【Introduction】

　　根据一份今在「英国医学杂志」刊出的报告指出，母乳虽然含有丰富营养，但长期吃母奶无助於降低幼儿罹患气喘和过敏症状风险。

　　【Section One】Article

　　The benefits of breast-feeding are many and varied. Studies suggest that breast-fed kids are smarter, taller, thinner, healthier and less stressed than babies on bottles. Plus, breast-feeding helps moms bond with their babies and may even lower their blood pressure. So, is there anything breast milk can't do? Apparently, yes, according to a new study published Tuesday by BMJ Online: It doesn't offer infants much defense against asthma or allergies.

　　That's a question researchers have long debated. Until now, the evidence has been mixed: Some studies have suggested that exclusive, prolonged breast-feeding helps stave off asthma and allergies later in life; other studies have shown no protection, or even an increased risk. But most of the available data has come from observational studies. The new BMJ paper, in contrast, was a large, long-term randomized trial that involved more than 17,000 breast-feeding women and babies, 13,889 of whom were tracked until age 6 1/2. Researchers recruited the moms in maternity hospitals and clinics in Belarus. About half of them — those who had already begun breast-feeding — were encouraged to continue breast-feeding exclusively; the control group got no such extra urging.

　　Researchers report that women in the intervention group breast-fed significantly longer than women in the control group: at three months, 73% of the intervention group was breast-feeding, compared with 60% of the control group, and the number of women breast-feeding exclusively was seven times higher. By a year after birth, rates of breast-feeding had dropped across the board; but still, 20% of the intervention group was breast-feeding versus 11% of the controls.

　　When the infants were about 6 1/2 years old, researchers followed up with standard questionnaires about asthma, hay fever and eczema. Rates of each condition were similar in both groups. In general, about 10% of the children had ever suffered wheezing in their lives, though less than 1.5% had had full-blown asthma. Roughly 3% to 5% had had hay fever, and about 1% had suffered bouts of eczema. Researchers also performed skin-prick tests on the children; again, there was no significant difference between incidence of allergy — to dust mites, cats, pollen, grass and Alternaria, a common fungus — between the groups. In the breast-fed group, about 9% were allergic to pollen and Alternaria, 12% to cats and grass and 15% to dust mites. Absolute rates of all allergies were slightly lower in the control group, but the variations weren't statistically relevant.

　　The BMJ study is "to our knowledge.. the largest randomized trial ever done in the area of human lactation," write the study's authors. But it's not likely to be the last. Science will continue to debate the discrete pros and cons of breast-feeding, but doctors unanimously agree that breast, in general, is best for babies' health, growth and development. Mothers should breast-feed newborns for at least 12 months — and exclusively for at least 6 months — according to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines.

　　【Section Two】Vocabulary

　　1. exclusivelimiting or limited to possession, control, or use by a single individual or group

　　2. prolongextend the duration of.

　　3. stave offto fend off, to ward off

　　4. recruitenlist (someone) in the armed forces.

　　5. maternitythe period during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth

　　6. interventionaction taken to improve a medical disorder.

　　7. across the boardso as to include or affect all classes or categories

　　8. follow upto maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments

　　9. questionnairea set of printed questions, usually with a choice of answers, devised for a survey or statistical study.

　　10. wheezebreathe with a whistling or rattling sound in the chest, as a result of obstruction in the air passages. (of a device) make an irregular rattling or spluttering sound.

　　11. full-blownpossessing or exhibiting all the usual or necessary features or symptoms

　　12. bouta short period of intense activity.

　　13. eczemaa medical condition in which patches of skin become rough and inflamed with blisters which cause itching and bleeding.

　　14. prickpress briefly or puncture with a sharp point.

　　15. mitea minute arachnid with four pairs of legs, several kinds of which are parasitic.

　　16. pollena powdery substance discharged from the male part of a flower, each microscopic grain containing a male gamete that can fertilize the female ovule.

　　17. Alternariais a genus of ascomycete fungi. Alternaria species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma. They readily cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised people such as AIDS patients.

　　18. fungusany of a large group of spore-producing organisms which feed on organic matter and include moulds, yeast, mushrooms, and toadstools.

　　19. pros and consa disadvantage of or argument against something.

　　20. unanimousfully in agreement.

　　21. pediatricsa branch of medicine dealing with the development, care, and diseases of children

　　22. lactationthe secretion of milk by the mammary glands.

　　23. hay feveran acute allergic reaction to pollen that is usually seasonal and is marked by sneezing, nasal discharge and congestion, and itching and watering of the eyes

　　【Section Three】Homework

　　1. Please translate the blue sentence into Chinese.
When the infants were about 6 1/2 years old, researchers followed up with standard questionnaires about asthma, hay fever and eczema. Rates of each condition were similar in both groups.

　　2. What is the main idear of this Article?

　　3. What is the main reason that the author is confident with the conclusion of the study?

　　4. Which word is the "best" synonym of "recruit" here ?

　　A. recover B. renovate C. refresh D. draft E. enroll

　　5. Which kinds of allergies are described in the article?

　　参考答案：

　　1. 当小婴儿六岁半时，研究员以一致的问卷来追踪哮喘、花粉病和湿疹。两组各项过敏的比例都很接近。

　　2. Although breast-feeding has many advantages, it doesn't offer infants much defense against asthma or allergies.

　　3. The conclusion is drawn from the largest randomized trial ever done in the area of human lactation.

　　4. E

　　5. asthma, hay fever and eczema