单选题 How and why would strain and anxiety trigger some of us to pile on extra weight? Stress activates the flight-or-fight response (应激反应), a physiological reaction designed to get your body moving quickly in a physical emergency. When your brain perceives a threat, it sounds the alarm to your adrenal glands (肾上腺) to pump out the stress hormone cortisol (皮质醇). The hormone then signals fat cells to quickly release energy, which your muscles can use for a surge of power to "flee" or "fight". When the danger passes, cortisol briefly stays elevated to encourage your body to replenish (补充) its fat stores, then returns to normal.
"The system works beautifully if you're running for the last bus home after work. It gives you a burst of energy, which you recover from quickly once you take your seat," says Pamela Peeke, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine and author of Body for Life for Women. But when you turn on the stress response for months on end—worrying about your marriage or mortgage payments—you do damage. "Then, cortisol levels remain persistently elevated, persistently signaling your body to store fat," says Dr. Peeke.
This mechanism may also affect where flab (松弛) builds up on your body. Under stress, women who carry excess weight in their abdominal area secreted (分泌) significantly more cortisol than women who didn't have extra belly fat, according to a study from the University of California at San Francisco. And since deep abdominal fat tissue has up to four times the number of receptors for cortisol as does superficial fat elsewhere in the body, the cells in this area are the most likely to respond and store fat when exposed to extra stress-induced cortisol. Unfortunately, this extra abdominal flab isn't just a cosmetic concern; it is strongly linked to a greater risk of heart disease and stroke, two top killers of women over 50.
The cumulative (累积的) effects of the stress-fat connection can be great. Although you can't control many of the things that cause you stress, you can take steps to curb the negative effect these stressors have on your body. "Support is essential. Reach out to family and friends," says Alice Domar, PhD, director of the Mind/Body Center for Women's Health at Boston IVF.

单选题 What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. The flight-or-fight response makes our body move slowly when in a physical emergency.
B. When we feel a threat, our brain sends the alarm to our adrenal glands to pump out cortisol.
C. Our muscles can use the energy released slowly by the fat cells to flight or fight.
D. Cortisol stays elevated persistently to encourage our body to replenish its fat stores after the danger passes.

单选题 What does the author mean by saying "when you turn on the stress response for months on end ... you do damage"?
A. When you open the stress response for months continuously, you will die.
B. When you open the stress response for months continuously, you will get injured.
C. When you open the stress response for months continuously, you will put on weight.
D. When you open the stress response for months continuously, you may make some damage to others.

单选题 Why does the author say that the extra abdominal fat isn't just a cosmetic concern?
A. Because it may make the women feel anxious much more easily.
B. Because it may cause heart disease and stroke to women.
C. Because it may affect the women's job and marriage.
D. Because it may leave a deep shadow in women's heart.

单选题 What's Alice Domar's advice on how to control the negative effect of stress?
A. Seeking support from your family and friends.
B. Going to the psychological doctors.
C. Reading books on how to control strain and anxiety.
D. Enlarging your social circle to make new friends.

单选题 The main purpose of this passage is to ______.
A. tell us how to reduce pressure appropriately
B. reveal the reason why some women have extra belly fat
C. teach us how to avoid the negative effect of stress
D. explain how and why strain and anxiety would make some of us fatter