学位英语

Why Do People Shrink?

Did you ever see the movie Honey,I Shrunk the Kids? It’s about a wacky dad (who’s also a scientist) who accidentally shrinks his kids with his homemade miniaturizing invention. Oops!____1_____

For older people, shrinking isn’t chat dramatic or sudden at all. It takes place over years and may add up to only an inch or so off of their adult height2 (maybe a little more, maybe less). And this kind of shrinking can’t be magically reversed, although there are things that can be done to stop it or slow it down.____2_____There are a few reasons. As people get older, they generally lose some muscle and fat from their bodies as part of the natural aging process. Gravity (the force that keeps your feet on the ground) takes hold3, and the bones in the spine, called vertebrae, may break down4 or degenerate, and start to collapse into one another5._____3____But perhaps the most common reason why some older people shrink is because of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis occurs when too much spongy bone tissue (which is found inside of most bones) is broken down and not enough new bone material is made.____4_____Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily break if someone with osteoporosis is injured. Older people — especially women, who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with — are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis shrinks a little bit.

Did you know that every day you do a shrinking act, too? You aren’t as tall at the end of the day as you are at the beginning. That’s because as the day goes on, water in the disks of the spine gets compressed (squeezed)due to gravity, making you just a tiny bit shorter. Don’t worry, though.____5_____

词汇：

gravity .地心引力,重力 vertebra 椎骨

degenerate 退化 osteoporosis骨质疏松

spongy 松软的,不结实的 disk 盘,板

compress 压缩;浓缩 shrink 萎缩;缩小;使缩小

wacky /古怪的;疯了似的 accidentally 意外地

oops 哎哟 magically 魔术般地

muscle 肌肉 spine 脊椎

注释：

1.The kids spend the rest of the movie as tiny people who are barely visible while trying to get back to their normal size.这部电影接下来讲的就是这些小得几乎看不见的孩子们设法恢复原来身高的故事。

2.an inch or so off of their adult height：比他们是成年人时的高度缩小一英寸左右

3.take hold：生根;固定;确立下来;紧抓不放

4.break down：损坏,坏掉,出毛病

5.collapse into one another：萎缩在一起

6.end up：结束,告终

7.to begin with：原先,本来

练习：

A. They end up6 pressing closer together, which makes a person lose a little height and become shorter.

B. Once you get a good night’s rest, your body recovers, and the next morning, you’re standing tall again!

C. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it’s not being replaced.

D. Luckily, there are things that people can do to prevent shrinking.

E. The kids spend the rest of the move as tiny people who are barely visible while trying to get back to their normal size.1

F. But why does shrinking happen at all?

答案与题解：

1.E文章一开头讲到,在《亲爱的,我把孩子们缩小了》这部电影中,一位古怪的父亲不小心把自己的孩子们给缩小了,接下来的句子还应该与这部电影有关。

2.F从第三段的第一句话可以判断,此处应为询问原因的问句。

3.A前一句讲,脊椎骨有可能退化并挤压在一起,接下来应选表明这种行为结果的句子。

4.C前一句讲到,当太多松软的骨组织坏掉并且没有足够的新的骨组织生成时,骨质疏松就发生了。接下来应首选表明这种现象结果的句子。

5.B此段讲的是:一个人到了晚上的时候就不如他在早起的时候高,但他不必为此着急。接下来应首选表明不必着急原因的句子。

译文：人为什么会萎缩?

你看过《亲爱的，我把孩子们缩小了》这部电影吗?这部电影讲了为古怪的父亲(同时也是位科学家)用自己在家发明的缩小仪器不小心把自己的孩子给缩小了。哎哟!这部电影接下来讲的就是这些小得几乎看不见的孩子们设法恢复原来身高的故事。

对老年人来说，萎缩根本不是那么戏剧性或突然的。这要历时很多年而且加起来也不过比他们是成年人时的高度缩短1英寸左右(可能略多一些，也可能略少一些)。这种萎缩不可逆转，尽管我们可以做些什么来阻止或者减缓它的进程。但是人究竟为什么会萎缩呢?

有这么几个原因，在人自然变老的过程中，通常会损失掉一些肌肉或脂肪。重力(即是让你的脚能站在地面上的引力)发生作用，脊柱上的骨头，也就是脊椎骨，可能出毛病或退化并开始萎缩在一起，最后脊椎骨相互挤压，会使人减少一些高度并变矮。不过或许老人萎缩的最普遍的原因是骨质疏松。

当过多松软的骨组织(一般在骨头内部)坏掉而没有足够的新的骨组织生成时，就会发现骨质疏松。长时间后，因为 得不到更新，人会损失一些骨头。这时，骨头会变得更小，更脆肉，如果患骨质疏松的人受伤的话则很容易发生骨折。老人——尤其是女儿，她们的骨头本来就较小较轻，因为更容易得骨质疏松症。随着年龄的增长，骨质疏松的人会略萎缩一些。

你知道你每天也都有萎缩的现象吗?你在晚上时不如早上高。这是因为在一天当中，重力作用使脊柱块中的水分压缩了，这使你稍微矮了一些。不过你不必担心。只要你好好休息一晚，等身体恢复以后，第二天早上你又高了。

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