单选题 According to studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association, 42 percent of girls in first through third grade want to be thinner, 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat, and 51 percent of 9 and 10-year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
In many ways, this fixation on weight at ever earlier ages comes at an inopportune time physiologically. At a recent Hadassah meeting at the Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, Dr. Marcie Schneider, the director of adolescent medicine at Greenwich Hospital, and Erica Leon, a registered dietitian, spoke about early adolescence as a time when a little bit of pudginess is necessary for proper growth, and youngsters wrestle constantly with their body image.
"I can't tell you how many kids I've seen who've been on the Atkins diet, or on the South Beach diet. "Ms. Leon said, adding that overweight children who try diets can be at risk of developing eating disorders.
After the presentation, three mothers from Hartsdale who wanted to help their children avoid such issues spoke about how their young daughters are already beginning to become weight-conscious.
Anorexia is a mental illness in which the victim eats barely enough to survive, because her distorted thinking makes her think she is fat. Bulimia, a mental illness in which someone binges on large amounts of food, then purges it through vomiting or the abuse of laxatives, is on the rise, and is surfacing in younger and younger patients, mostly girls, said Judy Scheel, the director of the Center for Eating Disorder Recovery in Mount Kisco.
About 90 percent of victims of eating disorders are female, and often the male victims are on teams like wrestling and crew, where they must keep their weight low for competitive reasons. Dr. Scheel believes that where girls claim the eating disorder enables them to be thin, boys typically state their goal is to achieve or maintain a muscular but thin physique. The average onset for bulimia used to be 17, but to see teenagers aged 14 and 15 with bulimia is common these days, Dr. Scheel said.
Other people believe the disorders have genetic or chemical components, and many people with eating disorders respond well to anti-depressants, for example.
A certain amount of education is necessary to help young people avoid becoming obsessed with their body image. " Teachers need to stay outside of talking about diets," Dr. Scheel said, "It's like a parent, always talking about their next diet. You have to help a child understand that if you eat healthily and exercise, your body is going to take care of itself. "
And in relatively homogenous populations, like in some Westchester schools, competition runs high. "So the young people don't really see how beautiful diversity is," she said, " and they tend to all be competing for kind of the same goals. /

单选题 The studies cited by the National Eating Disorders Association is base on ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点解析] 推断题,从文章第1段所提及的81 percent of 10-year-olds和51 percent of 9 and 10-year-old girls的年龄段,可得出此判断。
单选题 According to Dr. Marcie Schneider and Erica Leon ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点解析] 推断题,参见原文第2段:early adolescence as a time when a little bit of pudginess is necessary for proper growth.其大意是:青春期早期稍微胖一点对身体的正常发育是必要的。adolescence n.青春期(一般指成年以前由13至15的发育期);pudginess n.矮胖;因此正确答案为B。
单选题 From the paragraph 5 we may infer that Anorexia and Bulimia are ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点解析] 词汇题,参见原文第5段:Anorexia is a mental illness in which the victim eats barely enough to survive, …Bulimia, a mental illness in which someone binges on large amounts of food, 根据这一解释,我们不难判断正确答案为D。
单选题 Which of the following may NOT be the reason of eating disorders?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点解析] 判断题,参见文章的6、7段。选项A、C、D都是造成饮食紊乱的原因,只有B没有提及,所以B应当排除。
单选题 The author cites some Westchester schools to indicate that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点解析] 推论题,参见文章最后一段Dr. Scheel博士的话:"So the young people don't really see how beautiful diversity is"其大意是:年轻人不明白多样性之 美。换言之,大家都追求同样的苗条身材,而不顾身体健康的实际情况,这实在不是明智之举。由此可推论正确答案为A。