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2017英語專八閱讀材料
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材料一
Fears that wearing high-heeled shoes could lead to knee arthritis are unfounded, say researchers.
研究者們稱，人們害怕穿高跟鞋會導(dǎo)致膝蓋關(guān)節(jié)炎是沒有根據(jù)的。
But being overweight, smoking, and having a previous knee injury does increase the risk, the team from Oxford Brookes University found.
牛津布魯克斯大學(xué)研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，肥胖、吸煙或者以前膝蓋受過傷卻增加得關(guān)節(jié)炎的危險。
They looked at more than 100 women aged between 50 and 70 waiting for knee surgery, and found that choice of shoes was not a factor.
他們對年齡在50到70歲之間的100名將要做關(guān)節(jié)手術(shù)的婦女進(jìn)行研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)選擇什么樣的鞋并不是導(dǎo)致關(guān)節(jié)炎的因素。
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.
該研究在《流行病學(xué)與公共衛(wèi)生》雜志上發(fā)表。
More than 2% of the population aged over 55 suffers extreme pain as a result of osteoarthritis of the knee.
55歲以上的人群中有超過2%的人忍受著膝蓋關(guān)節(jié)炎帶來的極度痛苦。
The condition is twice as common in 65-year-old women as it is in men the same age.
這種情況在65歲的婦女中發(fā)生的幾率是同年齡男性的兩倍。
Women's and men's knees are not biologically different, so the researchers wanted to find out why twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis in the joint.
女性和男性的膝蓋在生理上并沒有什么不同，所以研究者們想要知道為什么患關(guān)節(jié)炎的女性人數(shù)是男性的兩倍。
Some researchers have speculated that high-heeled shoes may be to blame.
有研究者推測高跟鞋可能是罪魁禍?zhǔn)住?/p>
The women in the study were quizzed on details of their height and weight when they left school, between 36 and 40 and between 51 and 55.
參加該項研究的婦女們被詳細(xì)詢問了她們在畢業(yè)時、30到40歲之間，51到55歲之間的身高和體重。
They were asked about injuries, their jobs, smoking and use of contraceptive hormones.
研究人員還詢問她們的受傷、工作、吸煙和使用避孕激素的情況。
However, while many of these factors were linked to an increased risk over the years, tottering around in high heels for years was not.
然而，多年來，許多因素都增加了患關(guān)節(jié)炎的危險，但是常年穿著高跟鞋走路不是原因之一。
The researchers wrote: "Most of the women had been exposed to high heeled shoes over the years - nevertheless, a consistent finding was a reduced risk of osteoarthritis of the knee."
研究者們寫到：“大多數(shù)婦女很多年來一直穿高跟鞋，然而可靠的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明他們患膝蓋關(guān)節(jié)炎的危險反而降低了�！�
There was an even more pronounced link between regular dancing in three-inch heels and a reduced risk of knee problems.
研究者們甚至發(fā)現(xiàn)經(jīng)常穿三英寸高的高跟鞋跳舞明顯和降低膝蓋得病的危險有關(guān)。
The researchers described this finding as "surprising", but said that they would not expect a larger-scale study to overturn their findings.
研究者們稱這一發(fā)現(xiàn)是“令人驚訝的”，但是他們說不指望有大規(guī)模的研究會推翻他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)。
材料二
過去醫(yī)生認(rèn)為試管嬰兒是一種很好的幫助不孕不育的夫婦圓孩子夢的方法。但現(xiàn)在，這種方法需要三思而后行�，F(xiàn)代醫(yī)學(xué)證明，試管嬰兒也許比正常懷孕生產(chǎn)的孩子罹患先天或后天疾病的可能性更大。
Do infertility treatments damage babies'genes? Doctors used to think not.Now they are not so sure.
治療不孕損害嬰兒的遺傳基因嗎?醫(yī)生們過去認(rèn)為不會有什么影響，現(xiàn)在他們對此不十分肯定了。
In the 24 years since the birth of Louise Brown，the world's first test-tube baby，thousands of would-be parents have been assure that as far as scientists knew there was no extra risk of genetic damage associated with in-vitro fertilization，or IVF.No matter how sperm meets egg--whether in a woman's body or in a Petri dish(and even if the sperm needs some help getting inside the egg)--nature is equally vigilant about preventing serious genetic mishaps from coming to term.With those assurances，test-tube births have soared from a few hundred a year in the early 1980s to tens of thousands today.
