{{B}}Obesity (肥胖): the scourge (祸害) of the Western World{{/B}}
Obesity is rapidly becoming a new scourge of the western world, delegates
agreed at the 11th European Conference on the issue in Vienna Wednesday to
Saturday. According to statements before the opening of the conference — of
2,000 specialists from more than 50 countries — 1.2 billion people worldwide are
overweight, and 250 million are obese. Professor Bernhard Ludvik
of Vienna General Hospital said: "Obesity is a chronic illness. In Germany, 20
per cent of the people are already affected, but in Japan only one per cent.
"But he said that there was hope for sufferers thanks to the new scientific
discoveries and medication. Professor Friedrich Hopichler of
Salzberg said: "We are living in the new age (but) with the metabolism of a
stone-age man." "I have just been to the United States. It is really terrible. A
pizza shop is springing up on every comer. We have been overrun by fast food and
Coca-Cola-ization." Many of the experts stressed that obesity
was a potential killer. Hopichler said, "Eighty per cent of all diabetics are
obese, also fifty per cent of all patients with high blood pressure and fifty
per cent with adipose tissue complaints." "Ten per cent more weight means
thirteen per cent more risk of heart disease. Reducing one's weight by ten per
cent leads to thirteen per cent lower blood pressure." Another
expert Hermann Toplak said that the state health services should improve their
financing of preventive programs. "Though the health insurance pays for surgery
(such as reducing the size of the stomach) when the body-mass index is more than
40. That is equivalent to a weight of 116 kilograms for a height of 1.70 meters.
One should start earlier." Ludvik said that prevention should
begin in school. "Child obesity (fat deposits) correlates with the time which
children spend in front of TV sets." The consequences were only
apparent later on. No more than fifteen per cent of obese people lived to the
average life expectancy, for their population group. scourge n.
天灾；祸害 obesity n. 肥胖症 overrun vt. 侵扰；蹂躏
obese adj. 肥胖的 diabetic n. 糖尿病患者；adj.糖尿病的
medication n. 药物疗法 adipose adj. 脂肪的；肥胖的
metabolism n. 新陈代谢
单选题
It is estimated that there are ______ people suffering from obesity in the world.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 备选项都是数字，所以注意文章中与数字相关的句子，这样发现答案相关句：According to statements before the opening of the conference—of2,000specialists from more than 50 countries一1.2 billion people worldwide(与题干中的in the world 呼应)are overweight，and 250 million are obese(肥胖的)．根据划线结构的内容判断A是答案。
单选题
It seems that the ______ people are least affected by obesity among the developed countries and areas mentioned in the passage.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 备选项都是国家名，所以注意文章中提到这些国家名的句子，问题问的是“遭受肥胖病最少的国家”，在文章中找到答案相关句：In Germany, 20 per cent of the people are already affected, but in Japan only one per cent(可见日本受到肥胖病的影响比德国小)…。I have just been to the United States, it is really terrible(可见美国肥胖病也应该很严重)，A pizza shop is springing up on every corner．We have been over run by fast food and Coca-Cola-ization．(文章第1句)Obesity is rapidly becoming a new scourge of the western world, delegates agreed at the 11th European Conference on the issue in Vienna Wednesday to Saturday.代表在欧洲开会，因此推断欧洲的肥胖病也应该不少，所以答案选择D。
单选题
Which of the following is most often accompanied by obesity?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 选项都是病症，因此借助选项中的这些病症作为答案线索，这样发现答案相关句；Eighty per cent of all diabetes are obese，also fifty per cent of all patients with high blood pressure and fifty per cent with adipose(蹭肪的)tissue complaints．该句说“80%的糖尿病患者患有肥胖病，病人中的50%有高血压，50%有脂肪组织疾病”，而“胃疼”在文章中根本就没有提到，因此判断C是答案。
单选题
What is the correlation between body weight and heart disease and blood pressure?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 借助题干中出现的heart disease和blood pressure作为答案线索，这样找到答案相关句： Ten per cent more weight means thirteen per cent more risk of heart disease．Reducing one's weight by tenper cent leads to thirteen per cent lower blood pressure．因此可见体重和心脏病的关系是10/13：而体重和高血压的关系也是10/13，因此判断A和B都不正确。只有C(体重增加心脏病和高血压的风险也增加)与原文内容一致。
单选题
From the last paragraph we may infer that one of the effective measures suggested by Ludnik to prevent children from being obese would be______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 首先判断A和C的说法太绝对，因此不是答案：D成为答案的可能性也较小。利用题干中出现的核心词children和特征词Ludvik作为答案线索，这样发现答案相关句：Ludvik said that prevention should begin in school．Child obesity correlates with the time which children spend in front of TV sets．该句说“儿童肥胖与儿童在电视前面所花的时间有关系”，因此判断B是答案的可能性最大。