蔣建平

萊斯特大學的教授Tom Yates已廣泛研究超標體重對壽命的影響，他指出，在日常生活中，針對走得慢的人來說，提高步行速度和增強體質(zhì)都能為健康提供有利幫助。

People who walk faster are more likely to live longer regardless of their weight， according to a new study.

Researchers in the UK looked at data on 474，919 people who took part in the UK Biobank study between March 13， 2006 and January 31， 2016. The participants answered whether their usual walking pace was slow， average or fast. Researchers also measured factors including the participants body mass index（BMI）， their waistline， and body?fat percentage. On average， the participants were 58.2 years old and had a BMI of 26.7， landing them in the overweight category.

Participants who said they walked fast had longer life expectancies than the others regardless of their BMI， at 86.7 to 87.8 years for women and 85.2 to 86.8 years for men. Meanwhile， those who walked slowly had shorter life expectancies， particularly those who said they moved slowly and had a BMI of less than 20， even though this was in the healthy range.

Tom Yates， a lead author of the study and professor of physical activity at the University of Leicester told Newsweek that scientist had extensively investigated the role of excess body weight on a persons life expectancy over the past few decades. Studies from several countries have shown the risk of an overweight persons dying is lower if their fitness is higher.

“Most of these studies reported the beneficial effect of fitness in terms of relative risk reduction， for example 20% reduction of risk of death. Relative estimates， though， are difficult to explain，” he said.

To answer the “fit vs fat” question， the team chose walking pace， and they were surprised that the lowest life expectancy was seen in those who were underweight with a slow walking pace. However， Yates cautioned the study was observational and it didnt show causation between walking and life expectancy.

“While therere possibly many factors contributing to the strength of our findings， its well established that increasing your fitness is one of the best things you can do for your health. Increasing your walking pace in everyday life is a good way to increase fitness levels， particularly in those who are slow walkers，” said Yates.

[閱讀檢測]

1. What did the researchers focus on when collecting information？

A. Information on their life expectancies.

B. Information on the levels of their fitness.

C. Information on their walking pace and weight.

D. Information on their ages and body mass index.

2. Who is the most likely to live the longest according to the text？

A. Mr Brown who is overweight and walks slowly.

B. Mrs Smith who is overweight and walks fast.

C. Mr Black who is a little thin and runs slowly.

D. Mr Brown who is slim and often runs fast.

3. What does Tom Yates think of the result of their research according to the text？

A. It is completely accurate. B. It is of great significance.

C. It isnt necessarily dependable. D. It is most probably unreliable.

4. What is Tom Yates trying to do in the last paragraph？

A. Make a summary. B. Make explanations.

C. Give a new opinion. ? ? ? D. Offer a suggestion.

[語言學習]

寫作推薦

People who walk faster are more likely to live longer regardless of their weight， according to a new study. 根據(jù)一項新的研究，不論體重多少，走得快的人可能長壽。

【信息提取】be likely to... 意為“有可能……”。

【句式仿寫】入場券可能很貴。