世界首例試管嬰兒路易斯·布朗出生后24年的時間里，成千上萬想做父母親的人們得到科學(xué)家們的保證說，試管內(nèi)受精對基因不會有什么額外的危險。無論精子如何與卵子結(jié)合--是否在女人體內(nèi)還是在較硬的試管壁上，(即使精子需外力幫助才與卵子結(jié)合)，大自然都同樣會阻止嚴(yán)重變形的基因分娩，有了這樣的允諾和保證，試管嬰兒的出生在20世紀(jì)80年代早期由每年的百余例上升到現(xiàn)如今的數(shù)萬例。
But according to a pair of reports in last week's New England Journal of Medicine，that conventional wisdom may be wrong.In the first study，doctors in Britain and Australia found that infants conceived with both straightforward test-tube methods and a more invasive technique called intra-cytoplasmic sperm in jection，in which sperm is injected directly into the egg，have an 8.6% risk of major birth defects--including heart and kidney abnormalities，cleft palate and undescended testicles -- compared with the 4.2% rate in babies made the old-fashioned way.The second study，conducted by the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)，reported that babies conceived through what doctors call assisted reproductive technologies(ART)have 2.6 times the risk of low or very low birth weight --a significant risk factor for cardiac and cognitive problems.
但上周的《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》有兩篇報告指出：這種傳統(tǒng)的說法也許是錯誤的。在第一篇研究報告中，英國和澳大利亞的醫(yī)生們發(fā)現(xiàn)，直接的試管受精和通過更具侵入性的技術(shù)--把精子通過注射直接與卵子相遇的方法而出生的嬰兒，有8.6%存在著主要由出生造成的缺陷的危險性--包括心臟、腎功能不正常、裂腭、男孩隱睪癥等。而正常受孕出生的孩子這種現(xiàn)象的比率只為4.2%。第二個研究報告是由"美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心"主持作出的。報告指出，通過醫(yī)生們所謂"協(xié)助生育技術(shù)"的方法而受孕出生的嬰兒出生時低體重或嚴(yán)重低體重的危險是正常情況的2.6倍。這是引起心臟病和認(rèn)知能力問題的危險因素。
There are plenty of reasons to take both studies seriously.In the low-birth-weight study，for example，the researchers allowed for the fact that parents who use assisted reproduction tend to be older than average and to have more multiple births--twins，triplets and so on.Even when they corrected for these factors，the disparity between babies conceived through ART and those conceived normally remained.
我們有充足的理由對以上兩種研究嚴(yán)肅對待。例如：有關(guān)低體重出生研究方面，研究者們已然考慮到這樣的事實，即那些想通過醫(yī)學(xué)手段而受精生育的夫妻們年齡比一般生育年齡大些，而且一次多胎--雙胞胎、三胞胎等等。即使他們避免了這些因素，但是通過"協(xié)助生育技術(shù)"生育的嬰兒與正常生育的嬰兒之間仍然存在差異。
But there's no need to panic.Independent experts are quick to point out that the reports are hardly definitive.Couples who seek reproductive help are not just older;they are also--though it may seem like stating the obvious--infertile."You're comparing two different groups of patients here，"says Dr.William Schoolcraft，director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine."You have women with the disease of infertility，and you're comparing them with women who don't have the disease."
但也沒有必要過分恐慌。其他專家們迅速指出這些報道絕不是確定性的。尋求生育幫助的夫婦并不僅僅是年齡偏大的，他們也是明顯的不育夫婦。"科羅拉多生育醫(yī)學(xué)研究中心"負(fù)責(zé)人威廉姆·斯庫克拉夫特博士說："你們是把兩類不同的病人進(jìn)行對比。你們這兒有的是些患有不孕疾病的婦女，而你們卻把她們與那些根本沒有不孕癥的婦女進(jìn)行對比"。Some of the same caveats apply to the birth-defects study，say experts.Here，too，earlier research had found no significant differences between test-tube babies and convention-ally conceived kids.And here，again，the new study didn't correct for the fact that women who get reproductive assistance often have something wrong with their reproductive system in the first place.
