綜合類：閱讀判斷Dangers await babies

　　Women who live in the worlds highest communities tend to give birth to under-weight babies， a new study suggests. These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes.

　　Research has hinted that newborns in mountain communities are lighter than average. But it wasnt clear whether this is due to reduced oxygen levels at high altitude or because their mothers are under-nourished — many people who live at high altitudes are relatively poor compared with those living lower down.

　　To find out more， Dino Giussani and his team at Cambridge University studied the records of 400 births in Bolivia during 1976 and 1998. The babies were born in both rich and poor areas of two cities: La Paz and Santa Cruz. L Paz is the highest city in the world， at 3.65 kilometers above sea level， while Santa Cruz is much lower， at 0.44 kilometers.

　　Sure enough， Giussani found that the average birthweight of babies in La Paz was significantly lower than in Santa Cruz. This was true in both high and low-income families. Even babies born to poor families in Santa Cruz were heavier on average than babies born to wealthy families in lofty La Paz. "We were very surprised by this result，" says Giussani.

　　The results suggest that babies born at high altitude are deprived of oxygen before birth. "This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child，" says Giussani.

　　His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to rest of the body.

　　Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood， for example. Low birthweight is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life.

　　一個新的研究表明住在世界高海拔地區的女人通常生下體重不足的嬰兒。這些嬰兒在長大成人后得心臟病和中風的風險很大。

　　研究暗示在山區出生的新生兒低于平均體重。但是還不清楚這是由于在高海拔的地方氧氣不足，還是由于他們的母親沒有獲得足夠的營養——許多住在高海拔地方的人相對都比住在低處的人窮。

　　為了了解更多的情況，劍橋大學的迪諾·吉薩尼和他的團隊研究了1997年到1998年玻利維亞的400個新生兒的記錄。這些嬰兒出生于兩個城市的富有和貧困地區：拉帕茲和散塔克魯茲。拉帕茲是世界上最高的城市，海拔3.65千米，而散塔克魯茲低很多，海拔440米。

　　當然，吉薩尼發現拉帕茲的新生兒的平均出生體重明顯低于散塔克魯茲的新生兒。無論高收入家庭還是低收人家庭都是如此。甚至散塔克魯茲的貧窮家庭的嬰兒比拉帕茲的富有家庭的嬰兒平均體重還要重。吉薩尼說：“我們對這個結果感到吃驚。”

　　這個結果表明在高海拔出生的嬰兒出生前就缺氧了。吉薩尼說：“這可能會觸發調節未出生兒成長的荷爾蒙的釋放或抑制。”

　　他的團隊還發現高海拔的嬰兒通常有相對身體來說較大的頭部。這可能是因為一個缺乏氧的胚胎會首先把充氧的血液輸送到腦部，然后才送到身體的其他部位。

　　吉薩尼想要查出這樣的嬰兒在今后的生活中是不是更容易得病。例如在拉帕茲出生的人在成年之后更可能得心臟病。低出生體重是得冠心病的一個危險因素。頭部相對身體較大的新生兒在今后的生活中通常更容易得高血壓和中風。

　　★1).According to the passage， one of the reasons why newborns in mountain communities are underweight is that their mothers are underweight.-W

　　★2).Giussani’s team members are all British researchers and professors from Cambridge University.-N

　　★3).Giussani did not expect to find that the weight of a baby had little to do with the financial conditions of the family he was born into.-R

　　★4).The weight of a newborn has to do with the supply of oxygen even when he was still in his mother’s womb.-R

　　★5).High-altitude bodies have heads that are larger than their bodies.-W

　　★6).High altitude babies have longer but thinner limbs than average-N

　　★7).Giussani has arrived at the conclusion that babies in high-altitude regions are more likely to have heart trouble when they grow up.-W