girl names ranks the second?
| A．Grace. | B．Ruby. | C．Kelly. | D．Charlotte. |
| A．stars | B．parents | C．media | D．politicians |
| A．Unique names. | B．Creative names. |
| C．Famous people’s names. | D．Traditional royal names. |
| A．Thomas was the first in boy names in 1994 |
| B．Summer ranked 28th in the girls’ list in 2007 |
| C．Rebecca might be 50th in the girls’ list in 2007 |
| D．Courtney climbed in the boy’s list in 2008 compared with 2007 |