A. abuse B. appreciated C. attracted D. linked E. mixture F. union G. perceived H. set I. merge J. disappear K. measured L. acquired M. affect N. estimated O. offspring Alcohol may taste sweeter if you were exposed to it before birth, suggests a study in rats. The findings may shed new light on why human studies have previously 1fetal(胎儿的)alcohol exposure to increased alcohol 2 later in life, and to a lower age at which a person first starts drinking alcohol. Alcohol's taste is a(n) 3 of sweet and bitter components. To test whether prenatal(产前的 )alcohol exposure could 4 the perception of these components, Steven Youngentob at the State University of New York in Syracuse and John Glendinning at Columbia University in New York 5 how eagerly rats consumed alcohol, sweet water or bitter water. They found that young rats whose mothers had consumed alcohol during pregnancy preferred alcohol and consumed more of the bitter water than the 6 of mothers that didn't consume alcohol. Rats that had been exposed to alcohol before birth also seemed to be more 7 to the smell of alcohol. Prenatal exposure seems to reduce the 8 bitterness of alcohol, making it seem sweeter, says Youngentob. Both of these differences seemed to 9 once the rats reached adulthood— but only if they hadn't tasted alcohol during their youth. If prenatally exposed rats did consume alcohol in their youth, these preferences seemed to become 10 for life. "The take-home message is to keep kids away from alcohol for as long as possible—particularly if they have had prenatal exposure," says Youngentob.