跳广场舞预防老年痴呆！

今天（9月21日）是“世界阿尔茨海默病日”（世界老年痴呆日) 。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which of the following best summarizes the main finding of the study discussed in the article?

A. Physical activities like walking and dancing may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

B. Regular physical activity can prevent all forms of age-related mental decline.

C. The ideal type and amount of exercise to prevent memory loss has been definitively established.

D. Caloric expenditure from any activity has no effect on brain health in older adults.

A. Moderate cycling.

B. Ballroom dancing.

C. Reading books.

D. Gardening.

无注释原文：

Walk, Jog or Dance: It's All Good for the Aging Brain

From: The New York Times

More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.

Exercise has long been linked to better mental capacity in older people. Little research, however, has tracked individuals over years, while also including actual brain scans. So for the new study, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and other institutions analyzed data produced by the Cardiovascular Health Study, begun in 1989, which has evaluated almost 6,000 older men and women. The subjects complete medical and cognitive tests, fill out questionnaires about their lives and physical activities and receive M.R.I. scans of their brains. Looking at 10 years of data from nearly 900 participants who were at least 65 upon entering the study, the researchers first determined who was cognitively impaired, based on their cognitive assessments. Next they estimated the number of calories burned through weekly exercise, based on the participants' questionnaires.

The scans showed that the top quartile of active individuals proved to have substantially more gray matter, compared with their peers, in those parts of the brain related to memory and higher-­level thinking. More gray matter, which consists mostly of neurons, is generally equated with greater brain health. At the same time, those whose physical activity increased over a five-year period — though these cases were few — showed notable increases in gray-matter volume in those same parts of their brains. And, perhaps most meaningful, people who had more gray matter correlated with physical activity also had 50 percent less risk five years later of having experienced memory decline or of having developed Alzheimer's.

“For the purposes of brain health, it looks like it's a very good idea to stay as physically active as possible,” says Cyrus Raji, a senior radiology resident at U.C.L.A., who led the study. He points out that “physical activity” is an elastic term in this study: It includes walking, jogging and moderate cycling as well as gardening, ballroom dancing and other calorie-burning recreational pursuits. Dr. Raji said he hopes that further research might show whether this caloric expenditure is remodeling the brain, perhaps by reducing inflammation or vascular diseases.

The ideal amount and type of activity for staving off memory loss is unknown, he says, although even the most avid exercisers in this group were generally cycling or dancing only a few times a week. Still, the takeaway is that physical activity might change aging's arc. “If we want to live a long time but also keep our memories, our basic selves, intact, keep moving,” Dr. Raji says.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Walk, Jog or Dance: It's All Good for the Aging Brain

From: The New York Times

More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.

如今，长寿的人越来越多，但年龄相关性心智衰退病例的增加却给原本的好消息蒙上了一层阴影。据估计，在未来35年内，全球痴呆症发病率将达到现在的3倍以上。如此可怕的前景当前，今年3月发表在《阿尔茨海默氏症杂志》（The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease）上的一项研究就显得格外鼓舞人心了：事实证明，经常散步、骑自行车、游泳、跳舞，甚至是从事园艺工作，都会明显降低患阿尔茨海默氏症的风险。

shadow /ˈʃæd.əʊ/ 1）作形容词，表示“（用于主要反对党的要员的头衔中）影子的”，英文解释为“used in the title of important politicians in the main opposition party (= the party not in government)”如：the Shadow Foreign Secretary 影子外交大臣。

📍英国国防大臣被骗了文中出现，The shadow Home Office minister, Holly Lynch, said: “For individuals to be able to fraudulently gain access to two of the most senior government ministers with responsibilities for our national defence is worrying. 影子内阁的内务大臣霍利·林奇（Holly Lynch）说：“对于个人能够以欺诈手段获得与两位负责我们国防的最高级政府大臣取得联系，令人担忧。”

2）作动词，表示“（为了解某人的工作而）跟随见习”，英文解释为“to follow someone else while they are at work in order to learn about that person's job”举个🌰：Your first week in the job will be spent shadowing one of our more experienced employees. 你工作的第一周将是跟随我们其中一位经验丰富的雇员学习。

3）表示“投下阴影；产生阴影”，英文解释为“to produce a shadow”举个🌰：We came across a glade shadowed by large trees. 我们偶然发现了一块被大树遮蔽的空地。

