Ulcers
Even though ulcers appear to run in families, lifestyle plays more of role than genetic factors in causing the illness, according to a report in the April 13th Journal of Internal Medicine. In particular, smoking and stress in men and the regular use of pain releasing medicines in women were linked with an increased risk of developing an ulcer.
Overall, 61% of ulcer risk appears to be due to environmental factors, such as smoking, and the remaining 39% is due to genes according to Dr. Ismo Raiha of the University of Turky and colleagues at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Some researchers had suggested that families may spread Helicobacteria pylori, the bacteria that can cause ulcers. However, the new study suggests this is unlikely, according to the report.
Raiha and colleagues studied data from more than 13,000 pairs of twins “to examine the roles of genetic and environmental factors in the origin of peptic ulcer disease,” they explain. Both twins were more likely to develop an ulcer if the pair were genetically the same as compared with a pair of fraternal twins, suggesting that there must be some genetic susceptibility to ulcer development.
However, the risk was no greater in twins living together compared with twins living apart, suggesting that shared exposure to H. pylori was not to blame. “Environmental effects were not due to factors shared by family members, and they were related to smoking and stress in men and the use of analgesics in women,” the authors wrote. “The minor effects of shared environment to disease liability do not support the concept that the grouping of risk factors, such as H. pylori infection, would explain the genetic factor of peptic ulcer disease,” they concluded.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is a very likely cause of ulcer in men?
A. Smoking and stress.
B. Drinking and smoking.
C. Genes and children.
D. Use of a certain medicine.
2. What factors contribute to over half the ulcers?
A. Hereditary factors.
B. Economic factors.
C. Environmental factors.
D. Genetic factors.
3. In relation to ulcers, experts study twins in order to examine
A. the roles of genetic factors.
B. the roles of environmental factors.
C. the roles of both genetic and environmental factors.
D. the roles of brotherhood.
4. What does “environmental effects” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
A. A clean environment with no smoke and dust surrounding the living area.
B. Smoking and stress in men and use of pain-killing medicine in Women.
C. Factors shared by family members such as genes and the food they eat.
D. Shared exposure to H. pylori infection in the unclean environment.
5. The passage argues that
A. ulcers are related to genes.
B. ulcers are related to lifestyle.
C. ulcers appear in men and women.
D. ulcers are caused by pylori infection.
How Animals Keep Warm
Man has invented ways to keep warm, but how do animals defend themselves? They cannot reason in the sense that man can, but nature has taken care of the animal kingdom by providing animals with special instincts. One of these instincts is known as hibernation.
“Sleeping like a dormouse” is not only a common saying but is a reality. When winter comes, the dormouse and other hibernating animals have reached a well-nourished state. They eat very well in warmer days laying down fat in the tissues of their bodies and during hibernation this keeps them alive. Safe in their nests, or burrows, they sleep soundly until the warmth of spring arrives.
Bats, tortoises, snakes, frogs, even insects like butterflies, hibernate more or less completely. Some, like the squirrels, sleep during coldest weather but are roused by a warm spell. During hibernation, the temperature of an animal’s body drops drastically. Breathing and heart-beats almost cease.
Another instinctive method of avoiding intense cold is to escape by means of migration. Wild swans, seagulls, swallows and cuckoos are a few of the very many kinds of birds which fly thousands of miles, twice a year, to avoid cold. Many animals, especially those of the Arctic regions, have summer and winter quarters. The Arctic deer of North America, as well as the reindeer of Europe, move southward towards the forests when winter approaches. They return to the northern area when the warmth of spring begins to be sensed.
There are animals which do not attempt to leave at the first sign of winter cold. Their instinctive means of defence is to dig out a deep burrow, made soft and warm by padding out with straw, leaves, moss and fur. In it they have a “secret place” containing food which they hope will last the winter through! Animals which fall into this class include the Arctic fox, the rabbit and the ermine, and the little field-mice.
