Walking barefoot helps to improve balance, posture and prevent common foot injuries, according to an American researcher. Patrick McKeon, a professor at Ithaca College"s School of Health Sciences in New York, says the more people go barefoot at home, in the office or outside, the healthier their feet will be.
He believes the small, often overlooked muscles in the foot play a vital but underestimated role in movement and stability, similar to the core muscles in the abdomen.
The researcher explained their importance by describing the cycle of feedback between the large "extrinsic" (外在的) muscles in the legs and feet, the smaller "intrinsic" (内部的) muscles in the feet, and the neural connections that send information from them to the brain. When this cycle is broken, it can lead to overuse injuries that most athletes are familiar with.
Shoes can also have a negative effect on this cycle, McKeon explained. "When you put a big sole underneath, you put a big dampening effect (阻尼效应) on that information. There"s a missing link that connects the body with its environment."
Without the information provided by the small muscles in the foot, the larger muscles over-compensate and over-exert beyond the point of their natural ability to maintain and repair themselves. And when these muscles are no longer able to absorb the forces of activity, the forces are transferred to the tendons (肌腱), bones and ligaments (韧带), resulting in an increased risk of injury.
McKeon says the only way of reintroducing this link and reactivating the cycle is to take off our shoes and strengthen the muscles in our feet by walking barefoot.
单选题
The more people go barefoot, ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第一段“Walking barefoot helps to improve balance, posture and prevent common foot injuries, according to an American researcher. Patrick McKeon, a professor at Ithaca College"s School of Health Sciences in New York, says the more people go barefoot home, in the office or outside, the healthier their feet will be.”可知，赤脚走路可以提高平衡能力，改善走路姿势，防止普通足病，双脚也会更健康。故选D。
单选题
The small muscles in the foot are often ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第二段“He believes the small, often overlooked muscles in the foot play a vital but underestimated role in movement and stability, similar to the core muscles in the abdomen.”可知，足部一些小型肌群常常被忽视，但它们对于行动及保持稳定性具有举足轻重的作用，就像腹部的核心肌群。此处只是类比，并不是拿足部肌群和核心肌群作对比。故选D。
单选题
Most athletes suffer from ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。根据第三段“The researcher explained their importance by describing the cycle of feedback between the large extrinsic muscles in the legs and feet, the smaller intrinsic muscles in the feet. and the neutral connections that send information from them to the brain. When this cycle is broken, it can lead to overuse injuries that most athletes are familiar with.”可知，研究解释到，腿部的大型外在肌群和足部小型内在肌群之间存在一种信息传达反馈的循环，中枢神经会把信息传达至大脑，但是如果这种循环受损，就会造成运动员常见的过度使用性损伤。故选B。
单选题
According to McKeon, the big sole of the shoes is ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。根据第四段“Shoes can also have a negative effect on this cycle, McKeon explained. "When you put a big sole underneath, you put a big dampening effect on that information. There"s a missing link that connects the body with its environment."”可知，穿鞋反而对于脚部的信息反馈循环不利，导致身体和外界环境缺少连接的一环。故选A。
单选题
The small muscles in the feet are important for the larger muscles to ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第五段中“without the information provided by the small muscles in the foot, the larger muscles over-compensate and over-exert beyond the point of their natural ability to maintain and repair themselves.”可知，如果没有这些小型肌群传导的信息，那么大型肌群很可能会因过度拉伸或过度使用导致不能自身修复。所以小型肌群传导信息，可以防止大型肌群过度拉伸，故选C。