外报阅读11.docx

外报阅读11.docx

《外报阅读11.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《外报阅读11.docx（15页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

外报阅读11

Passage1:

Children’sintellectualdevelopment

Bedtimestories

Regularsleepinghoursreallyaregoodforchildren—iftheyaregirls

Jul13th2013|Fromtheprintedition

Tweet

INTHATmythicalerawhenchildrenwereseenandnotheard,anddidastheyweretoldwithoutargument,everyoneknewthatregularbedtimeswereimportant.“Dreamon!

”mostmodernparentsmightreply.ButresearchbyYvonneKellyofUniversityCollege,London,showsthattheancientwisdomisright—halfthetime.Daughters,itseems,dobenefitfromregularbedtimes.Sonsdonot.

DrKellyknewofmanystudiesthathadlookedattheconnectionbetweensleephabitsandcognitiveabilityinadultsandadolescents.Allshowedthatinconsistentsleepingscheduleswenthandinhandwithpooracademicperformance.Surprisingly,however,littlesuchresearchhadbeendoneonchildren.Sheandateamofcolleaguesthereforeexaminedthebedtimesandcognitiveabilitiesof11,178childrenborninBritainbetweenSeptember2000andJanuary2002,whoareenrolledinamultidisciplinaryresearchprojectcalledtheMillenniumCohortStudy.

Thebedtimeinformationtheyusedwascollectedduringfourvisitsinterviewersmadetothehomesofthoseparticipatinginthestudy.Thesehappenedwhenthechildrenwereninemonths,threeyears,fiveyearsandsevenyearsofage.Besidesaskingwhetherthechildrenhadsetbedtimesonweekdaysandiftheyalways,usually,sometimesornevermadethem,interviewerscollectedinformationaboutfamilyroutines,economiccircumstancesandothermatters—includingwhetherchildrenwerereadtobeforetheywenttosleepandwhethertheyhadatelevisionintheirbedroom.Thechildreninquestionwerealsoasked,attheagesofthree,fiveandseven,totakestandardisedreading,mathematicalandspatial-awarenesstests,fromwhichtheirIQscouldbeestimated.

DrKelly’sreport,justpublishedintheJournalofEpidemiologyandCommunityHealth,showsthatbythetimechildrenhadreachedtheageofseven,nothavinghadaregularbedtimedidseemtoaffecttheircognition,evenwhenotherpertinentvariablessuchasbedtimereading,bedroomtelevisionsandparents’socioeconomicstatuswerecontrolledfor.Butthatwastrueonlyiftheywerefemale.OntheIQscale,whosemeanvalueis100points,girlswhohadhadregularbedtimesscoredbetweeneightandninepointsmorethanthosewhodidnot.

Boyswerenotcompletelyunaffected.IrregularbedtimeslefttheirIQsaboutsixpointsbelowthoseoftheircontemporariesattheageofthree.Butthedistinctionvanishedbythetimetheywereseven.

Thisdifferencebetweenthesexesisbaffling.DrKellydidnotexpectitandhasnoexplanationtoofferforit.Asscientistsarewonttosay,butthistimewithgoodreason,moreresearchisnecessary.

Meanwhile,inthegoing-to-bedwarsmosthouseholdswithyoungchildrensuffer,thesonsofthehousehaveacquiredextraammunition.Mindyou,thosewiththenoustoreadandunderstandDrKelly’sresultsareprobablynotsufferingfromtheirsleepregimesanyway.

Passage2:

ObesityinLatinAmerica

Battleofthebulge

Aswaistlinesgrow,sodoesthefightagainstjunkfood

Jul27th2013|MEXICOCITY|Fromtheprintedition

Tweet

FORcountrieswithrichculinarytraditionsthatdatebacktotheAztecsandIncas,MexicoandPeruhavedevelopedquiteatasteformodernfoodfashions.Mexicansquaffmorefizzydrinksthananyothercountry;Peruhasthehighestdensityoffast-foodjointsintheworld.Chile,oneoftheworld’sbiggestexportersoffruit,doesn’teatmuchofit:

processedfoodsaccountformorethanhalfanaverageChilean’sshoppingbasket.EveninslenderBrazil,theeatingofsweetsandjunkfoodhasrisenfivefoldin30years.

Notallwaistlineshavemetthisbarrageofsugar,saltandfatinthesameway,butacrossmuchofLatinAmericaandtheCaribbeanthetrendstandsoutlikeamuffintop.TheFoodandAgriculturalOrganisation,aUNagency,saystheregionhasbecomethemostoverweightinthedevelopingworld.Incontrastto1990,whenthefatepidemictookoff,farmoreyearsofhealthylifearenowlostinLatinAmericathroughovereatingthanthroughhunger.

Asdeathsfromobesity-relateddiseasessuchashypertension,diabetesandcancerhaverisen,sohasthecostoftreatingthem.InMexico,whereobesityisroughlyascommonasintheUnitedStates,diabeteskillsabout70,000peopleayear.Public-healthofficialsreckonthecostofobesity,around67billionpesos（$6billion）in2008,willmorethandoubleby2017.

Governmentsaretryingtostoptheircitizenswaddlingintoearlygraves.EnriqueJacobyofthePanAmericanHealthOrganisation（PAHO）,adivisionoftheWorldHealthOrganisation（WHO）,saysthatsevencountriesinLatinAmerica—Brazil,Chile,CostaRica,Ecuador,Mexico,PeruandUruguay—haveagreedonregulationstoimproveeatinghabitsinschools,includingprovidingdrinkingwaterandrestrictingthesaleofprocessedfood.Theyarealsopromotingexercise,trickyincitieswherecrime,trafficandpollutionpreventchildrenfromplayingoutdoors.

