Question

Does a drink a day keep heart attacks away? Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption, say, one or two beers, glasses of wine or cocktails daily helps to prevent coronary heart disease. Last week a report in the New England Journal of Medicine added strong new evidence in support of that theory. More important, the work provided the first solid induction (歸納) of how alcohol works to protect the heart.

In the study, researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School compared the drinking habits of 340 men and women who had suffered recent heart attack with those of healthy people of the same age and sex. The scientists found that people who sip one to three drinks a day are about half as likely to suffer heart attacks as nondrinkers are. The apparent source of the protection: those who drank alcohol had higher blood levels of high density lipoproteins, the so-called good cholesterol, which is known to prevent heart disease.

As evidence has mounted, some doctors have begun recommending a daily drink for patients of heart diseases. But most physicians are not ready to recommend a regular happy hour for everyone. The risks of teetotalling (絕對戒酒) are nothing compared with the dangers of too much alcohol, including high blood pressure, strokes and liver troubles—not to mention violent behaviour and traffic accidents. Moreover, some studies suggest that even  moderate drinking may increase the incidence of breast and colon cancer. Until there is evidence that the benefits of a daily dose of alcohol outweigh the risks, most people won’t be able to take a doctor’s prescription to the neighbourhood bar or liquor store.

The medical article quoted in the first paragraph indicates            .

A. the way in which alcohol can help the heart

B. how a couple of cocktails daily can stop heart problems

C. why alcoholic drinks are dangerous to one’s health 

that reports on the advantages of alcohol were misled

Experiments showed that nondrinkers had __________.

A. larger amounts of good cholesterol             B. smaller amounts of good cholesterol

C. higher blood pressure                             D. lower blood pressure

According to the passage, moderate drinking            .

A. is recommended by most doctors for heart patients

B. should be allowed on prescription

C. is still not medically advisable

D. is not related to liver problems

The main theme of this passage is .

A. the change in recent drinking habits

B. the connection between cancer and alcohol

C. whether moderate drinkers outlive nondrinkers

D. whether alcohol may be good for one’s health

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】B

【小題3】C

【小題4】D

解析:

【小題1】 第一段第一句是一個問題，第二句是對這個問題的回答。然后在第三句話中作者又引用了新英格蘭醫學雜志上的一篇文章來進一步支持這一理論，故B為正確答案。

【小題2】作者在第二段中先對實例進行對比。在本段最后一句指出，明顯的保護源是飲酒者的高密脂蛋白中的含量更高，即所謂的好的膽固醇高，可抑止心臟病。由此推知不飲酒者的“好的膽固醇少”，這正是B的內容。

【小題3】 由最后一段可知，即使是適當飲酒，也有兩種不同的態度：有些醫生建議心臟病患者每天喝上一點，可大多數醫生并不準備這么做。此外，有的研究報告指出適當飲酒可能增加乳房和結腸癌的患病率。由此可知，C為正確答案。

【小題4】 全文主要說明飲酒是否對健康有好處。