Looking for a new weight loss plan? Try living on top of a mountain. Mountain ai

Looking for a new weight loss plan? Try living on topof a mountain. Mountain air contains less oxygen than air at lower altitudes,so breathing it causes the heart to beat faster and the body to burn moreenergy. A handful of studies have found that athletes training at highaltitudes tend to lose weight. Doctor Florian Lippl of the University HospitalOf Ludwig-Maximilians-university Munich wondered how the mountain air wouldaffect overweight individuals if they weren’t doing any more physical activitythan usual.

Lippl and his colleagues invited 20 overweight men toan environmental research station about 300 meters below the summit ofZugspitze, a mountain around 2,970 meters near the Austrian border. They wereallowed to eat as much as they liked. The men also gave blood so thatresearchers could test for hormones linked to appetite and fatness. At the endof the week, the men, whose mean weight starting out was 105kg, had lost onaverage about l.5kg. The men’s blood pressure also dropped, which theresearchers believed was due to weight lost.

Exactly what caused the weight loss is uncertain. Lossof appetite is common at higher altitudes, and indeed the men ate significantlyless than usual—about 700 calories fewer per day. Lippl also notes that becausetheir consumption was being recorded, they may have been more self-consciousabout what they ate. Regardless, eating less accounts for just l kg of the l.5kg lost, says Lippl. He thinks the increased metabolic (新陈代谢的) rate, which was measured, also contributed to weightloss but cannot separate the different effects with the given data.

Appetite loss at high altitudes could certainly bekey, notes Damian Bailey, a physiologist at the University of Glamorgan, UK,who recently lost 11 kg during a 3-month expedition to the Andes inChile.   

Unfortunately, for the average person there is notreatment that can resemble living at high altitude, says Lippl. The onlyalternative is hypobaric chamber, which exposes subjects to low oxygen andisn’t practical as a treatment. He says, half- jokingly, “If fat people plantheir holidays, they might not go to the sea, but maybe to the mountain.”

1.What contributes the most to one’s heart ratesaccording to the first paragraph?

A．ourbodyweight                        B．theconsumption of energy

C．the rates ofour breathing                 D．the amount ofoxygen provided

2.Hormones are tested in the research because they canaffect ______.

A．one’s bodyweight                      B．one’s blood pressure

C．one’s way of living                     D．one’s metabolic rate

3.What was found about the 20 overweight men in theprocess of the research?

A．Theycontrolled what to eat self-consciously.

B．They took inmuch fewer calories than usual.

C．They lostappetite because of lack of physical activity.

D．They wereprovided with a healthier diet than before.

4.Why does Damian Bailey agree with the idea ofappetite loss at high altitudes?

A．Heexperimented with the new weight loss plan in the Andes.

B．He found noother reasons for his loss of weight in the Andes.

C．He researchedthe related subject in the Andes.

D．He lost muchweight in the high altitude Andes.

5.In what manner does Lippl talk about the way oflosing weight by spending holidays on mountains?

A．casual            B．inaccurate         C．uncertain         D．confident

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题