托福阅读: ‘Modest’ beer

“啤酒肚”不仅会让人外形受到影响，还会让人患一些可怕疾病的风险加倍。下面的新托福考试阅读练习资料我们就来关注一下与“啤酒肚”相关的研究。

Having a ‘modest’ beer belly or muffin top can double the risk of dying from heart disease or strokes, say scientists.

科学家警告，有“啤酒肚”的人死于心脏病与中风的危险是平常人的两倍。

A U.S. study of nearly 16,000 patients with coronary heart disease found that a layer of flab around the stomach can be as dangerous as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day or having very high cholesterol.

美国的一份健康报告对将近16000名冠心病患者进行了研究，结果发现肚子周围一圈松松垮垮的赘肉的对健康造成的危害相当于每天吸食一包烟或者有非常高的胆固醇水平。

The findings add to the evidence that heart problems and furred arteries are not just linked to how much fat people have - but also to the location of the fat.

发现同样为心脏方面的疾病与动脉血管之间的联系，问题并不在于体重是多少，而是脂肪所在的位置。

Past studies have shown that ‘apple-shaped’ women with fat around their waists are at greater risk than ‘pear-shaped’ women whose fat is on their hips.

之前的研究发现，“苹果型”身材的女性腹部所积累的脂肪所引发的健康风险要比那些“梨型”身材，也是有臀部肥大的女性大得多。

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, looked at data from 15,923 patients with coronary heart disease. They found that those with fat around their waists were twice as likely to die from the disease.

明尼苏达州罗彻斯特市的研究者观察了该市15923位冠心病患者，发现他们腰部的脂肪提高了的死于疾病的风险近两倍。

Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, said that fat around the waist was more metabolically active.

医生弗朗西斯科·洛佩斯·希门尼斯说，腰部脂肪代谢更为活跃。

'It produces more chances in cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar,' he said. 'However, people who have fat mostly in other locations in the body, specifically the legs and buttocks, don't show this increased risk.'

“腰部脂肪会提高胆固醇的水平，提高血压和血糖的含量”，他说，“不过那些在身体其他部位有大量脂肪的人，特别是在腿部和臀部，这并不会增加患病的风险。”

Doctors often assess a patient's risk of coronary artery disease by looking at their body mass index - a measure that takes into account someone's weight and height.

医生通常会评估身体质量以测量病人罹患换冠心病的风险，这样的一种测量方法需要参考病人的体重和身高。

However, the study authors say doctors should advise patients with heart disease with normal BMIs to shed weight if they have a large waist or high waist-to-hip ratio.

不过，这份医学报告的作者称，那些患有心脏病但身体质量指数有在正常范围之内的病人，如果他们腰围超标或腰围与臀围比例失调，医生应该尽量建议他们减肥减重。

以上就是这篇托福阅读材料，同学们可以积累其中的词汇及优美句式，找到托福阅读段的主题句，了解托福阅读的几个出题点。托福阅读训练是个长期的过程。大家如果每天做几篇阅读，坚持下来，一定会有不小的进步。预祝大家能有一个好的阅读成绩。