Any hope of a fountain of youth to stop people from getting older is a long way off, with science just beginning to understand the complex genetic, physical and hormonal causes of aging. But experts said there were interesting targets for study, including genes involved in Alzheimer's disease, the hormone DHEA and the role of exercises in keeping people young.
Steven Lamberts and colleagues noted that levels of DHEA were much lower in older people. One study in adults showed taking DHEA tablets “induced a remarkable increase in perceived physical and physiological wellbeing in both men and women without having an effect on sex”. Other studies on rats showed giving them DHEA could prevent obesity and diabetes. But they said much more study was needed.
Cable Finch and Rudoph Tanzi said it was conceivable that genetic engineering experiments could transfer genes from one species to another to alter life span. However, it seems unlikely that a few genes determine the 25 fold difference in life spans between rats and humans. An instructive example is the 10-fold difference in lifespans of female worker bees and queens of the same genotype, which show much slower aging during lifespans of many active years of egg production. The difference—what the bees were fed as juveniles.
One interesting genetic candidate was the APOE gene, mutations of which are linked with Alzheimer's disease. One version of this gene does seem to be linked with long life, although many more studies are needed.
For those who do not want to wait, Lamberts' team said exercise can be key to preventing the frailty that aging brings. Loss of muscle strength is an important factor in the process of frailty. One study in home for the elderly showed a sedentary lifestyle greatly contributes to this. Supervised resistance exercise training could double muscle strength and significantly increase gait velocity and stair-climbing power. This demonstrates that frailty in the elderly is not an irreversible effect of aging and disease and can be reduced and perhaps even prevented.
1.The specific purpose of setting Alzheimer's disease as the research target is to（ ） .
2.The second paragraph implies that taking DHEA tablets would （ ） .
3.In the example cited by Finch and Tanzi, lifespan was most likely affected by（ ） .
4.In the sentence “One study in home for the elderly showed…”(in Para. 5), the last word “this” refers to（ ） .
问题1选项
A.discover a way to decode all the human genes
B.find out something about the genetic cause of aging
C.locate the fountain of youth in human bodies
D.probe into the role of exercise in retaining youth
问题2选项
A.certainly make people younger
B.help you lose some weight
C.promote no increase in sex drive
D.show little health effect like greater body strength
问题3选项
A.transferring certain genes
B.different strains between species
C.nature of one's lifelong work
D.the diet one takes
问题4选项
A.exercise training
B.prevention of frailty
C.loss of muscle strength
D.process of curing the disease.
第1题:
1.【选项释义】
1. The specific purpose of setting Alzheimer’s disease as the research target is to ______. 1. 将阿尔茨海默病作为研究对象的具体目的是______。
A. discover a way to decode all the human genes A. 找到一种解码所有人类基因的方法
B. find out something about the genetic cause of aging B. 找出导致衰老的遗传原因
C. locate the fountain of youth in human bodies C. 在人体中找到青春的源泉
D. probe into the role of exercise in retaining youth D. 探讨运动在保持青春中的作用
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第四段的内容“一个有趣的候选基因是APOE基因，这种基因的突变与阿尔茨海默病有关。这种基因的一个版本似乎确实与长寿有关，尽管还需要更多的研究。”，从中可知，APOE基因与长寿有关，而该基因的变异与Alzheimer疾病有关。说明阿尔茨海默病会造成衰老。所以阿尔茨海默病是为了找出衰老的基因，B项符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A项“找到一种解码所有人类基因的方法”中的all太夸张，曲解原文；
C项“在人体中找到青春的源泉”表述错误，研究阿尔茨海默病是为了找出导致衰老的基因，而不是保持青春的基因，曲解原文；
D项“探讨运动在保持青春中的作用”与阿尔茨海默病研究无关，张冠李戴。
第2题:
2.【选项释义】
2. The second paragraph implies that taking DHEA tablets would ______. 2. 第二段暗示服用脱氢表雄酮片剂______。
A. certainly make people younger A. 当然让人更年轻
B. help you lose some weight B. 帮助你减肥
C. promote no increase in sex drive C. 不会增加性欲
D. show little health effect like greater body strength D. 会像增强身体力量一样对健康没有什么影响
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】首先定位至文章第二段，第二句提到“一项针对成年人的研究表明，服用脱氢表雄酮片可以显著提高男性和女性的身体和生理健康水平（a remarkable increase in perceived physical and physiological wellbeing），但不会对性生活产生影响（without having an effect on sex）”，从中可知，服用脱氢表雄酮片对男女身心健康都有极大的促进，但是对性生活没什么影响，C项“不会增加性欲”符合原文。故该题选择C项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“当然让人更年轻”没有体现，无中生有；
B项“帮助你减肥”，第二段提到的是“注射脱氢表雄酮可以预防肥胖和糖尿病”，预防肥胖不代表可以帮助减肥，该项曲解原文；
D项“会像增强身体力量一样对健康没有什么影响”与原文不符，文中提到服用脱氢表雄酮片可以显著提高身体健康，该项曲解原文。
第3题:
3.【选项释义】
3. In the example cited by Finch and Tanzi, lifespan was most likely affected by ______. 3. 在芬奇和坦齐引用的例子中，寿命最有可能受到______的影响。
A. transferring certain genes A. 某些基因转移
B. different strains between species B. 物种间的不同菌株
C. nature of one’s lifelong work C. 一生工作性质
D. the diet one takes D. 饮食
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第三段列举的工蜂和蜂王的例子可知，蜂王在积极地大量产卵期间，生命老化得较慢；这也就是说寿命受到终身工作的影响。C项“一生工作性质”符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A项“某些基因转移”是基因工程的实验，与题干无关，张冠李戴；
B项“物种间的不同菌株”没有提到，无中生有；
D项“饮食”，第二段最后一句提到“区别在于，蜜蜂幼年时吃的是什么”，根据常识，蜂王幼年时只吃蜂王浆，而工蜂幼年时吃花粉等其他蜜蜂食物，所以“蜜蜂幼年时吃的是什么”决定了它们在以后的工作职业将是什么，归根到底寿命的长短还是受到终身工作的影响，该项只是解释蜂王和工蜂的区别，与题干无关，张冠李戴。
第4题:
4.【选项释义】
4. In the sentence “One study in home for the elderly showed…” (Para. 5), the last word “this” refers to ______. 4. 在第五段的“One study in home for the elderly showed…”中，最后一个单词“this”指的是______。
A. exercise training A. 运动训练
B. prevention of frailty B. 预防衰弱
C. loss of muscle strength C. 肌力丧失
D. process of curing the disease D. 治疗疾病的过程
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】首先，根据题干定位至第五段第三句“一项针对老年人的家庭研究表明，久坐的生活方式在很大程度上对此（this）起了极大作用”，结合上文“肌肉力量的丧失（Loss of muscle strength）是衰弱过程中的一个重要因素”，从中可知，this指的就是上文提到的“肌肉力量的丧失（Loss of muscle strength）”，故该题选择C项正确。
【干扰项排除】A项“运动训练”、B项“预防衰弱”和D项“治疗疾病的过程”不符合上下文连接，曲解原文。
