托福阅读理解冲刺题2023

托福阅读理解冲刺题2023

HormonesintheBody

Uptothebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,thenervous

systemwasthoughttocontrolallcommunicationwithinthebody

andtheresultingintegrationofbehavior.Scientistshad

determinedthatnervesran,essentially,onelectrical

impulses.Theseimpulseswerethoughttobetheenginefor

thought,emotion,movement,andinternalprocessessuchas

digestion.However,experimentsbyWilliamBaylissandErnest

Starlingonthechemicalsecretin,whichisproducedinthe

smallintestinewhenfoodentersthestomach,eventually

challengedthatview.Fromthesmallintestine,secretin

travelsthroughthebloodstreamtothepancreas.There,it

stimulatesthereleaseofdigestivechemicals.Inthisfashion,

theintestinalcellsthatproducesecretinultimatelyregulate

theproductionofdifferentchemicalsinadifferentorgan,the

pancreas.

Suchacoordinationofprocesseshadbeenthoughtto

requirecontrolbythenervoussystem;BaylissandStarling

showedthatitcouldoccurthroughchemicalsalone.This

discoveryspurredStarlingtocointhetermhormonetorefer

tosecretin,takingitfromtheGreekwordhormon,meaning

千里之行，始于足下。

excite'or〃tosetinmotion.JAhormoneisachemicalproduced

byonetissuetomakethingshappenelsewhere.

Asmorehormoneswerediscovered,theywerecategorized,

primarilyaccordingtotheprocessbywhichtheyoperatedon

thebody.Someglands(whichmakeuptheendocrinesystem)

secretehormonesdirectlyintothebloodstream.Suchglands

includethethyroidandthepituitary.Theexocrinesystem

consistsoforgansandglandsthatproducesubstancesthatare

usedoutsidethebloodstream,primarilyfordigestion.The

pancreasisonesuchorgan,althoughitsecretessomechemicals

intothebloodandthusisalsopartoftheendocrinesystem.

Muchhasbeenlearnedabouthormonessincetheirdiscovery.

Someplaysuchkeyrolesinregulatingbodilyprocessesor

behaviorthattheirabsencewouldcauseimmediatedeath.The

mostabundanthormoneshaveeffectsthatarelessobviously

urgentbutcanbemorefar-reachinganddifficulttotrack:They

modifymoodsandaffecthumanbehavior,evensomebehaviorwo

normallythinkofasvoluntary.Hormonalsystemsarevery

intricate.Evenminuteamountsoftherightchemicalscan

suppressappetite,calmaggression,ardchangetheattitudeof

aparenttoward£child.Certainhormonesacceleratethe

developmentofthebody,regulatinggrowthandform;othersmay

evendefineanindividualspersonalitycharacteristics.The

quantitiesandproportionsofhormonesproducedchangewithage,

soscientistshavegivenagreatdealofstudytoshiftsinthe

endocrinesystemovertimeinthehopesofalleviatingailments

associatedwithaging.

Infact,somehormonetherapiesarealreadyverycommon.

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Acombinationofestrogenandprogesteronehasbeenprescribed

fordecadestowomenwhowanttoreducemoodswings,sudden

changesinbodytemperature,andotherdiscomfortscausedby

1owernaturallevelsofthosehormonesastheyentermiddleage.

KnownashormonereplacementtherapyQlRT),thetreatmentwas

alsobelievedtopreventweakeningofthebones.Atleastone

studyhaslinkedHRTwithaheightenedriskofheartdisease

andcertaintypesofcancer.HRTmayalsoincreasethe

likelihoodthatbloodclotsdangerousbecausetheycouldtravel

throughthebloodstreamandblockmajorbloodvesselswillform.

SomeproponentsofHRThavetemperedtheirenthusiasminthe

faceofthisnewevidence,recommendingitonlytopatients

whosesymptomsinterferewiththeirabilitiestolivenormal

lives.

Humangrowthhormonemayalsobegiventopatientswhoare

secretingabnormallylowamountsontheirown.Becauseofthe

complicatedeffectsgrowthhormonehasonthebody,such

treatmentsaregeneral1yrestrictedtochildrenwhowou1dbe

pathologicallysmallinstaturewithoutit.Growthhormone

affectsnotjustphysicalsizebutalsothedigestionoffood

andtheagingprocess.Researchersandfamilyphysicianstend

toagreethatitisfoolhardytodispenseitincasesinwhich

therisksarenotclearlyoutweighedbythebenefits.

