What’s the engine that drives American business? Innovation? Sweat? Capital? Try coffee. From the shop floor to the boardroom, J

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问题     What’s the engine that drives American business? Innovation? Sweat? Capital? Try coffee. From the shop floor to the boardroom, Java—and I don’t mean the soft ware—fuels workers and shapes office culture. What’s more, a steaming cup of coffee may be as good for your health as it is for the bottom line.
    Many people take their coffee with a small dose of guilt, worried that it isn’t good for the body. That’s a misunderstanding from studies done in the 1950s and 1960s showing that coffee drinkers were prone to heart disease and other sufferings. These studies failed to account for cigarette smoking, which once went hand in cup with coffee drinking. Since then, the medical community has done a gradual turn on the health effects of coffee.
    Large, long-term studies show that coffee doesn’t promote cancer and may even protect against some types. It’s safe for the heart—so safe that the American Heart Association says it’s OK for heart attack survivors to have a cup or two a day even as they recover in the coronary care unit. Results from the long-running Health Professionals Follow-Up and Nurses’ Health studies show that drinking coffee cuts the risk of dying early from a heart attack or stroke.
    It’s possible that the bean improves productivity, too. A bit of caffeine wakes up millions of workers in the morning. Controlled laboratory experiments indicate that it causes feelings of well-being and increases energy, alertness, and motivation. Functional MRI scans show that coffee activates parts of the brain involved in short-term memory, the kind that helps focus attention on tasks at hand.
    For all that, a word of warning is in order. The average cup of coffee serves up about 100 milligrams of caffeine, and a large specialty coffee can deliver five times that much. If you aren’t used to caffeine, it can make you restless, boost your blood pressure, and dehydrate you. But the biggest health hazard is the extra stuff that drinkers add to coffee. Taken black, coffee is a nearly calorie-free beverage full of antioxidants and other vegetable nutrients. Add cream, sugar, fresh cream, and flavorings, and it turns into a fat- and calorie-laden dessert, which can add pounds that offset any possible health benefits. For most people, though, the health and social benefits of coffee outweigh the hazards, and the daily grind keeps American business spreading.
The word "offset" (Line 6, Para. 5) is closest in meaning to ________.

选项 A、get rid of
B、balance out
C、outweigh
D、weaken

答案B

解析 根据题干及offset可直接定位到第五段,即文章最后一段。第三、第四段提到了咖啡能给我们带来的很多益处,而该段语义一转,表示要对其害处有所警惕。其中该段第四句就表明最大的健康危害(biggest health hazard)是往咖啡中额外添加的材料。结合该词所在的第六句来理解,前半句Add cream,sugar…flavorings正是上文提到的危害。加了奶油、糖、鲜乳酪及调味料之后,咖啡就成了高脂高热的甜食,从而导致体重增加,offset了咖啡本身可能给身体带来的好处。根据前后句,可猜想offset有前后相抵之意,即B项balance out“抵消”。此类题需要对该词所在句的前后文语义进行分析和推敲,A项“除掉”、C项“超过”和D项“削弱”都不如“抵消”来得更精准。
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