The struggle against malnutrition (营养不良) and hunger is as old as man himself, and never across the face of our planet has the outcome been more in doubt. Malnutrition tortures an estimated 400 million to 1.5 billion of the world's poor. Even in the rich U.S., poverty means malnutrition for an estimated ten to twenty million. Hardest hit are children, whose growing bodies demand two and a half times more protein, than those of adults. Nutrition experts estimate that 70 percent of the children in low-income countries are affected. Badly-shaped bodies tell the sad story of malnutrition. Medical science identifies two major types of malnutrition which usually occur in combination. The first, kwashiorkor, is typified by the bloated (肿胀的 ) look, the opposite of what we associate with starvation. Accumulated fluids pushing against wasted muscles account for the plumpness (丰满) of hands, feet, belly and face. Caused by an acute lack of protein, kwashiorkor can bring brain damage, irritability, loss of appetite and so on. On the other hand, stick limbs, a bloated belly, wide eyes, and the stretched-skin face of an old person mark victims of marasmus, a word taken from the Greek "to waste away". Lacking calcium (钙) as well as protein, sufferers may weigh only half as much as normal. With fat gone, the skin hangs or draws tight over bones. Children, whose growing bodies require large amounts of protein, suffer in greatest numbers, but perhaps only three percent of all child victims suffer the extreme stages described. Scientists are working hard to develop new weapons against malnutrition and starvation. But two thirds of the human population of 3.9 billion live in the poorest countries which also have the highest birth rates. Thus, of the 74 million people added to the population each year, four out of five will be born in a have-not country—a country unable to supply its people's nutritional needs.
单选题 Malnutrition is_____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。本题考查双重否定句的理解。依据是文章第1句话,其中never…been more in doubt则表示“从未(像现在这样)更令人置疑”,也就是说,现在营养不良的问题比以往任何时候都更严峻,因此选C。
单选题 The phrase "waste away" (Line 2, Para. 3) means _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:词义推断题。本段第1句中的marasmus实际上等同于waste away,因此,要推断waste away的意义,只要对照本句对患了marasmus的病人的描述,就可以判断waste away应与瘦弱有关,故选A。选项B、C、D均未抓住这种病“瘦”的典型特征。
单选题 Compared with adults, children are usually more seriously affected by malnutrition because _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。第1段倒数第2句开头的分词结构首先指出了儿童受害最深,该句接着解释了原因是因为儿童的成长需要更多的蛋白质,由此可见,选项A正确。其他选项根据常识有一定的道理,但在文中都并未明确指出,因此不能选。
单选题 Both of the two major types of malnutrition_____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:推理判断题。第2段首句概括了两种营养不良病症的共同特点,然后在第2段和第3段分别说明了两个病症各自的特点。选项C中的malformation与首句的badly-shaped body是同义替换,因此C为正确选项。选项A不正确,因为文中虽指出两种病症均由缺乏protein引起,并未说明它们都由缺乏calcium引起。选项B与第2段第2句的陈述相反,因此也不正确。选项D是夸希奥科病可能造成的后果。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that the struggle against malnutrition is _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:推理判断及观点态度题。解答本题的一个重要线索是最后一段,特别是该段第2句开头表示转折的信号词but,表示作者对于和营养不良的斗争态度并不乐观。选项A(必定成功)、B(可能成功)、C(必定失败)都与作者态度不符。