Question

Chinese researchers say they have come up with a simple way to find out a person’s biological age —how much the body has aged physically – through a urine (尿) test.

Their findings will help researchers conduct numbers of ageing studies and even predict a person’s risk of age-related diseases, according to a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience.

Another paper by researchers at the Beijing Hospital and the West China Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province, said on Tuesday that people aged at different rates due to changes in their genetic make-up and their environment.

Chronological age – which is based on one’s birth date —was not an exact measure of biological age so a more exact method was needed, the team said.

Ageing is driven by the lifelong gradual accumulation(积累) of a broad variety of molecular (分子) faults in the body’s cells. The team said they had identified a matter 8-oxoGsn  that indicated increases in oxidative (氧化性) damage in urine as people’s bodies aged.

Cai Jianping, a co-author at the Beijing Hospital, said: “As we age, we suffer increasing oxidative damage and so the levels of oxidative matters increase in our body.” The team tested the levels of 8-oxoGsn in urine samples from 1,228 Chinese people aged two to 90 and concluded the marker helped accurately determine the stage of biological ageing in adults.

They had previously found that 8-oxoGsn levels also increased with age in the urine of animals such as mice.

The team has also developed a rapid analysis technique called ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography(层析法), which can process up to 10 urine samples an hour, according to the study.

1.Scientifically speaking, by what does a doctor judge the stage of a person getting old?

A. His psychology.    B. His condition.

C. His biological age.    D. His chronological age.

2.What are the outer factors the speed of one’s ageing physically depend on?

A. One’s birth date.

B. The changes in their genetic make-up and their environment.

C. The accumulation of various molecular faults in the body’s cells.

D. The increases in oxidative damage in urine.

3.Which can take the place of the underlined word “marker” in the sixth paragraph?

A. Molecular faults.    B. 8-oxoGsn.

C. Oxidative damage.    D. Stage of biological ageing in adults.

4.What is the passage about?

A. Why people are ageing.

B. What determines the stage of people’s ageing physically.

C. A rapid method with which to judge how much people are aging physically.

D. How to delay people’s ageing physically.

Answer

1. C

2. B

3. B

4. C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。研究者们提出了一种简单的检测人类生理年龄的方法：尿液检测。

1.细节理解题。由第一段中的“Chinese researchers say they have come up with a simple way to find out a person’s biological age —how much the body has aged physically – through a urine (尿) test”可知，医生根据一个人的生理年龄来判断一个人的变老阶段。C选项正确。

2.细节理解题。由第三段中的“…people aged at different rates due to changes in their genetic make-up and their environment.”可知，人们的遗传构成和环境影响了一个人变老的速度。故B选项正确。

3.词义猜测题。由第六段中的“The team tested the levels of 8-oxoGsn in urine samples from 1,228 Chinese people aged two to 90 and concluded the marker helped accurately determine the stage of biological ageing in adults”可知，研究团队检测了1，228个中国人的尿液样本中的8-oxoGsn的水平，得出结论为：8-oxoGsn有助于精确地判断成年人生理变老的程度。故该划线单词指的是“8-oxoGsn”。B选项正确。

4.主旨大意题。由第一段“Chinese researchers say they have come up with a simple way to find out a person’s biological age —how much the body has aged physically – through a urine (尿) test”可知，文章主要介绍的是研究者们提出了一种简单的检测人类生理年龄的方法：尿液检测。故C选项正确。