4）表示“使（某人）不快乐”，英文解释为“to make a person unhappy or to make their life less happy”举个🌰：Mental illness had shadowed him for more than a decade. 十年来他的人生一直被精神疾病所困扰。

incidence /ˈɪn.sɪ.dəns/ 表示“事件；（事件的）发生率”，英文解释为“an event, or the rate at which something happens”举个🌰：There have been quite a few incidences of bullying in the school this year. 今年该校发生了好几起欺凌弱小的事件。

dementia /dɪˈmenʃə/ 表示“（尤指老年性）痴呆”，英文解释为“a medical condition that affects especially old people, causing the memory and other mental abilities to gradually become worse, and leading to confused behaviour”

triple /ˈtrɪp.əl/ 表示“（使）成三倍，（使）增加两倍”，英文解释为“to increase three times in size or amount, or to make something do this”举个🌰：We have tripled our output over the past two years. 过去两年里，我们的产量增加了两倍。

grim /ɡrɪm/ 1）表示“严酷的；令人沮丧的”，英文解释为“A situation or piece of information that is grim is unpleasant, depressing, and difficult to accept.”举个🌰：There was further grim news yesterday. 昨天有更令人沮丧的新闻。

2）表示“（地方）阴沉的”，英文解释为“A place that is grim is unattractive and depressing in appearance.”举个🌰：The city might be grim at first, but there is a vibrancy and excitement. 这个城市也许一开始沉闷，但它有一种活力和激情。

prospect /ˈprɒs.pekt/ 1）表示“（发生好事情的）可能，可能性，机会”，英文解释为“the possibility that something good might happen in the future”举个🌰：Is there any prospect of the weather improving? 天气有可能好转吗？

2）表示“前景；展望；设想”，英文解释为“the possibility of being successful, especially at work”举个🌰：She's hoping the course will improve her career prospects. 她希望这门课能改善自己的职业前景。

substantially /səbˈstæn.ʃəl.i/ 1）表示“大体上；基本上”，英文解释为“generally”举个🌰：This model has leather seats, but the two cars are substantially the same. 这一型号有几个附加装置，但两款车大体上是一样的。

2）表示“在很大程度上”，英文解释为“to a large degree”举个🌰：The new rules will substantially change how we do things. 新规则会在很大程度上改变我们的行事方式。

Exercise has long been linked to better mental capacity in older people. Little research, however, has tracked individuals over years, while also including actual brain scans. So for the new study, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and other institutions analyzed data produced by the Cardiovascular Health Study, begun in 1989, which has evaluated almost 6,000 older men and women. The subjects complete medical and cognitive tests, fill out questionnaires about their lives and physical activities and receive M.R.I. scans of their brains. Looking at 10 years of data from nearly 900 participants who were at least 65 upon entering the study, the researchers first determined who was cognitively impaired, based on their cognitive assessments. Next they estimated the number of calories burned through weekly exercise, based on the participants' questionnaires.

人们早已发现，在老年人身上，运动与较好的心智功能有关。然而，很少有研究采用脑部扫描等手段对老年人进行长达数年的跟踪。在这项新研究中，加州大学洛杉矶分校（University of California, Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.）等机构的研究人员分析了《心血管健康研究》（Cardiovascular Health Study）中产生的数据。该研究始于1989年，评估了近6000名老年男性和女性。受试者们完成了体检和认知水平测试，填写了关于他们生活和体育活动的调查问卷，并接受了脑部M.R.I.（磁共振成像）扫描。研究人员查看了近900名在入组时至少年满65岁的参与者在10年期间的数据，并根据认知评估的结果判定了哪些参与者存在认知障碍。接下来，他们又根据参与者填写的问卷估算了他们每周运动消耗的卡路里数。

track /træk/ 作名词，表示“（录制在CD、唱片或磁带上的）一首歌曲；一首乐曲”，英文解释为“A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD, record, or tape.”

也可表示“音轨，声道”，英文解释为“a part of a magnetic strip onto which sound can be recorded, with several tracks on one magnetic strip”举个🌰：I only like two of the ten tracks on this CD. 我只喜欢这张CD上的10首歌曲中的2首。

📍周末多睡2小时抑郁风险降低48%文中作动词，1）表示“跟踪，追踪”，英文解释为“to follow a person or animal by looking for proof that they have been somewhere, or by using electronic equipment”

2）表示“追踪，记录…的进展”，英文解释为“to record the progress or development of something over a period”举个🌰：We continued tracking the plane on our radar. 我们继续用雷达追踪那架飞机。

