Drinkingtwocupsofhotchocolateadaymayhelpoldpeopleke...

问题详情：

     Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may help old people keep brains healthy, a U.S. study said Wednesday.

     The study, published online in the American Academy of Neurology journal Neurology, involved 60 people with an average age of 73 who did not have dementia(痴呆)。

     The participants drank two cups of hot cocoa per day for 30 days and did not consume any other chocolate during the study. They were also given tests of memory and thinking skills as well as ultrasounds(超音波) tests to measure the amount of blood flow to the brain.

     “We’re learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills,” study author Farzaneh Sorond said in a statement. “As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

     The researchers found that 18 of the 60 participants who had impaired blood flow at the start of the study saw an 8.3-percent improvement by the end of the study. There was no improvement for those who started out with regular blood flow.

     The people with impaired blood flow also improved their time on a test of working memory, with scores dropping from 167 seconds at the beginning of the study to 116 seconds in the end, the researchers said. There was no change in time for people with regular blood flow.

     A total of 24 of the participants also had magnetic resonance imaging(磁共振成像) scans of the brain to look for tiny areas of brain damage. The scans found that people with impaired blood flow were also more likely to have these areas of brain damage.

     “More work is needed to prove a link between cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive （认知） decline,” said Paul Rosenberg, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “But this is an important first step that could guide future studies.”

12. It can be learned from the passage that________.

  A. the study involved 73 people without dementia

  B. there was slight improvement for those participants

  C. Alzheimer’s may be connected with blood flow

  D. blood flow has little effect on thinking skills

13. What does the underlined word in the 5th paragraph mean?

  A. Damaged---not as good as before           B. Improved---stronger than before

  C. Quicker---to some degree                 D. Normal---as good as before

14. What can be inferred from the passage?

A. It is uncertain that cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive decline are connected.

  B. The better condition a person is in, the longer it will take to test the time of working memory.

  C. Cocoa will be in great demand in the future

  D. Drinking cocoa will be able to cure Alzheimer’s.

15. What could be the title of the passage?

  A. Hot chocolate---a cure for dementia       B. Hot chocolate and blood flow

  C. A scientific discovery in medicine         D. Hot chocolate may help keep brain healthy

【回答】

CAAD

知识点：科普环保类阅读

题型：阅读理解