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  3. Alcoholism In the United States alone, alcoholism affects millions of people and costs the country billions of dollars each

Alcoholism In the United States alone, alcoholism affects millions of people and costs the country billions of dollars each

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问题                          Alcoholism
    In the United States alone, alcoholism affects millions of people and costs the country billions of dollars each year.
What is Alcoholism?
    People who drink regularly enough to affect their family or work responsibilities and who drink in a way that puts ~them in dangerous situations are said to abuse alcohol. Although they use alcohol in an unhealthy way, people who suffer from alcohol abuse do not necessarily develop a physical dependence upon alcohol.
    Alcoholics, on the other hand, have a chronic disease. They are physically dependent upon alcohol. They feel a need to drink, almost in the same way that most people feel the need to eat. And once alcoholics start drinking, they are unable to stop. They develop a tolerance to alcohol, requiring more and more drinks to feel the same effects. When an alcoholic tries to cut down or stop drinking, he or she experiences the symptoms of withdrawal: sweating, nausea, shakiness, anxiety and delirium tremens.
    More than 17 million Americans abuse alcohol or are alcoholic. Alcoholism affects men more than women: About 10 percent of men, compared to 3 to 5 percent of women, become alcoholics over the course of their lifetime. Alcoholism is more prevalent among younger people than among older people.
How Does Someone Become an Alcoholic?
    Why is it that some people can drink socially and not become addicted while others become alcoholics? The reason has to do with a combination of genetic, physiological, psychological and social factors.
    Genes may be an important factor triggering the development of alcoholism. Research has indicated that children of alcoholics are four times more likely to become alcoholics themselves; and while this statistic is at least partly due to environmental factors, scientists have determined that there is a genetic link.
    Physiologically, alcohol alters the balance of chemicals in the brain. It affects chemicals in the brain’s reward center. The body eventually craves alcohol to restore pleasurable feelings and avoid negative feelings. People who already suffer from high stress or psychological problems such as low self esteem and depression are at higher risk for developing alcoholism.
Social factors such as peer pressure, advertising and environment also play an important role in the development of alcoholism. Young people often start drinking because their friends are doing so, Beer and liquor ads on television tend to portray drinking as a glamorous exciting pastime.
What Happens When You Drink
    When you take a drink, about 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed in your stomach; the remaining 80 percent is absorbed in your small intestine. How quickly the alcohol is absorbed depends upon the concentration of the alcohol in the drink and whether you’ve just eaten a big meal. A full stomach will slow down alcohol absorption.
    After the alcohol is absorbed, it enters your bloodstream and is carried throughout your body. As the alcohol acts upon the body, the body is simultaneously working to remove it. The kidneys and lungs remove about 10 percent of the alcohol in the urine and the breath. The liver breaks down the rest of the alcohol into acetic acid.
    After just a few drinks, the physical effects of alcohol become apparent. These effects are related to the blood alcohol concentration(BAC). The BAC goes up when the body is taking in alcohol faster than it can release it.
Alcohol and the Brain
    Alcohol affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neurotransmitters(神经传递素). Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transmit the signals throughout the body that control thought processes, behavior and emotion.
    In the short term, alcohol can cause blackouts -- short-term memory lapses in which people forget what occurred over entire stretches of time. The long-term effects on the brain can be even more damaging.
    Long-term drinking can leave permanent damage, causing the brain to shrink and leading to deficiencies in the fibers that carry information between brain cells. Many alcoholics develop a condition called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and experience mental confusion and lack of coordination, and they may also have memory and learning problems.
The body responds to the continual introduction of alcohol by coming to rely on it. This dependence causes long-term, debilitating changes in brain chemistry. The brain accommodates for the regular presence of alcohol by altering neurotransmitter production. But when the per son stops or dramatically reduces his or her drinking, within 24 to 72 hours the brain goes into what is known as withdrawal as it tries to readjust its chemistry. Symptoms of withdrawal include disorientation, hallucinations, delirium tremens(DTs), nausea, sweating and seizures.
Alcohol and the Rest of the Body
    Over time, alcohol can inflict serious damage on other body parts as well.
    Liver: The liver is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol because it is the organ in which alcohol and Other toxins are metabolized(broken down into less harmful substances to be removed from the body). Drinking over a long period of time can lead to alcoholic hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver. Symptoms of this condition include nausea, vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and jaundice(a yellowing of the skin).
    Heart: Because alcohol lowers blood pressure, the heart overcompensates, and the heart muscle can eventually become damaged as a result. Prolonged drinking increases the risks for heart disease, high blood pressure and certain kinds of stroke.
Stomach: Alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach and intestines, causing vomiting, nausea and eventually ulcers.
    Cancer: Research indicates that long-term drinking increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx and esophagus.
    The effects of alcohol are even more marked in adults over 65, because their bodies don’t metabolize alcohol as well as those of younger adults. Women also have more difficulty metabolizing alcohol than men, because [hey are typically smaller and lighter in weight.
Treatment for Alcoholism
    In the United States, approximately 2 million people get help each year for alcoholism. Alcoholism treatment may include:
    Detoxification: This involves abstaining from alcohol in order to get alcohol completely out of a person’s system, and it takes anywhere from four to seven days.
    Pharmaceuticals: People can take drugs such as disulfiram or naltrexone to prevent a re lapse once they’ve stopped drinking. In 2004, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration also approved the drug acamprosate, which suppresses cravings by targeting the brain chemicals affect ed by alcohol.
    Counseling: Individual or group counseling sessions can help a recovering alcoholic identify situations in which they may be tempted to use alcohol and find ways of circumventing the urge to ’drink in those situations. One of the most recognizable alcoholic recovery programs is Alcoholics Anonymous(AA).
This passage explains how alcohol affects the body and how alcoholics can get treatment.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案A
解析 本题考的是文章主旨：考生在做题时要先将文章浏览一下，特别要注意文章的各部分的小标题，小标题是对这一部分的总结，将各个小标题穿起来就是文章要表达的主要意思。文章先后提到了酒精在胃和小肠里的吸收情况，又提到酒精对大脑和人体其他部分的影响，最后一部分是对酗酒人的治疗问题，因此本句所述正确。
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大学英语四级

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