A、Nearly 30 percent lower risk. B、Almost 40 percent lower risk. C、50 percent lower risk. D、16 percent lower risk. C

Optimism and pessimism represent your general attitude toward certain situations or to life in general. And your attitude about life may be more important to living than you think. [9] A new study suggests that your level of optimism may affect your health. People who are optimistic may live longer than those who are pessimistic. Researchers at Harvard University’s School of Public Health in Boston did the study. They compared women with “a general expectation that good things will happen” to women who were less optimistic. They found that the optimists had a much lower risk of getting several deadly diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and certain types of infection. The researchers published their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread and how they can be controlled.
Eric Kim is one of the study leaders. He says there is increasing evidence that strengthening psychological resilience may help prevent disease. Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulty or change. [10] Kim says that these new findings suggest that people should make efforts to increase their resilience and optimism. He says optimism is connected with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of dealing with difficulty. Optimists tend to take better care of themselves by exercising, eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep. However, the researchers say that healthy behaviors of optimistic people only partly explain the connection with reduced risk of disease. The Harvard researchers looked at the level of optimism of the women, as well as other factors such as race, diet, physical activity level and overall health. They found the most optimistic women had nearly a 30 percent lower risk of dying from disease. When compared to the least optimistic women in the study, the optimistic women had an almost 40 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease; [11] a 50 percent lower risk of dying from infection; and a 16 percent lower risk of dying from cancer. The researchers note that other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease. [12] This, however, is the first study to link optimism with reduced mortality from other diseases.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the passage you have just heard.
9.What does the new study find?
10.What does these new findings advise people to do?
11.Compared with the least optimistic women, how much risk does the most optimistic women have to die from infection?
12.What is the difference between the new study and other studies?