【每日训练】英语四级六级阅读(17)
小编寄语：英语四级六级考试，阅读是不可或缺的一大部分，生词多，理解难，时间少，是不少考生抱怨的问题。要想在考场上做好阅读理解，必须在平常多阅读，掌握新词汇，提高阅读速度。而沪江小编就为大家准备了阅读材料系列，供大家练习。
我们的这个阅读系列旨在为大家提供一些阅读材料，不一定跟四六级考试的难度、篇幅、内容完全一样。对于很多童鞋纠结这是四级还是六级范围的阅读，其实没有必要。如果大家觉得比较简单，就当作泛读材料了解了解，认识几个新单词或新表达方式也不错。如果大家觉得这些材料理解上有难度，不妨当做挑战自己的拔高训练，希望大家都有进步^^
【今日推荐阅读】
Losing weight is not only good for the waistline, it is good for the brain.
Scientists say substantial weight loss improves cognitive functions like memory and concentration.
Researchers carried out tests on 150 volunteers, all weighing over 21 stone, and compared them with results from healthy people.
In some tests, including memory exams, almost a quarter of the overweight participants scored low enough to be considered learning disabled.
Many of them had additional health problems, such as high blood pressure, type two diabetes and sleep apnea.
After the initial round of testing, two-thirds of the volunteers had gastric bypass surgery to reduce the size of the stomach and lost an average of about 3st 8lbs.
After 12 weeks, they all took the tests again and the group that lost weight boosted their scores, particularly those involving memory, significantly. They also showed great improvement in organisational skills.
The 41 obese volunteers who declined the surgery ended up with even worse results.
Professor John Gunstad, of Kent State University, Ohio, said the research showed obesity can damage the brain, ‘especially the parts most important for paying attention and learning new things’.
In the study the researchers also used magnetic resonance imaging to see inside their subjects’ brains.
The obese subjects tended to have damage to a particular substance that surrounds and insulates nerve fibres in the brain, suggesting that substance is needed for optimal cognitive function.
【内容简介】
本文开篇就介绍了一项新研究结果：保持健康的体重即可使腰部曲线更苗条，还有益于大脑认知。
接着文章介绍了这项科学实验的具体过程及相关结果。
最后文章分析了造成这一结果的原因，使得研究结论更有说服力。
【词汇短语讲解】
①magnetic resonance 磁共振
②have damage to sth. 对……有损害
③nerve fibre 神经纤维
④sleep apnea 睡眠呼吸中止症
【快速阅读支招】
一般情况下，四级六级的阅读理解是按照顺序来出题的，当然这也不是绝对的，还要根据快速浏览文章内容来进行问题的定位。对于概括文章中心思想和判断作者态度的题目要从全局上把握。
