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  3. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, but various studies suggest that its risk factors extend beyond genetics. Some stud

The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, but various studies suggest that its risk factors extend beyond genetics. Some stud

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问题     The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, but various studies suggest that its risk factors extend beyond genetics. Some studies have associated the disease with a lack of physical activity. Others have linked Alzheimer’s disease to a lack of stimulating brainwork—fitting a use-it-or-lose-it situation of cognitive decline.
    A new study supports the view that both kinds of inactivity pose risks. People who have the memory loss, confusion, and disorientation of Alzheimer’s disease in old age were generally less active physically and intellectually between the ages of 20 and 60 than were people who don’t have the disease, according to study coauthor Robert P. Friedland, a neurologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, and his colleagues.
    After establishing an average overall activity level for all the study’s participants, the researchers discovered that the Alzheimer’s patients were nearly four times as likely as the people without Alzheimer’s to fall below that average. In particular, the non-Alzheimer’s volunteers had devoted more time on average between ages 40 and 60 to intellectual activities and less to passive ones than had those who developed the disease. The only single activity in which Alzheimer’s patients on average significantly outperformed their counterparts was watching television, Friedland says.
    While certain genetic factors seem to influence the brain deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s, these don’t account for all cases of the disease. Indeed, studies of genetically similar people living in separate countries show divergent rates of Alzheimer’s disease.
    The new study accounted for differences in education and income but not occupation. It doesn’t point to a cause of Alzheimer’s or even predict who might develop the disease, but it does reinforce the value of remaining physically and mentally active, Friedland says. From an evolutionary standpoint, people are still physically designed to be active hunters and gatherers. "Being a couch potato," he says, "is not our natural state."
    Intellectual stimulation may work the same way, he says. Studies indicate that a higher educational level makes a person less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Some researchers suggest that challenging the brain builds reserves of functional brain tissue that protect people against the disease.
    "This is a very intriguing study" built on "extremely rigorous" data collection, says Mary S. Mittelman, a scientist at New York University School of Medicine. However, she wonders why some people are active during their middle years while others aren’t. Could it be that a sedentary lifestyle really contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s, or does the illness begin early in life and subtly steer a person toward such a lifestyle? " It could be a combination of both," Friedland says.
Alzheimer’s patients’ watching television is mentioned to suggest that_________.
选项 A、watching television may do great harm to one’s health
B、there is a controversy over whether Alzheimer’s patients should watch TV
C、one intellectual activity Alzheimer’s patients did more is watching television
D、passive activities such as watching television may lead to Alzheimer’s disease
答案D
解析 推断题。第三段第二句指出，与阿尔茨海默病患者相比，非阿尔茨海默病患者的志愿者们投入于脑力活动的平均时间多，用于消极活动的时间少。接下来又指出阿尔茨海默病患者与其对应者相比，唯一一种花费时间精力多得多的活动就是看电视。由此可以推断出，阿尔海默病患者从事的一项消极活动是看电视，这可能是他们的致病原因，故[D]为答案。
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