1. How does the dormouse defend itself against cold in winter?
A. It moves about to keep warm.
B. It grows thicker fur.
C. It sleeps continuously.
D. It goes to warmer areas.
2. What keeps animals alive during hibernation?
A. The fat stored in their bodies.
B. Their thick fur.
C. Their warm burrows.
D. Their deep sleep.
3. During hibernation, animals breathe
A. normally.
B. at a slower rate.
C. at a faster rate.
D. irregularly
4. According to the passage, what is “migration” ?
A. Moving from one place to another with the season.
B. Living in burrows in winter.
C. Travelling in the winter months.
D. Leaving one’s own country for another.
5. How do ermines survive in winter?
A. They leave their cosy burrows and migrate to warmer lands.
B. They sleep soundly inside their burrows in winter.
C. They dig out burrows and store them with enough food.
D. They stay in their burrows and live on the food stored there.
Shrinking Water Supply Poses Threat to Peace
“Water, which is essential for life, costs nothing. On the other hand, diamonds, which are essential for nothing, cost a lot.” Unfortunately, the world has changed considerably since an 18th century economist made this remark.
What was true over 200 years ago is certainly no longer true now. In a number of countries people pay as much for water in their homes as they do for electricity.
Like health, we ignore water when we have it-unless there are floods, of course. Once there is a threat to our water supply, however, water can quickly become the only thing that matters. We know only too well that, without water, there can be no life.
The situation is now becoming so bad that environmentalists feel it many be necessary to shock the world into saving water in a similar way to the shock caused by the oil crises in the 1970’s.
At that time, the oil crisis became such a serious threat to the lives of everyone in the developed countries that it made people conscious of the importance of saving oil and provided powerful encouragement for governments to look for other forms of energy.
The result undoubtedly was of major benefit to energy conservation.
There is now no longer an unlimited supply of fresh water. About 97 per cent of the planet’s water is seawater. Another 2 percent is locked in icecaps and glaciers. There are also reserves of fresh water under the earth’s surface but these are too deep for us to use economically.
Unfortunately, competition is growing fiercely for what little water is available. It may be a matter of time before that competition becomes a conflict.
To make matters worse, the world’s population is increasing so rapidly that it is expected to grow to about 8 billion in 30 years-an increase of 60 per cent.
Moreover, in many developed countries throughout the world, flush lavatories and washing machines mean the average person now uses 300 litres of water a day compared with 50 at the beginning of the century.
At the other extreme, according to the World Health Organization, one quarter of the world’s present population still lacks safe drinking water and proper sanitation. Most live in the southern hemisphere, where supplies of fresh water are put in jeopardy through dirty industrial practices, poor irrigation and erosion.
The social stability of the world is no longer threatened by global wars, the Cold War, . . . However, the supply of water could soon become the chief threat to such stability. There is already evidence of this happening, especially in Africa.
Recently the Egyptian Government threatened to destroy and dams built on the Nile if they considered the dams would affect their supply of fresh water.
What is required immediately is an awareness of the true value of water and the formation of sensible water conservation strategies.
It is also of vital importance to have a consensus on how best to use shared water resources for the benefit of all the countries in the world as well as an examination of the best methods for the distribution of the world’s water.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. People now pay as much for water as they did 200 years ago.
B. People now pay as little for water as they did 200 years ago.
C. Water now costs as much as it used to.
D. Water now has become more expensive than it was.
2. Which of the following is NOT the author’s purpose of mentioning the oil crises in the 1970’s?
A. To prove that water is as expensive as oil.
B. To warn the world of a possible water supply crisis.
C. To call people’s attention to the importance of energy conservation.
D. To shock the people of the world into saving water.
3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a factor that is making the water situation in the world more and more severe?
A. The increase of population.
B. The use of washing machines.
C. The use of flush lavatories.
D. The popularity of swimming pools.
4. Which of the following is cited by the author as the place where the supply of water is most likely to threaten social stability?
A. Africa.
B. The southern hemisphere.
C. Egypt.
D. All the developed countries.
5. To solve the water supply problem the world today faces, the author suggests at the end of the article doing all the following except
A. calling people’s attention to the true value of water.
B. blowing up dams that affect the supply of fresh water.
C. adopting sound water conservation policies.
D. finding the best way to distribute the world’s water.