背诵为王 第 四 册 第 29 课

 　　Lesson29 Alcohol Damage to the Young Brain
Few teens seem to worry about what alcohol does to their bodies. Cirrhosis of the liver is unlikely to catch up with them for decades, and heart disease must seem as remote as retirement¹, but recent research indicates that the younger the brain, the more it may be at risk. Because their brains are still developing, teens who drink excessively may be destroying some of their mental capacity - affecting their ability to learn.
Nearly 7 million youths between the ages of 12 and 20 binge drink at least once a month, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. That means downing five or more drinks in a row.
Teen drinkers appear to be most susceptible² to damage in two developing parts of the brain, the hippocampus, a structure responsible for learning and memory, and the prefrontal cortex, the chief decision-maker and voice of reason.
In a study of how alcohol affects the hippocampus, scholars dosed adolescent and adult rats with alcohol and ran them through mazes³. Compared with the adults, the adolescents failed miserably⁴. To see whether similar results held true for humans, some scholars split a small group of volunteers into two groups: ages 21 to 24, and 25 to 29.
After drinking enough to achieve a blood-alcohol level slightly below 0.08 percent, the younger group's learning was significantly more impaired⁶ than the older group's.
cirrhosis [医]硬化
susceptible 易受影响的
hippocampus 海马状突起
prefrontal [解]额叶前部的
cortex 脑皮层
impair⁵ 削弱
酒精对青少年大脑的伤害
青少年似乎并不担心酒精对他们身体的伤害。几十年内他们不大可能会得肝硬化，心脏病对他们来讲如同退休一样遥远。但是最近的研究表明大脑越年轻，越容易受到伤害。因为青少年的大脑还在发育，过度饮酒可能会损害他们的智力&&影响他们的学习能力。
美国管制药品滥用及精神卫生管理局的数据表明，将近700万12到20岁之间的青少年每个月至少有一次过量饮酒，也就是连续喝酒五杯或五杯以上。
青少年饮酒者的大脑的两个正在发育的部分最容易受到伤害，它们是负责学习和记忆的海马状突起和主要的决策和理性中心&&前额皮质。
在一个研究酒精对海马状突起的影响的实验中，研究者给幼年的和成年的老鼠服用了酒精后把它们放到了迷宫里。与成年老鼠相比，幼年的老鼠惨败。为了验证在人类身上是否也会有相似的结果，一些研究者把一小群志愿者分成了两组，21至24年龄组和25至29年龄组。
给他们饮酒使他们血液内的酒精含量达到略低于0.08%的水平后，年龄稍小的那一组的学习能力受到的损害明显大于年龄大的那一组。

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

3 mazes   

迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图

参考例句：

• The mazes of the dance were ecstatic. 跳舞那种错综曲折，叫人快乐得如登九天。
• For two hours did this singlehearted and simpleminded girl toil through the mazes of the forest. 这位心地单纯的傻姑娘在林间曲径中艰难地走了两个来小时。

4 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

6 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》