The struggle against malnutrition (营养不良) and hunger is as old as man himself

游客2024-01-25  21

问题     The struggle against malnutrition (营养不良) and hunger is as old as man himself, and never across the face of our planet has the outcome been more in doubt. Malnutrition tortures an estimated 400 million to 1.5 billion of the world’s poor. Even in the rich U.S., poverty means malnutrition for an estimated ten to twenty million. Hardest hit are children, whose growing bodies demand two and a half times more protein, than those of adults. Nutrition experts estimate that 70 percent of the children in low-income countries are affected.
    Badly-shaped bodies tell the sad story of malnutrition. Medical science identifies two major types of malnutrition which usually occur in combination. The first, kwashiorkor, is typified by the bloated (肿胀的 ) look, the opposite of what we associate with starvation. Accumulated fluids pushing against wasted muscles account for the plumpness (丰满) of hands, feet, belly and face. Caused by an acute lack of protein, kwashiorkor can bring brain damage, irritability, loss of appetite and so on.
    On the other hand, stick limbs, a bloated belly, wide eyes, and the stretched-skin face of an old person mark victims of marasmus, a word taken from the Greek "to waste away". Lacking calcium (钙) as well as protein, sufferers may weigh only half as much as normal. With fat gone, the skin hangs or draws tight over bones. Children, whose growing bodies require large amounts of protein, suffer in greatest numbers, but perhaps only three percent of all child victims suffer the extreme stages described.
    Scientists are working hard to develop new weapons against malnutrition and starvation. But two thirds of the human population of 3.9 billion live in the poorest countries which also have the highest birth rates. Thus, of the 74 million people added to the population each year, four out of five will be born in a have-not country—a country unable to supply its people’s nutritional needs. [br] The phrase "waste away" (Line 2, Para. 3) means _____.

选项 A、become thinner
B、lose
C、misshape
D、lack calcium

答案 A

解析 词义推断题。本段第1句中的marasmus实际上等同于waste away,因此,要推断waste away的意义,只要对照本句对患了marasmus的病人的描述,就可以判断waste away应与瘦弱有关,故选A。选项B、C、D均未抓住这种病“瘦”的典型特征。
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