Buttheeffortstofosterhealthierdietshavemetintenselobbyingfromthefoodanddrinksindustries.DrJacobycitescasesinBrazilin2010andCostaRicain2012whencompanieschallengedregulationsonconstitutionalgrounds.InBraziltheywon.HeexpectsasimilarbattleasPerubeginstoimposea“junkfood”law,passedinMay,whichrestrictstheadvertisingandsaleofsnacksinschools.

JuanRiveraofMexico’sNationalInstituteofPublicHealthsaysthatfoodanddrinkcompanieswatereddownlandmarkregulationsin2010,ensuringthatsugaryjuicesremainedontheschoolmenuandthatlimitsonsugarandfatwererelaxed.（Theindustrysaysitmerelysoughtamorescientificapproachtosettingcalorielimits.）Senatorsarebracingforoppositionfromlobbyistsiftheysucceedinslappinga20%taxonfizzydrinksaspartofafiscalreformexpectedlaterthisyear.LorenaCerdánofConMéxico,whichrepresentsconsumer-goodscompanies,arguesthatsuchataxwouldonlycausethedrinkstobesubstitutedwithsomethingequallysugary.Better,shesays,topersuadepeopletoadopthealthierlifestyles,includingmoreexercise.Inanycase,foradultsatleast,dietisapersonalchoice.ThegallonsofsoftdrinksguzzledacrossLatinAmericashowthat,formany,tastetrumpsnutrition.

Inpractice,manyconsumers’choicesarelimited.Thefoodanddrinksindustrieshavesuchefficientdistributionsystemsandbigmarketingbudgetsthatsellersoflocalproducecannotcompete,norcangovernmentsgetoutanequallyseductivehealthymessage.Thatisnottheindustry’sfault.Butitmeansthepoorestcommunitiesoftenexhibitthestrangephenomenonofmalnutritionandobesitylivingsidebyside.MrRiverasaysthatsomeMexicanmothersweantheirbabiesatthreemonthsonfizzydrinks.

Sometimesgovernmentsmeeklyswallowthis.Nestlé,whichdescribesitselfasa“nutrition,healthandwellnesscompany”,hasbeensigneduptoMexico’smainnutritionalprogramme,the“NationalCrusadeAgainstHunger”,toencouragebusinesswomentomakepuddingsinwhichtheymayuseNestléproducts.Theinitiativeiscalled“MySweetBusiness”.

Evenmultilateralinstitutionsarenotimpregnable.In2012aninvestigationbyReuters,anewsagency,foundthatthePAHO,whichhadlinked“BigFood”tothespreadofobesity-relateddiseases,wasitselftakingindustrycash.AfterwardsMargaretChan,headoftheWHO,drewavividpictureofthepoweroffoodcompanies.“Mosquitoesdonothavefrontgroupsandmosquitoesdonothavelobbies.Buttheindustriesthatcontributetotheriseofnon-communicablediseasesdo,”shesaid.Thetroopsfightingthebattleofthebulgefacefearsomeopposition

Passage3:

Massextinctions

Smallbutdeadly

Thebiggestextinctioninhistorywasprobablycausedbyaspacerockthatchangedtheclimate

Jul27th2013|Fromtheprintedition

Tweet

ASEVERYschoolchildknows,thedinosaurswerewipedoutinaninstant,whenarockfromouterspacehitwhatisnowsouthernMexico.Thathappened66myearsago,attheendoftheCretaceousperiod.Well-informedschoolchildrenalsoknowthatthismassextinctionwasneitheruniquenorthebiggest.ThegeologicalrecordspeaksoffourotherssinceanimallifebecamecomplexatthebeginningoftheCambrianperiod541myearsago.

Whatneitherthesecleverschoolchildrennoranyoneelseknows,however,iswhethertheseextinctionshadsimilarcauses.Butevidenceisaccumulatingthatthebiggestextinctionofall,252.3myearsback,attheendofthePermianperiod,wasindeedalsotriggeredbyanimpact.Nevertheless,thoughthetriggerwasthesame,thedetailsaresignificantlydifferent,accordingtoEricTohveroftheUniversityofWesternAustralia.

Whenthedinosaursvanishedtheywereaccompaniedbymorethan70%oftheotheranimalspeciesonEarth.AttheendofthePermian,theextinctionfigurewasmorethan80%.AndjustastheCretaceousslate-clearingpermittedtheriseofahithertoobscuregroupcalledthemammals（including,eventually,onenowreferredtobybiologistsasHomosapiens）,sothePermianclearancepermittedtheriseofthereptiles,onebranchofwhichturnedintoTyrannosaurus,Diplodocusandalltheothernamesfamiliarfromchildhood.

TheideathatanimpactcausedthePermianextinctionhasbeenaroundforawhile.AsattheendofthePermian,asattheendoftheCretaceous,hugevolcaniceruptionshadbeengoingonforhundredsofthousandsofyears.Thesemayhaveweakenedtheworld’secosystems,makingthemvulnerabletoanexternalshock.Buttheabruptnessofbothextinctionsindicatesthatthecoupdegrâcewasadministeredbysomethingelse,andinthecaseofthe