專家們說，一些同樣的防止誤解的說明適用于出生缺陷研究。在這里，較早期的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)：試管嬰兒與正常嬰兒沒有重大的區(qū)別，而且新研究并沒有糾正這樣的事實，即尋求醫(yī)學(xué)手段而受孕的婦女首先她們本身的生育系統(tǒng)有問題。
Even if these new studies are borne out by later research--already under way in infertility programs in Australia and the U.S.--the risks to kids conceived by assisted reproduction remain reassuringly small.And even if the danger is twice what doctors previously believed，91% of ART babies would still be born perfectly healthy.Says Dr.Zev Rosenwaks，director of New York Presbyterian Hospital's infertility program："If you ask a couple if they would rather not have a child at all or try to have a child that over 90% of the time will be normal，I think they will choose to have the child."
即使這些新研究被后期的研究所證實--在澳大利亞和美國有關(guān)不孕項目的研究已經(jīng)在進(jìn)行，通過醫(yī)學(xué)受精生育的孩子的出生會有缺陷危險仍然肯定是極小的。即使這種危險是醫(yī)生們先前相信的兩倍，但91%這類出生的嬰兒仍然完全健康。紐約基督教長老會醫(yī)院婦女不孕科主任--茲夫·羅森瓦克斯博士說："如果你問一對夫婦她們愿意一生不要孩子，還是愿意生育一個孩子，而且有多于90%的可能孩子是正常的，我想他們肯定會選擇要孩子。"
材料三
Toyota and affiliate Hino Motors Ltd. will take part in the development of a new model of a road-rail vehicle originally created by railway operator JR Hokkaido, a Hino spokesman said.Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and its truck-making affiliate have joined a project to develop an environmentally friendly vehicle capable of moving both on roads and railways, an official said Monday.
日本一位官員于本周一表示，日本豐田汽車集團(tuán)及其卡車制造分公司目前已參與研發(fā)一款路軌兩用的環(huán)保機動車。日野汽車的發(fā)言人稱，豐田汽車及日野分公司將參與一款新型路軌兩用車的研發(fā)項目，這款車最初是由日本北海道旅客鐵道公司研制出來的。
The two auto companies are providing technology and materials to strengthen the front part of the "dual mode vehicle" so that it can carry up to 25 people.
這兩家汽車公司主要提供技術(shù)和材料，加強“兩用車”的車體前部構(gòu)造，使其最多能夠容納25人。
The railway firm is already developing several prototypes of road-rail vehicles and has begun test drives.
北海道旅客鐵道公司已經(jīng)研發(fā)出路軌兩用車的幾款樣車，并投入試運行。
The operator, which operates railways in the nation's northern island of Hokkaido, has developed the vehicle as part of its effort to utilize railways now out of service due to a sharp decline in passengers in the region.
北海道旅客鐵道公司一直在日本北部島嶼北海道經(jīng)營鐵路運營業(yè)務(wù)，由于這一地區(qū)的鐵路因客流量急劇下降而停運，北海道公司采取各種措施利用鐵路，研發(fā)路軌兩用車便是其中之一。
The vehicle has eight wheels -- four iron wheels for railways and four rubber tyres for roads -- and is powered by a diesel engine. It is said to burn only one fourth of the fuel of conventional diesel-powered cars.
這款柴油驅(qū)動的兩用車共有八個輪子，分別是四個在鐵軌上運行的鐵輪胎和四個在陸地上運行的橡膠輪胎。據(jù)說這款車的耗油量僅為傳統(tǒng)柴油車的四分之一。
"Our contribution is expected to be another step toward more practical use of the dual mode vehicle," a Hino spokesman said.
日野公司的發(fā)言人表示：“我們將為進(jìn)一步推進(jìn)兩用車的實際應(yīng)用做出貢獻(xiàn)�！�
The latest vehicle is expected to be completed by mid-June and will be displayed at a welcome event for this year's Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido in July for which climate change is high on the agenda.
這款車預(yù)計于六月中旬出廠，并將于7月份在北海道召開的八國集團(tuán)峰會歡迎儀式上亮相。今年八國峰會的主要議題是氣候變化。
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