Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn’t save money, reported researchers. “It was a small surprise, for it is against the common belief,” said Pieter Van Baal, who led the study. “But it makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more.”
The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up (累计) the most expensive health costs. But on average, healthy people lived 84 years. Smokers lived about 77 years, and obese people lived about 80 years. Smokers and obese people tended to have more heart disease than healthy people. Therefore in the long run, the thin and healthy group cost about $417, 000, from age 20 on. Smokers cost about $326, 000 and obese people $371, 000.
“The result throws a bucket of cold water onto the idea, based on guesswork, that obesity is going to cost trillions of dollars,” said Patrick Basham, a professor of health politics. “If we’re going to worry about the future of obesity, we should stop worrying about its financial impact,” he said.
“The benefits of obesity prevention may not be seen immediately in terms of cost saving in tomorrow’s budget, but there are long-term gains,” said Van Baal. “These are often immeasurable when it comes to people living longer and healthier lives.” In the meanwhile, he said that governments should recognize that successful smoking and obesity prevention programs mean that people will have a longer chance of dying of something more expensive later in life.
“Lung cancer is a cheap disease to treat because people don’t survive very long. But if they are old enough to get Alzheimer’s (早老性痴呆症) one day, they may survive longer and cost more. We are not advising that governments stop trying to prevent obesity,” Van Baal said. “But they should do it for the right reasons.”
1.Among middle-aged people, who may cost the health system most?
A. Those who are heavy smokers. B. Those who are overweight.
C. Those who are too thin. D. Those who are suffering from heart attacks.
2.What can we know about the belief that obesity costs much?
A. It turns out to be incorrect. B. It comes from scientific study.
C. It is based on medical evidence. D. It has changed over the past years.
3.According to the text, governments prevent obesity for the purpose of _______.
A. reducing the risks of suffering cancer
B. weakening obesity’s financial impact
C. making sure of people’s long and healthy life
D. reducing the money spent on medical programs
I wished I had known earlier the fact that I was a low achiever because there was a reason beyond my control. Then I needn’t have worked so hard in my late twenties and early thirties. But I just didn’t know that. I was writing and writing. I was working for no other reason than to hear people praise me.
Most people who go through university read at least twice as fast as I do. I can never tell my left from my right. I avoid dialing a telephone if I can help it, because I sometimes have to try three times before getting the number right. I hear that recording “The number you have reached is not in service” more than any man on earth.
Despite my weaknesses I view my dyslexia (difficulty in reading) as a gift, not a curse(诅咒). Many dyslexics are good at right brain, namely abstract thought, and that is what my key of creative writing is. I’m starting with nothing and coming up with something that didn’t exist before. That’s my strong point. I owe my career to Ralph Salisbury, my writing instructor at the University of Oregon, who looked past my misspellings and gave me encouragement and hope. I just carried on and never looked back. I’m also very “visual”. This means nothing in school, but when I write books or scripts, I’m seeing everything in my imagination. I write quickly. I go like the wind and can get up to 15 pages a day. Writing is not the problem. I have no problem downloading; it is inputting where things get messed up.
The real fear I have for dyslexics is not that they have to struggle with messy input, but that they will quit on themselves before they finish school. Parents have to create victories whenever they can, whether it is music, sports or the arts. You want your dyslexic child to be able to say, “Yeah, reading is hard. But I have these other things I can do.”
1.From Paragraph 3 we can know that ______
A. The author was grateful to his writing instructor
B. The author often complained about his dyslexia
C. The author had trouble with both inputting and outputting.
D. Having problem in inputting, the author wrote slowly.
2.For dyslexics, the author thinks that_________.
A. they should work as hard as himself
B. they had better choose to drop out of school
C. they should be constantly encouraged
D. they should put their hearts into reading
3.Which of the following proverbs can best summarize the main idea of the passage?
A. He who laughs last laughs best.
B. Where there is a will, there is a way.
C. Reading enriches the mind.
D. When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.
4.What kind of man is the writer?
A. Open-minded and optimistic B. diligent and generous
C. clever but selfish D. kind but useless
A couple of weeks ago, I made a trip to Toronto with my granddaughter who just turned three years old. The two of us were on our way to _______ her parents, and my wife—her ________ who had been gone for over a week. We were all anxious to _______again and as I pulled out of Mamere and Papere’s driveway in Chelmsford, Hailee and I were both _______about the trip and couldn’t wait to arrive at our _______.
When we completed the “SEVEN”-hour trip to Toronto later that day, the reunion was absolutely _______ and I can sincerely say I enjoyed every single minute of that _______ journey.
Hailee is at that “I want to ______ it myself” stage of her life. And if you can just get over the “hurry-up syndrome” we acquire as ______, it is wonderful to witness. Who knew that putting a straw into the _______in a juice box for the very first time could be such an earth-shattering (惊天动地的) event? Or being ______ enough to actually open the fridge door for the first time? Or putting on your own ______ on the right feet would be so ______?
I’ll never forget the look on her face the day she was able to _______into my truck by herself. She finally ______on my seat, holding onto the steering wheel (方向盘) and declared ______, “I did it!” And when she could actually put her own seat belt on—what a(n) ______!
Have you ever watched a three-year-old _______to sip a McDonald’s milkshake through a straw? It is hard enough for an adult, too. And ______every time the icy solution (溶液) touched her lips, you could see the ______in her eyes. I learned that you can’t hurry a child through a milkshake.
1.A. follow B. help C. bless D. visit
2.A. mother B. father C. grandma D. aunt
3.A. get together B. turn up C. pay off D. settle down
4.A. concerned B. excited C. hopeful D. anxious
5.A. destination B. conference C. city D. hometown
6.A. hard B. wonderful C. timely D. surprising
7.A. frequent B. final C. tough D. long
8.A. carry B. prove C. do D. explain
9.A. doctors B. parents C. friends D. adults
10.A. bottle B. ring C. hole D. corner
11.A. clever B. strong C. friendly D. early
12.A. shoes B. socks C. sweater D. trousers
13.A. difficult B. satisfying C. useful D. simple
14.A. hide B. jump C. run D. climb
15.A. sat B. leaned C. stood up D. looked up
16.A. carefully B. bravely C. politely D. proudly
17.A. truck B. moment C. example D. goal
18.A. struggle B. expect C. offer D. hope
19.A. when B. then C. though D. yet
20.A. delight B. anger C. fear D. sadness
Hearing the news, he rushed out, _______the book ______on the table and disappeared into the dark.
A. leaving; lying open B. left; laid open
C. leaving; lie open D. left; lay open
Don’t cry any more, Tony. Or I’ll regret _______ the truth.
A. to tell you B. told you
C. telling you D. tell you
He was in hospital for six months. He felt as if he was _____ from the outside world.
A. cut out B. cut off
C. cut up D. cut down
