Why do men live a shorter life than women? The latest research indicates that men’s hearts going into a rapid decline when they reach middle age could be the cause.
The research of ageing on the heart has shown that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose much pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 20 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, Samantha of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells which make it beat.Between the ages of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men ,” said Samantha.“This is part of the ageing process.”
What amazes scientists is that the female heart suffers very little loss of these cells.A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could work almost as perfectly as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender （性别）difference might give the reason why men live shorter than women,”said Samantha.They studied over 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 17 and 80, who are mainly healthy persons so as to reduce the influence of disease.“The team has yet to think about why ageing suffers a greater loss on the male heart,” said Samantha.
But there is also good news -- men can enjoy the health of their hearts with regular exercise.Samantha stressed that women should also take regular exercise to stop their leg muscles getting weaker as they age.
【小题1】The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph means “ ”.A．healthB．long lifeC．ageingD．effect【小题2】The text mainly talks about .A．men’s heart cellsB．women’s ageing processC．the gender differenceD．hearts and long life【小题3】According to the text, the UK scientists have known that .A．men have fewer cells than women when they are bornB．women can produce the cells that make the heart beatC．the female heart suffers less loss of the cells with ageD．women will never suffer the loss of pumping power with age【小题4】If you want to live a long life, you should .A．enable your heart to beat much fasterB．think about the reason for ageingC．take regular exercise to keep your heart healthyD．stop your cells from being lostB
网友回答
(答案→)B
解析：本文分析了女性比男性长寿的原因，是因为女性的心脏受年龄的变化较小，因此能够让女性活得更久。
【小题1】B 推理题。根据文章第一段第一句Why do men live a shorter life than women?和第二段第一句The research of ageing on the heart has shown that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose much pumping power with age.可知本文研究的是女性为什么比男性更长寿，故该词是指B项。
【小题2】D 主旨大意题。根据文章主题段第一段Why do men live a shorter life than women? The latest research indicates that men’s hearts going into a rapid decline when they reach middle age could be the cause.可知本文讲述的是女性比男性长寿也许是因为女性的心脏随着年龄的变化受损较少。故D正确。
【小题3】C 细节题。根据文章第五段1,2行What amazes scientists is that the female heart suffers very little loss of these cells.A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could work almost as perfectly as a 20-year-old one’s.可知女性的心脏随着年龄的变化影响较小，故C正确。
【小题4】C 推理题。根据文章最后一段But there is also good news -- men can enjoy the health of their hearts with regular exercise.Samantha stressed that women should also take regular exercise to stop their leg muscles getting weaker as they age.可知要想保持健康，我们要加强锻炼。故C项正确。