单选题 What's the engine that drives American business? Innovation? Sweat? Capital? Try coffee. From the shop floor to the boardroom, Java—and I don't mean the soft ware—fuels workers and shapes office culture. What's more, a steaming cup of coffee may be as good for your health as it is for the bottom line. Many people take their coffee with a small dose of guilt, worried that it isn't good for the body. That's a misunderstanding from studies done in the 1950s and 1960s showing that coffee drinkers were prone to heart disease and other sufferings. These studies failed to account for cigarette smoking, which once went hand in cup with coffee drinking. Since then, the medical community has done a gradual turn on the health effects of coffee. Large, long-term studies show that coffee doesn't promote cancer and may even protect against some types. It's safe for the heart—so safe that the American Heart Association says it's OK for heart attack survivors to have a cup or two a day even as they recover in the coronary care unit. Results from the long-running Health Professionals Follow-Up and Nurses' Health studies show that drinking coffee cuts the risk of dying early from a heart attack or stroke. It's possible that the bean improves productivity, too. A bit of caffeine wakes up millions of workers in the morning. Controlled laboratory experiments indicate that it causes feelings of well-being and increases energy, alertness, and motivation. Functional MRI scans show that coffee activates parts of the brain involved in short-term memory, the kind that helps focus attention on tasks at hand. For all that, a word of warning is in order. The average cup of coffee serves up about 100 milligrams of caffeine, and a large specialty coffee can deliver five times that much. If you aren't used to caffeine, it can make you restless, boost your blood pressure, and dehydrate you. But the biggest health hazard is the extra stuff that drinkers add to coffee. Taken black, coffee is a nearly calorie-free beverage full of antioxidants and other vegetable nutrients. Add cream, sugar, fresh cream, and flavorings, and it turns into a fat- and calorie-laden dessert, which can add pounds that offset any possible health benefits. For most people, though, the health and social benefits of coffee outweigh the hazards, and the daily grind keeps American business spreading.
单选题 It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that coffee _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:根据题干定位到第一段。文章首句以问句形式激起读者的思考,从而引出咖啡的话题。其中⑦句讲到咖啡既有利于你的身体健康,又能帮助企业盈利(as good…as…),D项的beneficial to both...and...与此意思相近,“(咖啡)对员工和企业都有利”是对原文语义的概括,故D项为正确答案。
单选题 The studies in the 1950s and 1960s misunderstood coffee because they _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:根据1950s and 1960s定位到文章第二段。该段②句讲到了咖啡对身体有害只不过是二十世纪五六十年代一系列研究的误解(misunderstanding),而③句则表明这些研究没有解释一边喝咖啡一边吸烟的情况,说明它们忽视了吸烟也是影响身体健康的因素,因此B项符合题意。
单选题 According to Paragraph 4, the benefits of caffeine include _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:根据题干中的关键词caffeine定位到文章第四段。第三段提到,咖啡不会诱发癌症,而且可能还帮助预防某些类型的癌症,以及降低因心脏病或中风早逝的风险。第四段承接上一段,进一步说明咖啡所带来的益处,其中②至④句描述了咖啡因的好处,③句谈到咖啡因增强活力(energy),C项中的refreshment与此相吻合,故C项为正确答案。
单选题 The word "offset" (Line 6, Para. 5) is closest in meaning to _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:根据题干及offset可直接定位到第五段,即文章最后一段。第三、第四段提到了咖啡能给我们带来的很多益处,而该段语义一转,表示要对其害处有所警惕。其中该段④句就表明最大的健康危害(biggest health hazard)是往咖啡中额外添加的材料。结合该词所在的⑥句来理解,前半句Add cream,sugar...flavorings正是上文提到的危害,加了奶油、糖、鲜乳酪及调味料之后,咖啡就成了高脂高热的甜食,从而导致体重增加,offset了咖啡本身可能给身体带来的好处。根据前后句,可猜想offset有前后相抵之意,即B项balance out“抵消”。
单选题 It can be learned from the last paragraph that_____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:根据题干定位到文章最后一段。该段主要谈论咖啡的害处。其中③句描述咖啡对于咖啡过敏人士可能带来的伤害,而④句用表转折的but一词进一步表明最大的健康危害其实是人们往咖啡中额外添加的材料(the extra stuff that drinkers add to coffee),D项与此相符。