A Carrot a Day Keeps Cancer Away Among all the malignancies, lung cancer is the biggest killer: more than 100,000 Americans a year die of the disease. Giving up smoking is one of obvious way to reduce the risk, but another answer may lie in the kitchen. According to a new report, even heavy smokers may be protected from developing lung cancer by a simple dietary measure: a daily portion of carrots, spinach or any other vegetable or fruit containing a form of vitamin A called carotene. The finding, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, is part of a long-range investigation of diet and disease. Since 1957 a team of American researchers has monitored the dietary habits and medical histories of 2,000 middle-aged men employed by the Western Electric Co. in Chicago. Led by Dr. Richard Shelelle of Chicago’s Rush-Presbyterian, St. Luke’s Medical Center, the researchers recently began to sort out the links between the subjects’ dietary patterns and cancer. Other studies of animals and humans have suggested that vitamin A offers some protection against lung cancer. The correlation seemed logical, since vitamin A is essential for the growth of the epithelial (上皮的) tissue that lines the airways of the lungs. Vegetables: But the earlier research did not distinguish between two different forms of the vitamin. "Preformed" vitamin A, known as retinol, is found mainly in liver and dairy products like milk, cheese, butter and eggs. But vitamin A is also made in the body from carotene, which is abundant in a variety of vegetables and fruits, including carrots, spinach, squash, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and apples. In the Western Electric study, Shekelle and his colleagues found little correlation between the incidence of lung cancer and the consumption of foods containing preformed vitamin A, but when they examined the data on carotene intake, they discovered a significant relationship. Among the 488 men who had the lowest level of carotene consumption, there were. fourteen cases of lung cancer; in a group of the same size that ate the most carotene, only two cases developed. The apparent protective effect of carotene held up even for longtime smokers but to a lesser degree. Further studies will be necessary before the link between lung cancer and carotene can be firmly established. In the meantime, researchers warn against taking large numbers of vitamin A pills, because the tablets contain a form of the chemical that can be extremely toxic in high doses. Instead, they advise a well-balance diet that includes foods rich in carotene. For a smoker, a half-cup of carrots every day might possibly make the difference between life and death.What does "malignancy" in the text refer to-综合类-总题库

“Don’t Drink Alone” Gets New Meaning

In what may be bad news for bars and pubs, an European research group has found that people drinking alcohol out side of meals have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck than do those taking their libations with food.¹ Luigino Dal Maso and his colleagues studied the drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies² and another 3,500 adults who had never had cancer.

After the researchers accounted for the amount of alcohol consumed, they found that individuals who downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals³ faced at least a 50 to 80 percent risk of cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus, when compared with people who drank only at meals. Consuming alcohol without food also increased by at least 20 percent the likelihood of laryngeal⁴ cancer. “Roughly 95 percent of cancers at these four sites⁵traced to smoking or drinking⁶ by the study volunteers,” Dal Maso says. The discouraging news, his team reports, is that drinking with meals didn’t eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.

For their new analyst, the European scientists divided people in the study into four groups, based on how many drinks they reported having in an average week⁷. The lowest-intake group included people who averaged up to⁸ 20 drinks a week. The highest group reported downing at least 56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day.⁹Cancer risks for the mouth and neck sites rose steadily with consumption even for people who reported drinking only with meals. For instance, compared with people in the lowestconsumption group, participants who. drank 21 to 34 alcohol servings a week at least doubled their cancer risk for all sites other than the larynx¹⁰. If people in these consumption groups took some of those drinks outside meals, those in the highe consumption group at least quadrupled their risk for oral cavity and esophageal cancers.

People in the highest-consumption group who drank only with meals had 10 times the risk of oral cancer, 7 times the risk of pharyngeal cancer, and 16 times the risk of esophageal cancer compared with those who averaged 20 or fewer drinks a week with meals. In contrast, laryngeal cancer risk in the high-intake, with-meals-only group¹¹ was only triple that¹² in the low-intake consumers who drank with meals.

“Alcohol can inflame tissues. Over time, that inflammation can trigger cancer.” Dal Maso says. He suspects that food reduced cancer risk either by partially coating digestive-tract tissues or by scrubbing alcohol of those tissues. He speculates that the reason laryngeal risks were dramatically lower for all study participants traces to the tissue’s lower exposure to alcohol.

词汇:
avity /kævɪtɪ/n. 口腔

pharynx / ˈfærɪŋks / n.咽

pharyngeal / fəˈrɪndʒiəl / adj.咽的
esophagus / ɪ"sɒfəɡəs / n.食管

esophageal / ˌi:sə"fædʒɪəl / adj.食管的
larynx / ˈlærɪŋks / n.喉

scrub / skrʌb / v.擦净，擦掉

pharyngeal / fəˈrɪndʒiəl / adj.咽的
esophagus / ɪ"sɒfəɡəs / n.食管

esophageal / ˌi:sə"fædʒɪəl / adj.食管的

larynx / ˈlærɪŋks / n.喉

scrub / skrʌb / v.擦净，擦掉

注释:

1. ... than do those taking their libations with food:这是一个倒装句，其正常语序为 than those taking their libations with food do。这里的 do是一个代词，代替上半句中的 have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck。

2. drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies:取自四项癌症研究的 1500个病例的饮酒习惯模式

3. downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals:在就餐时间以外灌下大量烈酒。 down:在此作动词用，意为:“喝下，灌下” ;significant:意为“large in amount”，（大量的 )。

4. laryngeal: larynx (喉)的形容词形式。

5. these four sites:指该段前两句提到的 oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, larynx。

6. traced to smoking or drinking:根源就是抽烟或喝酒。 trace to:回溯到…

7. in an average week:平均每星期

8. up to:高达

9. 56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day:每周 56杯，平均每天 8杯以上。 eight后省略了 serving意为“（食物或饮料的）一份”。

10. for all sites other than the larynx:除喉以外的全部部位。 other than:除了。

11. high-intake, with-meals-only group: (酒精)高摄入、仅在就餐时饮酒的（实验）组。high-intake和 with-meals-only在此都是合成形容词，修饰 group。

12. was only triple that:是它的三倍。 that指该句前半句中的 laryngeal cancer risk。

Which cancer risk is the lowest among all the four kinds of cancer mentioned in the passage?

A:Oral cancer. B:Laryngeal cancer. C:Pharyngeal cancer. D:Esophageal cancer.

Cooking Oil Fumes Cause Tumor

The leading cause of lung cancer among women in the city was cooking oil fumes while men are more likely to develop the disease from smoking, said medical experts after a five-year research study

Doctors announced the results yesterday with analysis on some new tendencies in lung cancer．They said patients are younger, especially women.

According to the Shanghai Tumor research Institute, more local residents die of lung cancer in the city than anything else．Following breast cancer, it has the second-highest incidence rate.

"An unhealthy lifestyle is a very important reason for lung cancer, "said Dr He Yumin from Shanghai Minshen Traditional Chinese Medicine Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment Center.

He followed 2,276 lung cancer patients for five years．Among them,l,483 were male.

Smoking causes 70 percent of cases among men while only l8 percent of female patients developed cancer from smoking or inhaling second-hand smoke, according to the report.

However, more than 60 percent of women with the disease had long term, close contact with strong oil fumes from cooking and complained about¹ irritated eyes and throat.

About 32 percent of women fried foods in boiling oil in unventilated kitchens and about 25 percent of women"s bedrooms were adjacent to² the kitchen.

However, local women were surprised to learn cooking oil fumes could lead to cancer．Some claimed they may change food preparation methods.

"Unless my family and I don"t eat at home every day, I must stay in the kitchen to cook, "said Xu Li, a 45-year-old local woman．"I know the fumes are bad for the skin, but it is the first time I heard that it can result in lung cancer．I have already started frying less."

Doctors said women"s lung cancer had few links to personal health and physical condition, but was closely related to family cancer history, unhealthy dietary habits and weak immune systems.

Other experts agreed with he^3.

"Smoking is by far the biggest cause⁴ of lung cancer for men, "said Dr Tan Binyong, honorary president of the Respiratory Disease Institute at Fudan University"s Medical College．"It"s true that second-hand smoke and cooking fumes are the main causes among women．"

He"s research also warned people not to stand near of stalls selling⁵ fried foods due to the poor quality of oils used.

The chance of catching lung cancer is three times higher if exposed to the fume for a long time, ⁶experts said．

词汇：

Fume/ fju:m/ n. 烟，气，汽

tumor(=tumour) / "tju:mə /n．肿瘤

cancer/ˈkænsə/n.癌瘤

breast/brest/n.乳房，胸

incidence/ˈɪnsɪdəns/n.发生(率)

diagnosis/ˌdaɪəgˈnəʊsɪs/n.诊断

inhale/ɪn"heɪl/v. 吸人

irritate/"ɪrɪteɪt/ vt.使疼痛，刺激

fry/fraɪ/v. 油炸，油煎

unventilated/"ventɪleɪt/vt.使不通风

adjacent/ əˈdʒeɪsnt/adj．临近的

dietary/"daɪətərɪ/adj.饮食的

immune/ɪˈmju:n/adj.吐免疫的

honorary/ˈɒnərəri/adj名誉上的；荣誉的

respiratory/rəˈspɪrətri/adj.呼吸的

stall/stɔ:l/n.货摊

注释：

1．complain原意是“抱怨，诉苦"，但医学上常用complain about或complain of表示“主诉”。

2．adjacent to：与……相毗邻，临近……(地方)

3．Other experts agreed with he．其他专家同意何医生的意见。agree with sb：同意某人的意见。agree with sth：同意什么东西。agree to do sth：同意做什么事情。

4．by far the biggest cause：最最大的原因。by far是用来做形容词最高级the biggest的状语，对形容词最高级起强调作用。本来形容词最高级就已经是最高了，可是说话的人还要对它再强调出来，所以就相当汉语的“最最……”的意思。

5...warned people not to stand near of stalls selling...：警告人们不要站在卖……的货摊附近。也可以说成"... warned people off stalls selling..."。

6．...if exposed to the fume for a long time：...如果长时间接触这种烟的话。expose sb．to sth．原意是“使...... (人)暴露于...... (物)”，但医学文献中常常用来表达“接触到……(物)"的意思。此处if引导的条件状语从句相当于“if one is exposed to the fume for a long time"。

What a new tendency in lung cancer is concluded by the researchers?

A:Men are more likely to develop lung cancer than women B:Women are more likely to develop lung cancer than men C:Patients with lung cancer become older, especially males D:Patients with lung cancer become younger, especially females