Question

Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.

The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.

“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”

What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.

“The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink. The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

1.The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to “________”.

A. health B. long life C. ageing D. effect

2.The text mainly talks about ________.

A. men’s heart cells B. women’s ageing process

C. the gender difference D. hearts and long life

3.According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________.

A. women have more cells than men when they are born

B. women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat

C. the female heart loses few of the cells with age

D. women never lose their pumping power with age

4.If you want to live longer, you should ________.

A. enable your heart to beat much faster

B. find out the reason for ageing

C. exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy

D. prevent your cells from being lost

5.We can know from the passage that ________.

A. the rea son why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out

B. scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more o f the cells

C. the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss

D. women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20

Answer 1

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.C

5.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了女性的长寿现象出现的原因，以及男性的寿命较短的原因并提出了具体的建议

1.B推理题。根据从第一段的句子：Do you know that men die earlier than women?你知道男人死得比女性早吗可知这个单词指的是女性的长寿。.故B正确。

2.D主旨大意题。根据文章第一段2,3行The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.可知女性长寿的原因在于女性的心脏随着年龄变大，并没有明显的衰竭，故选D项。

3.C细节题。根据文章第四段What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells.可知随着年龄增加，女性的心脏的细胞的损失很小，故选C项。

4.C细节题：从最后一段的句子：The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise.可知锻炼可以保持心脏健康，故选C项。

5.B推理题。根据文章倒数第二段The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.可知现在还没有完全弄明白为什么男性会有更多的细胞的损失，故选B项。

考点：科普类阅读。