More than one in ten people who are regularly exposed to organophosphate pesticides(有机磷酸脂农药) will suffer unrecoverable physical and mental damage, a team of psychiatrists warns. The investigators say that theirs is the first serious attempt to estimate the number of people suffering because of chronic low-level exposure to the pesticides. "This is a worrying high level of illness," says one researcher. The findings by the researcher, who also treats many of the victims, conflict with those of the Britain"s government agency monitoring occupational health, which says there is no good evidence to suggest chronic exposure leads to widespread illness. The research team sent questionnaires to 400 farmers selected at random from a phone book. Of 179 who replied, 130 reported that they had been exposed to organophosphates. And 21 farmers complained of enough symptoms to be classed as suffering from organophosphate poisoning. Allowing for bias inherent in the survey method, they suggest that around 10 percent of farmers exposed to the pesticides suffer from poisoning. The researchers also uncovered a consistent pattern of symptoms ranging from extreme tiredness and speech difficulty to suicidal impulses. Again this contrasts with the government agency"s view that there is no clear pattern of symptoms for pesticide poisoning, making a diagnosis difficult. They believe the real figure for poisoning is much higher, once you include cancers and heart disease linked to the pesticide. Last year, British specialists also found evidence of a link between organophosphates and severe bone abnormalities in eight men. One of the researchers, Anthony Lyons of Queen"s Medical centre in Nottingham, says preliminary results from a larger follow-up study suggest the extent of bone damage may be worse than they feared. All those who suffer from organophosphate poisoning complain of becoming "exquisitely sensitive" to any further exposure. This is bad news for any Gulf War veterans sent back to the Middle East. Many scientists and doctors are convinced that Gulf War Syndrome is at least partly caused by organophosphate pesticides, which were sprayed in tents and on clothes to protect troops from biting insects. A spokesman for Britain"s Ministry of Defense says there are no immediate plans to send ground troops to the Gulf. But the US is moving 5,000 troops into the region. Returning troops "would be more vulnerable to poisoning", says one of the leading US authorities on such poisoning.
单选题 In which area do the findings of the researchers have confliction with those Britain"s Health and Safety Executive(HSE), the government agency monitoring occupational health? ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:第一段指出,经常与有机磷农药接触会导致慢性病。第二段第一、二句指出,研究者认为"这是令人担忧的高发病率的疾病",但这种说法与HSE的说法相矛盾。
单选题 Among the farmers investigated, how many of them claimed to be suffering from organophosphate poisoning?______
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:第二段第三、四、五句指出,有400名农民接受问卷调查,有179人作了回答,130人称曾暴露于有机磷农药,21人抱怨说已经被诊断为有机磷农药中毒症状。
单选题 Which of the following is excluded in a symptom of organophosphate poisoning?______
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:第三段第一句提到有机磷酸脂中毒症状时包括:极度疲劳,说法困难和有自杀冲动,只有"犯罪冲动",没有提到。
单选题 Which of tie following illnesses has been proved to be linked with organophosphate poisoning?______
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:第四段提到"癌症、心脏病、骨畸形"都与有机磷酸脂中毒有关系。
单选题 What is considered to be bad news for Gulf War veterans?______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:第五段指出,曾经遭受有机磷酸脂中毒痛苦的人抱怨说他们对再接触这种药类非常敏感,这对于经历过海湾战争的老兵重返中东是可怕的消息,他们的帐篷和衣物被喷洒过杀虫的农药。