卫生类A级：阅读理解Multivitamins Urged
A recent study in Tanzania found that when pregnant women
took vitamins every day， fewer babies were born too small.
Babies that weigh less than two and one-half kilograms at birth
have a greater risk of dying. Those that survive are more likely
to experience problems with their development. And experts say
that as adults they have a higher risk of diseases including
heart disease and diabetes. The World Health Organization1
estimates that every year twenty million babies are born with
low birth weight. Nine out of ten of them are born in developing
countries.
The new study took place in Dares Salaam. 4， 200 pregnant
women received multivitamins. The pills contained all of the
vitamins in the B group along with2 vitamins C and E. They also
contained several times more iron and folate than the levels
advised for women in developed nations. Pregnant women
especially in poor countries may find it difficult to get enough
vitamins and minerals from the foods in their diet.
The scientists compared the findings with results from a
group of 4，000 women who did not receive the vitamins. A report
by the scientists， from the United States and Tanzania， appeared
in the New England Journal of Medicine. 3 Wafaie Fawzi of the
Harvard University School of Public Health4 led the study. None
of the women in the study had HIV， the virus that causes AIDS.
The scientists reported earlier that daily multivitamins were a
low-cost way to reduce fetal deaths in pregnant women infected
with5 HIV. The earlier work in Tanzania also found improvement
in the mothers in their number of blood cells known as
lymphocytes. Lymphocytes increase the body’s immunity against
infection.
The new study in pregnant women who were not infected with
the AIDS virus found that multivitamins reduced the risk of low
birth weight. Just under eight percent of the babies born to
women who took the multivitamins weighed less than 2，500 grams.
The rate was almost nine and one-half percent in the group of
women who received a placebo， an inactive pill， instead of the
vitamins. But the vitamins did not do much to reduce the rates
of babies being born too early or dying while still a fetus.
Still， the researchers say multivitamins should be considered
for all pregnant women in developing countries.
词汇：
multivitamin/7mQlti5vaitEmin/adj.多种维生素的 urge/E:dV/v.
促进/v.极力主张；强烈要求；敦促 pregnant/5pre^nEnt/adj.怀孕的
，妊娠的
Tanzania/7tAnzE5ni:E/n.坦桑尼亚(非洲国家)
diabetes/7daiE5bi:ti:z， -ti:s/n.糖尿病，多尿症 Dar es
Salaam/5dB:r es sE5lB:m/n.达累斯萨拉姆(坦桑尼亚首都)
folate/5fEuleit/n.叶酸盐 mineral/5minErEl/n.矿物质；无机盐adj.
矿物质的；无机的 fetal/5fi:tl/adj.胎儿的， 胎的
lymphocyte/5limfEsait/n.淋巴球， 淋巴细胞
immunity/i5mju:niti/n..免疫力；免疫性 infection/in5fekFEn/n.传
染，感染；传染病 placebo/plE5si:bEu/n.安慰剂；安慰剂治疗
inactive/in5Aktiv/adj.无作用的 pill/pil/n.药丸，丸剂
fetus/5fi:tEs/n.胎，胎儿