27.Thewordengineinthepassageisclosestinmeaning

to

(A)desire

(B)origin

(B)influencetheoperationsofthenervoussystem

(C)affectprocessesinadifferentpartofthebody

(D)regulateattitudesandbehavior

31.Theglandsandorgansmentionedinparagraph3are

categorizedaccordingto

(A)whetherscientistsunderstandtheirfunction

(B)howfrequentlytheyreleasehormonesintothebody

(C)whetherthehormonestheysecreteinfluencetheaging

process

(D)whethertheysecretechemicalsintotheblood

Paragraph3ismarkedwithanarrow[]

32.Thewordkeyinthepassageisclosestinmeaningto

(A)misunderstood

(B)precise

(C)significant

(D)simple

33.Thewordminuteinthepassageisclosestinmeaning

千里之行，始于足下。

to

(A)sudden

(B)small

(C)changing

(D)noticeable

34.Whichofthesentencesbelowbestexpressesthe

essentialinformationinthehighlightedsentenceinthe

passage?Incorrectanswerchoiceschangethemeaningin

importantwaysorleaveoutessentialinformation.

(A)Mostmoodsandactionsarenotvoluntarybecausethey

areactuallyproducedbytheproductionofhormonesinthebcdy.

(B)Becausetheeffectsofhormonesaredifficultto

measure,scientistsremainunsurehowfar-reachingtheir

effectsonmoodsandactionsare.

(C)Whenthebodyisnotproducingenoughhormones,urgent

treatmentmaybenecessarytoavoidpsychologicaldamage.

(D)Theinfluenceofmanyhormonesisnoteasytomeasure,

buttheycanaffectbothpeoplespsychologyandactions

extensively.

35.Thewordtemperedinthepassageisclosestinmeaning

to

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(A)decreased

(B)advertised

(C)prescribed

(D)researched

36.Whichpatientsareusuallytreatedwithgrowthhormone?

(A)Adultsofsmallerstatuethannormal

(B)Adultswithstrongdigestivesystems

(C)Childrenwhoarenotatriskfromthetreatment

(D)Childrenwhomayremainabnormallysmal1

37.Whichofthefollowingsentencesexplainsthepriir.ary

goalofhormonereplacementtherapy?

Thesesentencesarehighlightedinthepassage.

(A)Thequantitiesandproportionsofhormonesproduced

changewithage,soscientistshavegivenagreatdealofstudy

toshiftsintheendocrinesystemovertimeinthehopesof

alleviatingailmentsassociatedwithaging.

(B)Acombinationofestrogenandprogesteronehasbeen

prescribedfordecadestowomenwhowanttoreducemoodswings,

千里之行，始于足下。

suddenchangesinbodytemperature,andotherdiscomforts

causedbylowernaturallevelsofthosehormonesastheyenter

middleage.

(C)IIRTmayalsoincreasethelikelihoodthatblood

clotsdangerousbecausetheycouldtravelthroughthe

bloodstreamandblockmajorbloodvesselswillform.

(D)Becauseofthecomplicatedeffectsgrowthhormonehas

onthebody,suchtreatmentsaregenerallyrestrictedto

childrenwhowouldbepathologicallysmallinstaturewithout

it.

38.Lookatthefoursquaresthatindicatewherethe

followingsentencecouldbeaddedtothepassage.Thebodyis

acomplexmachine,however,andrecentstudieshavecalledinto

questionthewisdomofessentiallytryingtofoolitssystems

intobelievingtheyarentaging.Wherewouldthesentencebest

fit?Clickonasquaretoaddthesentencetothepassage.

39.Directions:Anintroductorysentenceforabrief

summaryofthepassageisprovidedbelow.Completethesummary

byselectingtheTHREEanswerchoicesthatexpressthemost

importantideasinthepassage.Somesentencesdonotbelong

inthesummarybecausetheyexpressideasthatarenotpresented

inthepassageorareminorideasinthepassage.Thisquestion

isworth2points.

Theclassofchemicalscalledhormoneswasdiscoveredby

tworesearchersstudyingasubstanceproducedinthesmall

intestine.

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AnswerChoices

ThetermhormoneisbasedonaGreekwordthatmeansto

exciteortosetinmotion.Researchersarelookingforwaysto

decreasethedangersoftreatmentswithgrowthhormoneso