Researchers have known that secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous for no

游客2023-12-24  15

问题     Researchers have known that secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous for nonsmokers as smoking is for smokers, but now there’s fresh evidence quantifying just how hazardous the after-burn from cigarettes can be, and how quickly it affects your body. Scientists at the Oregon Department of Health documented for the first time an hourly buildup of a cancer-causing compound from cigarette smoke in the blood of nonsmokers working in bars and restaurants in the state.
    Reporting in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers found that waiters and bartenders working a typical night shift gradually accumulated higher levels of NNK, a carcinogen in cigarette smoke, at the rate of 6 % each hour they worked. NNK is known to be involved in inducing lung cancer in both lab rats and smokers.
    "We were somewhat surprised by the immediacy of the effect and the fact that we could measure the average hourly increase," says Michael Stark, the lead author of the study and a principal investigator at the Mulmomah County Health Department in Oregon.
    The authors are confident that the increases in NNK in the workers they tested most likely came from their exposure to smoke -- the study included a control group of similar subjects in restaurants where no smoking was allowed. "There is experimental evidence from studies where you put nonsmokers in a room, blow smoke into the room and measure their artery function, that you see the platelets get sticky, which can cause clots and lead to a heart attack, and the ability of the arteries to dilate decreases very rapidly," says Dr. Matthew McKenna, director of the office on smoking and public health for the Centers for Disease Control.
    All of which could mean more time loitering outside buildings and in alleyways for smokers intent on grabbing a puff. Thirteen states now prohibit smoking in restaurants altogether (most of these include bars as well), and while 11 states still put no restrictions on lighting up, individual cities within those states -- such as Austin in Texas, for example -- have passed legislation banning smoking in eating establishments and other public areas.
    It’s just getting harder to refute the scientific evidence; in a study done in Scotland several months after that nation instituted a ban on smoking in public places, researchers found that following the ban, bar patrons showed stronger lung capacity and reduced levels of inflammation (a red flag for a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease and asthma). "We made it pretty clear that the science on this is pretty irrefutable," says McKenna. And if smokers have fewer places to smoke, that message may finally get heard. [br] What, according to the passage, makes the research conducted by the scientists at the Oregon Department of Health so unique?

选项 A、The fact that the scientists managed to measure the average hourly increase of NNK.
B、The fact that the scientists succeeded in making more people realize the harm of smoking.
C、The fact that the scientists did a lot of experiments on smokers in public areas.
D、The fact that the scientists discovered NNK, a carcinogen in cigarette smoke.

答案 A

解析 这是一道篇章理解题。“What,according to the passage,makes the research conducted by the scientists at the Oregon Department of Health so unique?”(根据此文,什么使得俄勒冈卫生部科学家的研究如此与众不同呢?)unique意即"being the only one of its type;without parallel",独一无二的,无双的。题干是对该研究的定性和评价(独特的),考生则应该从文中寻找对此研究的评价性语句。第三段中,“We were somewhat surprised by the immediacy of the effect and the fact that we could measure the average hourly increase.”(影响如此迅速,我们甚至可以测量出每小时的增长值,这不禁令人有些吃惊)。令人吃惊的也正是与众不同的,这句话的后半部分(the fact that we could measure the average hourly increase)恰好与A选项相吻合,故选A。
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