英语听力文摘 English Digest 597、快餐和抑郁之间有联系吗？

 According to data posted on McDonalds’ famous Golden Arches, the fast food giant has servedbillions of customers around the world. It’s safe to assume that other fast food purveyors such asBurger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and others have dished out a roughly equal amount of friedchicken, burgers, and fries.

Depending on how you look at it, this is alternately impressive and highly alarming. Impressiveinsofar as it testifies to the dizzyingly successful business models of fast food chains. And alarmingbecause typical fast food meals are high in calories, salt, fat, and sugar.

And now, according to a recent study, it’s possible that eating fast food also raises your risk fordepression.

　　The study, done by researchers at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada, followed nearly 9,000 participants for six months none of whom had been diagnosed with depression or had taken antidepressants. They found that those who ate the most fast food were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression as those who ate little or none.

　　Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that eating fast food causes depression. It could be the other way around that people who become depressed¹ for whatever reason tend to eat more fast food. But while it’s not certain that consuming fast food causes depression, the chance that it might is yet another reason to get off the fast food track and opt² for more healthful options.

1 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

2 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？