A New Strategy to Overcome Breast Cancer

Post-menopausal(绝经后)womenwho walk for an hour a day can cut their chance of breast cancer significantly,a study has suggested. The report , which followed 73,000 women for 17 years, foundwalking for at least seven hours a week lowered the risk of the disease. TheAmerican Cancer Society team said this was the first time reduced risk wasspecifically linked to walking. UK experts said it was more evidence thatlifestyle influenced cancer risk.

A recent poll for the charity Ramblers aquarter of adults walk for no more than an hour a week, but being active isknown to reduce the risk of a number of cancers. This study, published inCancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers&Prevention, followed 73.615 women out of97,785 aged 50-74 who had been recruited by the American Cancer Society between1992 and 1993,so it could monitor the incidence of cancer in the group.

They were asked to complete questionnaires ontheir health and on how much time they were active and participating inactivities such as walking, swimming and aerobics(有氧运动)andhow much time they spent sitting watching television or reading. They completedthe same questionnaires at two-year intervals between 1997 and 2009.Of thewomen,47% said walking was their only recreational acivity. Those who walkedfor at least seven hours per week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancercompared to those who walked three or fewer hours per week.

Dr.Alpa Patel, a senior epidemiologist at theAmerican Cancer Society in Atlanta,Georgia,who led the study, said:”Given that more than 60% of women report some daily walking, promotingwalking as a healthy leisure-time activity could be an effective strategy forincreasing physical activity amongst post-menopausal women. We were pleased tofind that without any other recreational activity, just walking one hour a daywas associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in these women.””More strenuous(紧张的)and longer activitieslowered the risk even more.”

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive ofBreast Cancer Campaign, said:”This study adds furtherevidence that our lifestyle choices can play a part in influencing the risk ofbreast cancer and even small changes incorporate into our normal day-to-dayactivity can make a difference.”

She added:”We knowthat the best weapon to overcoming breast cancer is the ability to stop itoccurring in the first place. The challenge now is how we turn these

findings into action and identify othersustainable lifestyle changes that will help us prevent breast cancer.”

31. All of the following factors relating tocancer risk were mentioned in the passage EXCEPT________

A. breathing exercise

B. regular walking

C. recreational activity

D. lifestyle choices

32. It can be inferred from Dr. Alpa Patel’s study that____.

A. women have fewer chances of physicalactivity

B. daily walking could cut the chance of breastcancer

C. leisure-time activity is not associatedwith cancer risk

D. walking is not recommended for women withbreast cancer

33. Dr. Alpa Patel was_____.

A. head of the survey study

B. chief editor of Cancer Epidemiology

C. chair of the American Cancer Society

D. chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign

34. Which of the following statements is trueaccording to the passage?

A. Most women take walking as their onlyrecreational activity.

B. The study aims to track the healthconditions of its subjects.

C. Walking was the only recreationalacitivity for about half of the women

D. Irregular walking increased the risk ofbreast cancer in post-menopausal women

35. The word “sustainable”in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to

A. continuable

B. affordable

C. available

D. persistent

The Northern Lights

The sun is stormy and has it own kind ofweather. It is so hot and active that even the Sun’sgravity cannot hold its atmosphere in check! Energy flows away from the Suntoward the Earth in a stream of electrified particles that move at speedsaround a million miles per hour. These particles are called plasma, and thestream of plasma coming from the Sun is called the solar wind. The more activethe Sun, the stronger the solar wind.

The solar wind constantly streams toward theEarth, but don’t worry because a protective magneticfields surrounds our planet. The same magnetic field that makes your compasspoint north also steers the particles from the Sun to the north and southpoles. The charged particles become trapped in magnetic belts around the Earth.When a large blast of solar wind crashes into the Earth’s magnetic field first gets squeezed and then the magnetic fieldlines break and reconnect.

The breaking and reconnecting of the magneticfield lines can cause atomic particles called electrons trapped in the belts tofall into the Earth’s atmosphere at the poles. As theelectrons fall into the Earth, they collide with gas molecules in theatmosphere, creating flashes of light in the sky.

Each atmospheric gas glows a different color.Oxygen and nitrogen glows red and green and nitrogen glows violet-purple. Asthese various colors glow and dance in the night sky, they create the NorthernLights and the Southern Lights.

Watching auroras(北极光)is fun and exciting, but normally you can only see them in places far northlike Alaska and Canada. The movement of the aurora across the sky is usuallyslow enough to easily follow with your eyes but they can also pulsate(跳动), flicker(闪烁), or even move like waves.During solar maximum, 5 auroras are seen as far south as Florida, even Mexico!Aurorasoften seem to be very close to the ground, but the lowest aurora is still about100 kilometers above the ground, a distance much higher than clouds are formedor airplanes can fly. A typical aurora band can be thousands of kilometerslong, a few hundred kilometers high, but only a few hundred meters thick.

We hope you are able to travel to far-northplaces like the Arctic Circle and see the Northern Lights at least once duringyour lifetime. We know you will never forget it!

36. The solar wind comes into being as aresult of______

A. disappearance of the Sun’s gravity.

B. unpredictable weather of the Sun.

C. fast flow of energy away from the Sun.

D. a stream of particles being blown away.

37. What happens when solar wind comes to theEarth?

A. A protective magnetic field is formed atthe same time.

B. It is trapped in magnetic belts around theEarth.

C. It destroys the protective magnetic fieldsurrounding the Earth.

D. It breaks magnetic field lines and doessevere damage to the ???

38. The Northern Lights are createdwhen______

A. atomic particles fall to the Earth and collidewith atmospheric gases.

B. the magnetic field lines fail toreconnect.

C. the electrons falling to the Earth shinein different colors.

D. oxygen and nitrogen are separated from theatmospheric gases.

39. Which of the following statements is trueof the Northern Lights?

A. Their movement is slow enough to be observedwith the eyes.

B. People cannot see them unless traveling toAlaska or Canada

C. They are very close to the ground.

D. They are very long and thick.

40. What is the author’s tone toward the Northern Lights?

A. Indifferent

B. Sarcastic

C. Sharp

D. Appreciative
Virtue never grows old. 美德不会衰老.
He who knows most knows best how little he knows. 知识愈多就愈了解自己懂得太少.