Owningadogisassociatedwithasignificantlylowerriskofhear...

问题详情：

Owning a dog is associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease and death, according to a comprehensive new study published by a team of Swedish researchers on Friday in the journal Scientific Reports.

The scientists followed 3. 4 million people over the course of 12 years and found that adults who lived alone and owned a dog were 33 percent less likely to die during the study than adults who lived alone without dogs. In addition, the single adults with dogs were 36 percent less likely to die from heart disease.

“Dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of heart disease and death than those living in a multi-person household,” Mwenya Mubanga, a Ph.D. student at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, and the lead junior author of the study, said in a statement announcing its findings. The link between dog ownership and lower mortality (死亡率) was less pronounced in adults who lived either with family members or partners, but still present, according to the study. “Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households, ”Mubanga added. “Another interesting finding was that owners of dogs which were intended originally for hunting were most protected.”

The study, which is the largest to date on the health relations of owning a dog, suggested that some of the reasons dog owners may have a lower risk of mortality and heart disease were because dog owners walk more. “These kind of epidemiological (流行病学的) studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect their owners from heart disease,” Tove Fall, a senior author of the study and a professor at Uppsala University, said in a statement.

“We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results,” Fall added. “Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome (微生物菌群) in the owner.” Fall added that because all participants of dog owners in Sweden or other “European populations with similar culture regarding dog ownership.”

1. Why did the researchers do the study related to 3.4 million people’s health and the dogs?

       A. To help Europeans.                                      B. To find their association.

       C. To protect unhealthy adults.                           D. To reduce risk of heart disease.

2. What does the underlined word “prominent” probably mean in Para.3?

       A. Universal.                B. Confusing.               C. Appealing.                D. Important.

3. What’s the main idea of the text?

       A. Adults living with dogs are less likely to die.  B. Swedish people are very fond of animal pets.

       C. Keeping a dog is a popular and healthy hobby.                                   D Owning dogs reduces the risk of heart disease.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude towards owning a dog?

       A. Positive                   B. Negative.                 C. Objective.                D. Contradictory.

【回答】

 B  D  D  C                   

知识点：人生百味类阅读

题型：阅读理解