单选题 You've probably heard the reports that moderate drinking can actually be good for your heart. But before you stock up (囤积) on beer, wine, or liquor for "medicinal purposes", read the fine print.
Guidelines published by the Department of Health and Human Services define moderate drinking as no more than a drink a day for most women and no more than two drinks a day for most men. But even moderate drinking may be ill-advised as you get older.
Research shows that as you age, you absorb alcohol more readily and are more sensitive to its effects. So the number of drinks you could tolerate years ago may be too much for you now. Why? First, your body's ratio of water to fat falls as you age, so there's less water to dilute (稀释) the alcohol. Second, you have less blood flow to the liver and less efficient liver enzyme action, so your body doesn't metabolize (新陈代谢) alcohol as readily.
Women need to be especially careful, since most can't tolerate as much alcohol as men can. One reason is that they are generally smaller, and smaller people have less blood volume, so a little alcohol goes a longer way. Women also produce less of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach before it is absorbed into the bloodstream. And they have a higher proportion of body fat, which does not absorb alcohol. The result? Drink for drink, women have 750//00 more alcohol in their bloodstream than men do.
Despite the caveats (警告, 告诫), there's no doubt that, for many people, limited amounts of alcohol can help you live longer and decrease your risk of heart disease. Those who may be at risk for heart disease or stroke and those who are diabetic appear to benefit most from moderate alcohol intake (one or two drinks per day) over the course of their lifetimes.
For example, in a University of Wisconsin study of diabetic men and women with an average age of 69, the risk of death from coronary heart disease was significantly lower among moderate drinkers compared to abstainers (戒酒者). The death rate for those who had a drink a day was less than half of that for those who didn't drink at all.

单选题 According to the author, ______.
A. moderate drinking actually does no good to your health
B. you should not drink beer, wine or liquor for medicinal purposes
C. you should know about the guidelines for moderate drinking before you decide to drink
D. you should give up drinking alcohol as you get older
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。根据文章开头，作者说尽管你可能听到过有关适量饮酒对心脏有益的报道，但在你准备为“医疗目的”喝酒之前，最好先读一读以下的文字。然后作者讲了适量饮酒的标准及随着年龄增大，你能忍受的酒量会变化等。所以作者的观点是C。
单选题 Moderate drinking means ______.
A. not drinking alcohol too often
B. keeping drinking a certain amount of alcohol throughout your life
C. controlling the amount of alcohol you drink for one time
D. drinking a limited amount of alcohol every day and trying to cut the amount as you age
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。根据文章第二、三段，适量饮酒是指每天有节制地喝少量的酒，而且随着年龄增大，要减少酒量，因为随着年龄增长，人体内发生一些生理变化，使你能忍受的酒精量减少。而D能准确地表达出这些意思，故是本题正确选项。
单选题 As you get older, ______.
A. you can tolerate more alcohol
B. you have less water in your body
C. your body metabolize alcohol more readily
D. your body becomes more sensitive to alcoholic effects
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。根据第三段，随着年龄增长，几年前你能忍受的酒量现在可能成为过量。因为年龄越大，人体内水与脂肪的比率下降，用于稀释酒精的水就变少，所以人体对酒精吸收越快，对酒精就越敏感。而且随着年龄增大，流到肝脏的血液减少，肝脏酶的作用减弱，因此新陈代谢就不像以前那样快了。由此可知，只有D符合原文意思，故是正确答案。
单选题 Most women can't tolerate as much alcohol as men can because ______.
A. they have less blood volume
B. they produce less enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach
C. they have a higher proportion of body fat
D. all of the above
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。根据第四段，女人的酒量小于男人，原因有三个：一是女人体格小；二是女人产生的能将酒精在胃中分解的酶少；三是女人体内脂肪比例高。由此可见A、B、C都对，所以D是正确选项。
单选题 The passage tells us that ______.
A. moderate drinking does harm to diabetic patients
B. moderate drinking is most beneficial to healthy people
C. moderate drinking reduce diabetic people's risks of coronary heart disease
D. moderate drinking does more good to men than to women
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】综合理解题。根据文章最后两段，适量饮酒对那些容易患心脏病、中风的人和糖尿病患者的益处最大．并用例子证明了这一点：对平均年龄69岁的糖尿病患者有研究表明，适量饮酒者死于冠心病的风险低于禁酒者。所以C符合这个意思，是本题正确答案。