C

Conventional wisdom says that hardship can make us old before our time. In fact, a new study suggests that violence not only leaves long-term scars on children’s bodies, but also changes their DNA, causing changes that are equal to seven to ten years of premature aging.

Scientists measured this by studying the ends of children’s chromosomes(染色體), called telomeres, says Idan Shalev, lead author of a study published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Telomeres are special DNA sequences which prevent the DNA in chromosomes from separating. They get shorter each time a cell divides, until a cell cannot divide any more and dies.

Several factors have been found to shorten telomeres, including smoking, radiation and psychological stresses such as being treated badly when young and taking care of a chronically ill person.

In this study, researchers examined whether exposure to violence could make children’s telomeres shorten faster than normal. They interviewed the mothers of 236 children at ages 5, 7 and 10, asking whether the youngsters had been exposed to domestic violence between the mother and her partner; physical maltreatment by an adult; or bullying. Researchers measured the children’s telomeres—in cells obtained by swabbing the insides of their cheeks—at ages 5 and 10.

Telomeres shortened faster in kids exposed to two or more types of violence, says Shalev. Unless that pattern changes, the study suggests, these kids could be expected to develop diseases of aging, such as heart attacks or memory loss, seven to 10 years earlier than their peers.

Shalev says there is hope for these kids. His study found that, in rare cases, telomeres can lengthen. Better nutrition, exercise and stress reduction are three things that may be able to lengthen telomeres, he says. 

The study confirms a small but growing number of studies suggesting that early childhood adversity imprints itself in our chromosomes, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

63. The new study found that ________.

A. hardship can change a child’s aging

B. violence leaves scars on a child’s mind

C. violence can speed up a child’s aging

D. hardship has a long term effect on a child’s mind

64. According to the text, telomeres ________.

A. are at the ends of people’s chromosomes

B. can help prevent DNA from separating

C. can make a cell die quickly

D. become shorter before they die

65. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. Violence can cause quick cell division in children’s body.

B. Researchers measured the children’s telomeres from their legs in the study.

C. Being treated badly will make a child’s telomeres shorten faster.

D. Children who have shorter telomeres may have a heart attack earlier.

66. What is the best title for the text?

A. Violence Aging Children’s DNA

B. Children’s Changing DNA Patterns

C. Violence and Telomeres           D. The Function of Telomeres

D

This is an excerpt from Emma Watson’s speech at the United Nations headquarters.

Today we are launching a campaign（called "He For She"）. I am reaching out to you because we need your help. We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone involved. This is the first campaign of this kind in the UN. We want to try to involve as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. 

    I started questioning gender-based assumption a long time ago. When I was 8, I was confused being called bossy because I wanted to direct a play that we put on for our parents, but the boys were not. When I was 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media. At 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of a lot of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear masculine. At 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

    I decided that I was a feminist. This seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I’m from Britain and I think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men.

    But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights, I considered to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones.

    My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume that I would end up nowhere because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those.

Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend you a formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. Because to date, I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it will make them less of a man, or less of men. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive, both men and women should be free to be strong. This is what "He For She" is about. It’s about freedom.    

You might be thinking: who is this Harry Potter girl? What is she doing at the UN? I’ve been asking myself at the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem and I want to make it better. And having seen what I’ve seen and given the chance, I feel my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said all that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.

    In my nervousness for this speech and in my moment of doubt, I told myself firmly: If not me, who? If not now, when? If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope those words would be helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me it will be nearly 100 before women can be expected to be paid as same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the 16 years as children. At current rate, it will be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have secondary education. We are struggling for a uniting world, but the good news is we have a uniting movement. It is called “He For She”. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself: if not me, who? If not now, when?

Thank you.

67. The campaign “He For She” aims to ________.

A. give women more freedom than men 

B. give men more freedom than women

C. involve everyone to struggle for the end of gender inequality

D. involve as many men and boys as possible to live a free life.

68. We can know from Emma Watson’s personal experience that _________.

A. feminism has become an unpopular word 

B. her parents didn’t love her because she was born a daughter 

C. she was called bossy because she didn’t want to appear masculine

D. her mentors treated her the same way they treated boy students.

69. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A. Good men and women doing nothing leads to evil forces to develop.

B. Good men and women need to do nothing to defeat evil forces.

C. The victory of evil force leads to good men and women doing nothing.

D. It is necessary for good men and women do nothing to combat evil forces.

70. In the speech, Emma calls on people to ________.

A. participate in the campaign actively and take actions

B. admit that men and women should be equally paid

C. pay more attention to men suffering from mental illnesses

D. believe in her although she acted in the Harry Potter series
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