One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions in our culture is

One of themost widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions (假设) in our culture is that if youexercise, you will lose weight. I exercise all the time, but I still have gutfat that hangs over my belt when I sit. Why isn’t all the exercise getting ridof it?

It’s aquestion many of us could ask. More than 45 million Americans now belong to ahealth club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year ongym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one majorstudy — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exerciseregularly.

And yetobesity (肥胖) figureshave risen sharply in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, andanother third count as overweight by the Federal Government’s definition. Yes,it’s entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigheven more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry afterI exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days Idon’t. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight?

Thepopular belief that exercise is essential for weight control is actually fairlynew. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against too muchexercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Todaydoctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advicefor many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower riskfor all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less oftendevelop cancer and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesityresearch show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildlyover-evaluated.

“Ingeneral, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin,exercise researcher at Louisiana State University. Many recent studies havefound that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as youhear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser —or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.

The basicproblem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you mustburn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can make onehungry. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate (使无效) the weight-loss benefits we justgained. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. Itmay even be making it harder.

1. From thepassage we learn that ____.

A. someAmericans join a health club but never go there  

B. thenumber of overweight people has doubled since 1993

C. morethan 45 million Americans now go to the gym regularly

D.Americans waste too much money each year on sports

2.According to the passage, exercise ____.

A. haslong been believed to be good for older adults

B. is notproperly advertised as an effective way to lose weight

C. wasfirst recognized as an effective way to lose weight in the 1960s

D. is lesseffective in preventing heart disease than what doctors believe

3.Accordingto the writer, people might gain weight because ____.

A. theyhave the habit of going to the gym regularly

B. theyeat the same food when they do not exercise

C. theyexercise less than required by doctors

D. theyeat more after they exercise

4.What maybe the best title for this passage?

A.Overweight Is Not Good for Your Health

B.Exercise Won’t Make You Thin 

C. Gym IsPart of American Lifestyle      

D. ObesityIs a Social Problem in America        

试题答案

【答案】

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】略