🎬 电影《博物馆奇妙夜3》（Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb）中的台词提到：You're sort of set up to track my phone? You track my phone? 你装定位追踪我的手机？你竟然追踪我的手机？

cardiovascular /ˌkɑːdɪəʊˈvæskjʊlə/ 表示“心血管的”，英文解释为“Cardiovascular means relating to the heart and blood vessels.”举个🌰：Smoking places you at serious risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. 吸烟会严重增加罹患心血管和呼吸道疾病的风险。

cognitive /ˈkɒɡ.nə.tɪv/ 表示“认知的；感知的；认识的”，英文解释为“Cognitive means relating to the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and understanding things.”举个🌰：As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper. 随着孩子们长大，他们的认知过程也变得越来越敏锐了。

questionnaire /ˌkwes.tʃəˈneər/ 表示“问卷；情况调查表”，英文解释为“a list of questions that several people are asked so that information can be collected about something”

impaired /ɪmˈpeəd/ 表示“受损的，被削弱的”，英文解释为“damaged in a way that makes something less effective”举个🌰：She suffers from impaired vision/hearing. 她的视力/听力受损。

calorie /ˈkæl.ər.i/ 表示“卡，卡路里（测量食物所含热量的单位）”，英文解释为“a unit of energy, often used as a measurement of the amount of energy that food provides”举个🌰：There are about 50 calories in an apple. 一个苹果大约含有50卡路里的热量。

The scans showed that the top quartile of active individuals proved to have substantially more gray matter, compared with their peers, in those parts of the brain related to memory and higher-­level thinking. More gray matter, which consists mostly of neurons, is generally equated with greater brain health. At the same time, those whose physical activity increased over a five-year period — though these cases were few — showed notable increases in gray-matter volume in those same parts of their brains. And, perhaps most meaningful, people who had more gray matter correlated with physical activity also had 50 percent less risk five years later of having experienced memory decline or of having developed Alzheimer's.

扫描结果显示，运动最为积极的那四分之一的参与者，其大脑中与记忆力和高层次思维相关部位中的灰质量远多于其他人。脑部的神经元几乎都集中在灰质部分，脑灰质较多通常就等同于脑部较为健康。此外，在5年期间体育活动有所增加的老年人——尽管这样的例子并不多——脑部相同部位中的灰质量也显著增加了。而或许最有意义的是，5年后，这些存在体育活动相关性灰质增多的老年人记忆力衰退或罹患阿尔茨海默氏症的风险降低了50%。

quartile /ˈkwɔː.taɪl/ 表示“一组事物可分为的四等分之一；四分位数”，英文解释为“one of four equal measurements that a set of things can be divided into”举个🌰：He is in the top quartile for weight. 在体重上他属于最重的四分之一那一组。

美式 gray matter 英式grey matter /ˈɡreɪ ˌmæt.ər/ 表示“（大脑和脊髓中的）灰质”，英文解释为“the darker tissue containing nerve fibres (= structures like threads) found in the brain and spinal cord”

peer /pɪər/ 作动词，表示“仔细看，端详；费力地看”，英文解释为“to look carefully or with difficulty”举个🌰：When no one answered the door, she peered through the window to see if anyone was there. 没有人开门，她就费力地透过窗户朝里望去，看是否有人在。

作名词，表示“同龄人；同辈；同等社会地位（或能力）的人”，英文解释为“a person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group”举个🌰：Do you think it's true that teenage girls are less self-confident than their male peers? 你是否认为十几岁的女孩子不如同年龄的男孩子自信？

neuron /ˈnjʊə.rɒn/ 表示“神经元，神经细胞”，英文解释为“a nerve cell that carries information between the brain and other parts of the body”

equate /ɪˈkweɪt/ 表示“同等看待；使等同；使相等”，英文解释为“to consider one thing to be the same as or equal to another thing”举个🌰：Some parents equate education with exam success.有些父母认为教育就是考试成绩优秀。

volume /ˈvɒl.juːm/ 作名词，1）表示“总数；总量；总额”，英文解释为“the number or amount of something in general”举个🌰：It's the sheer volume of traffic in the city that is causing the problems. 造成这些问题的就是城里的交通流量。

2）表示“容积；体积；容量”，英文解释为“the amount of space that is contained within an object or solid shape”举个🌰：Which of these bottles do you think has the greater volume? 你认为这些瓶子中哪个容积最大？

3）表示“卷；册”，英文解释为“one in a set of related books”也可以表示“书”，英文解释为“a book”如：如：a volume of poetry 一本诗集，举个🌰：She took a slim volume down from the shelf. 她从书架上取下一本很薄的书。

4）表示“音量；音量调节钮”，英文解释为“the level of sound produced by a television, radio, etc., or the switch or other device controlling this”举个🌰：Could you turn the volume down, please, I'm trying to sleep. 你能把音量调低些吗？我要睡觉。

“For the purposes of brain health, it looks like it's a very good idea to stay as physically active as possible,” says Cyrus Raji, a senior radiology resident at U.C.L.A., who led the study. He points out that “physical activity” is an elastic term in this study: It includes walking, jogging and moderate cycling as well as gardening, ballroom dancing and other calorie-burning recreational pursuits. Dr. Raji said he hopes that further research might show whether this caloric expenditure is remodeling the brain, perhaps by reducing inflammation or vascular diseases.

