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  3. Women’s fertility is determined in large part at birth. They are born with their total number of reproductive cells, which norma

Women’s fertility is determined in large part at birth. They are born with their total number of reproductive cells, which norma

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问题     Women’s fertility is determined in large part at birth. They are born with their total number of reproductive cells, which normally influences the age at which menopause—the shutting down of female reproductive system—begins. But in the 1990s, researchers proposed that if a child’s energy is depleted by malnutrition, disease, or other factors, he or she would be less fertile as an adult. Byusing the natural experiment of migration, researchers demonstrated how differences during childhood do alter the course of reproduction in adult women.
    Biological anthropologist Gillian Bentley of Durham University in the UK and colleagues compared levels of reproductive hormones in 250 Bangladeshi women, including women who migrated from Sylhet, Bangladesh to London; women who stayed in Sylhet; and Bangladeshi women born in London. In the first stage of their study, they found that women who migrated from Bangladesh as children had higher levels of reproductive hormones in their saliva than women who lived in Sylhet, but less than women born in London. This had a direct effect on fertility: Migrant women in London had an 11% higher rate of ovulation—discharging of mature ovum—during their lives than did women in Sylhet, the team reported in 2007.
    The team has now studied 900 women between the ages of 35 and 60 to see if the beginning of menopause varies between migrants and women in Sylhet. Bentley presented preliminary results from their measurement of hormones that regulate the maturation of reproductive cells and are indirect indices of how many ova they can still produce. Her team found that migrants enter menopause later than did women who stayed in Bangladesh but earlier than did those born in London. "The adult migrants seem to be sensitive to improved conditions," says Bentley.
    The group is trying to find out which environmental factors in Bangladesh lower growing girls’ fertility. All the Bangladeshi women in the study came from middle-class, land-owning families, who grew up with adequate calories. However, girls growing up in Bangladesh were probably exposed to more infectious diseases during crucial developmental years. So, they may have had to make tradeoffs among using energy to grow, to maintain their bodies, or to maximize their reproductive potential as adults. Bentley plans to test that idea next year when her team returns to Bangladesh to see if girls there suffer from more diseases than do those in London. "In other words," says Bentley, "where you spend your childhood influences adult reproductive function."
What could be concluded from the research on the menopause of women?
选项 A、Environment changes would make a difference of one’s reproduction.
B、The beginning of menopause symbolized the lessening of hormones.
C、The period of menopause demonstrated an adult women’s maturation.
D、Migrants entered menopause later than those who stayed in their birth place.
答案A
解析 观点态度题。根据第三段倒数第二句话可得出生长在不同地区的妇女进入更年期的时间也不同。而更年期的早晚会影响妇女的生育能力，因此A项符合。
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