Looking for a new weight loss plan? Try living on top of a mountain. Mountain air contains less oxygen than air at lower altitudes, so breathing it causes the heart to beat faster and the body to burn more energy. A handful of studies have found that athletes training at high altitudes tend to lose weight. Doctor Florian Lippl of the University Hospital Of Ludwig-Maximilians-university Munich wondered how the mountain air would affect overweight individuals if they weren’t doing any more physical activity than usual.

Lippl and his colleagues invited 20 overweight men to an environmental research station about 300 meters below the summit of Zugspitze, a mountain around 2,970 meters near the Austrian border. They were allowed to eat as much as they liked. The men also gave blood so that researchers could test for hormones linked to appetite and fatness. At the end of the week, the men, whose mean weight starting out was 105kg, had lost on average about l.5kg. The men’s blood pressure also dropped, which the researchers believed was due to weight lost.

Exactly what caused the weight loss is uncertain. Loss of appetite is common at higher altitudes, and indeed the men ate significantly less than usual—about 700 calories fewer per day. Lippl also notes that because their consumption was being recorded, they may have been more self-conscious about what they ate. Regardless, eating less accounts for just l kg of the l.5 kg lost, says Lippl. He thinks the increased metabolic (新陈代谢的) rate, which was measured, also contributed to weight loss but cannot separate the different effects with the given data.

Appetite loss at high altitudes could certainly be key, notes Damian Bailey, a physiologist at the University of Glamorgan, UK, who recently lost 11 kg during a 3-month expedition to the Andes in Chile.

Unfortunately, for the average person there is no treatment that can resemble living at high altitude, says Lippl. The only alternative is hypobaric chamber, which exposes subjects to low oxygen and isn’t practical as a treatment. He says, half- jokingly, “If fat people plan their holidays, they might not go to the sea, but maybe to the mountain.”

小题1:What contributes the most to one’s heart rates according to the first paragraph?

A．our bodyweightB．the consumption of energy

C．the rates of our breathingD．the amount of oxygen provided

小题2:Hormones are tested in the research because they can affect ______.

A．one’s bodyweightB．one’s blood pressure

C．one’s way of livingD．one’s metabolic rate

小题3:What was found about the 20 overweight men in the process of the research?

A．They controlled what to eat self-consciously.

B．They took in much fewer calories than usual.

C．They lost appetite because of lack of physical activity.

D．They were provided with a healthier diet than before.

小题4:Why does Damian Bailey agree with the idea of appetite loss at high altitudes?

A．He experimented with the new weight loss plan in the Andes.

B．He found no other reasons for his loss of weight in the Andes.

C．He researched the related subject in the Andes.

D．He lost much weight in the high altitude Andes.

小题5:In what manner does Lippl talk about the way of losing weight by spending holidays on mountains?

A．casualB．inaccurateC．uncertainD．confident

答案

小题1:D

小题2:A

小题3:B

小题4:D

小题5:A

试题分析：

这篇文章主要讲了研究表明爬山可以减肥。

小题1:根据Mountain air contains less oxygen than air at lower altitudes, so breathing it causes the heart to beat faster and the body to burn more energy.故选D。

小题2:根据The men also gave blood so that researchers could test for hormones linked to appetite and fatness.故选A。

小题3:根据Loss of appetite is common at higher altitudes, and indeed the men ate significantly less than usual—about 700 calories fewer per day.故选B。

小题4:根据Appetite loss at high altitudes could certainly be key, notes Damian Bailey, a physiologist at the University of Glamorgan, UK, who recently lost 11 kg during a 3-month expedition to the Andes in Chile，故选D。

小题5:根据全文内容以及He says, half- jokingly, “If fat people plan their holidays, they might not go to the sea, but maybe to the mountain.”可知作者是以一种很随便的方式来谈论山顶减肥的，故选A。

点评：这篇文章非常简单，先看问题，再带着问题仔细阅读短文，理解了全文内容，很容易选出正确答案。阅读注意事项：1、关注连词，分析文章逻辑结构。2、聚焦代词，明辨指代关系。3、抓住关键词语，利用平行结构、上下文（包括定义、释义、举例、对比、标点）进行判断与推理。4、了解一些构词法，从词根的特殊含义入手。

考点名称：科教类阅读

科教类阅读的概念：

科教类阅读主要考查考生对书面语篇的整体领悟能力和接受及处理具体信息的能力。试题的取材，密切联系当前我国和世界经济、科技等方面的变化，有关数据的来源真实可信。

科教类文章阅读技巧：

一、材料特点：

这类文章的总体特点是：科技词汇多，句子结构复杂，理论性强，逻辑严谨。具体说来它有以下几个特点：

1、文章中词汇的意义比较单一、稳定、简明，不带感情色彩，具有单一性和准确性的特点。这类文章通常不会出现文学英语中采用的排比、比喻、夸张等修辞手法，一词多义的现象也不多见。

2、句子结构较复杂，语法分析较困难。为了描述一个客观事物，严密地表达自己的思想，作者经常会使用集多种语法现象于一体的长句。

3、常使用被动语态，尤其是一些惯用被动句式。