这项新研究的负责人、加州大学洛杉矶分校放射科住院医师培训项目的高年级医师赛勒斯·拉吉（Cyrus Raji）说：“为了促进大脑的健康，尽可能地积极运动是个好主意。”他指出，在这项研究中，“体育活动”一词的含义相当宽泛：包括散步、慢跑、中速骑自行车、从事园艺工作以及跳交谊舞等多种可以燃烧卡路里的娱乐活动。拉吉博士说，他希望进一步的研究可以揭示出这种热量消耗是否在通过减少炎症或血管疾病等机制重塑大脑。

radiology /ˌreɪ.diˈɒl.ə.dʒi/ 表示“（尤指研究X射线辐射的）放射学；放射医学”，英文解释为“the scientific study of the medical use of radiation, especially X-rays”

resident /ˈrez.ɪ.dənt/ 表示“居民；住户”，英文解释为“a person who lives or has their home in a place”如：a resident of the UK/Australia 英国/澳大利亚居民，还可以表示“（美国的）高级专科住院实习医生；住院医生”，英文解释为“a doctor who is still training, and who works in a hospital”

elastic /iˈlæs.tɪk/ 1）表示“有弹性的”，英文解释为“An elastic material is able to stretch and be returned to its original shape or size.”举个🌰：A lot of sportswear is made of very elastic material. 许多运动装都是用弹性很大的材料制成的。

2）表示“灵活的；易顺应（变化）的”，英文解释为“able or likely to be changed”举个🌰：The project has only just started so any plans are still very elastic. 项目才刚刚启动，所以各项计划都留有很大余地。

expenditure /ɪkˈspen.dɪ.tʃər/ 表示“花费；消费；费用；开支”（the act of spending or using money; an amount of money spent）如：a reduction in public/government/military expenditure 公共/政府/军费开支的削减。

对比：

📍spending表示“（政府或其他机构的）开支，支出，花销”（the amount of money that is spent by a government or an organization）如：to increase public spending 增加公共开支。

📍outlay表示“（启动新项目的）开支，费用”（the money that you have to spend in order to start a new project）如：the initial outlay on advertising 初期的广告费。

inflammation /ˌɪn.fləˈmeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“炎（症）”，英文解释为“a red, painful, and often swollen area in or on a part of your body”举个🌰：Aspirin reduces pain and inflammation. 阿司匹林可缓解疼痛和炎症。

vascular /ˈvæs.kjə.lər/ 表示“血管的；（植物）维管的”，英文解释为“relating to the vessels (= tubes) that carry blood or other liquids in a person's or animal's body”如：the vascular system 脉管系统。

The ideal amount and type of activity for staving off memory loss is unknown, he says, although even the most avid exercisers in this group were generally cycling or dancing only a few times a week. Still, the takeaway is that physical activity might change aging's arc. “If we want to live a long time but also keep our memories, our basic selves, intact, keep moving,” Dr. Raji says.

他还说，避免记忆力减退的理想运动量和运动类型尚不明确，不过，在他所研究的这组老年人中，最“狂热”的锻炼者一般也不过是每周骑几次车或者跳几次舞而已。尽管如此，还是可以得出这样的结论：体育活动可以改变衰老的进程。拉吉博士说：“如果我们不仅想要长寿，还想要保持良好的记忆力和完整的自我，就坚持运动吧。”

stave sth/sb off 表示“（通常指暂时地）挡住，阻止，避开；延缓”，英文解释为“to stop something bad from happening, or to keep an unwanted situation or person away, usually temporarily”举个🌰：We were hoping to stave off these difficult decisions until September. 我们希望将这些难以抉择的事搁到9月份。

avid /ˈæv.ɪd/ 表示“渴望的；急切的；热衷的；劲头十足的”，英文解释为“extremely eager or interested”如：an avid football fan 狂热的足球迷。

表示“要点；从…中了解到的主要信息”，英文解释为“a main message or piece of information that you learn from something you hear or read”举个🌰：The takeaway from the conference was how competitive the computer science industry has become. 这场会议的主要信息是计算机科学产业的竞争已变得非常激烈。

intact /ɪnˈtækt/ 表示“完好无损；完整；完整无缺的；未经触动的”，英文解释为“ complete and not damaged”举个🌰：Most of the house remains intact even after two hundred years. 虽然过了两百年，这房子的大部分还保持完好。He emerged from the trial with his reputation intact. 他受审获释，名誉丝毫未受损害。

🎬《奇异博士》（Doctor Strange）中的台词提到的：Cranial nerves intact. 脑神经完好无损。

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