2010年高考英语全国卷1 - 阅读理解D

Science can’t explain the power of pets, but many studies have shown that the company of pets can help lower blood pressure and raise chances of recovering from a heart attack, reduce loneliness and spread all round good cheer．
科学无法解释宠物的力量，但许多研究表明，宠物的陪伴有助于降低血压，提高心脏病发作后康复的机会，减少孤独感，传播快乐。

Any owner will tell you how much joy a pet brings．For some, an animals provides more comfort than a husband/wife．A 2002 study by Karen Allen of the State University of New York measured stress levels blood pressure in people-half of them pet owners-while they performed 5 minutes of mental arithmetic or held a hand in ice water．Subjects completed the tasks alone with a husband/wife, a close friend or with a pet．People with pets did it best．Those tested with their animals friends had smaller change in blood pressure and returned most quickly to baseline heart rates．With pets in the room, people also made fewer math mistakes than when doing in front of other companions．It seems people feel more relaxed around pets, says Allen, who thinks it may be because pets don’t judge．
每一位主人都会告诉你宠物带来了多少欢乐。对某些人来说，动物比丈夫/妻子带来更多的舒适感。纽约州立大学的凯伦·阿伦2002年的一项研究测量在5分钟的心算过程中或把手放在冰水里的血压应激水平，其中一半受试者养有宠物。受试者与丈夫/妻子、密友或宠物单独完成任务，有宠物的人做得最好。与宠物一起测试的受试者血压变化较小，心率恢复最快，有宠物在房间里，人们犯的数学错误也比平时少。艾伦说，人们似乎在宠物面前更放松，他认为这可能是因为宠物不会判断。

A study reported last fall suggests that having a pet dog not only raises your spirits but may also have an effect on your eating habits. Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital spent a year studying 36 fat people and their equally fat dogs on diet-and-exercise programs; a separate group of 56 people without pets were put on a diet program. On average, people lost about 11 pounds, or 5％ of their body weight. Their dogs did even better, losing an overage of 12 pounds, more than 15％ of their body weight. Dog owners didn’t lose any more weight than those without dogs but, say researchers, got more exercise overall-mostly with their dogs - and found it worth doing.
去年秋天公布的一项研究表明，养宠物狗不仅可以提高你的精神，还可能对你的饮食习惯产生影响。西北纪念医院的研究人员花了一年时间研究了36名肥胖者及其同样肥胖的狗的饮食和锻炼计划；另外一组56名没有宠物的人被纳入了饮食计划。平均而言，人们减掉了约11磅，或体重的5%。他们的狗做得更好，减掉了超过12磅的体重，超过了体重的15%。研究人员说，养狗的人没有比没有养狗的人减掉更多的体重，但总体而言，他们的狗得到了更多的锻炼，这是值得的。