The Weight Experiment
Nicola Walters has been taking part in experiments in Scotland to discover why humans gain and
lose weight. Being locked in a small room called a 'calorimeter'（热量测量室）is one way to find out.
❶ The signs above the two rooms read simply 'Chamber One' and 'Chamber Two'. These are the
calorimeters: 4m by 2m white-walled rooms where human volunteers are locked up in the name of
science. Outside these rooms another sign reads "Please do not enter - work in progress, and in front
of the rooms advanced machinery registers every move the volunteers make. Each day, meals measured
to the last gram are passed through a hole in the wall of the calorimeter to the resident volunteer.
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❷ Nicola Walters is one of twenty volunteers who, over the past eight months, have spent varying
periods inside the calorimeter. Tall and slim, Nicola does not have a weight problem, but thought the
strict diet might help with her training and fitness programme. A self-employed community dance
worker, she was able to fit the experiment in around her work. She saw an advertisement fbr volunteers
at her local gym and as she is interested in the whole area of diet and exercise, she thought she would
help out.
❸ The experiment on Nicola involved her spending one day on a fixed diet at home and the next in
the room. This sequence was repeated four times over six weeks. She arrived at the calorimeter at 8:30
am on each of the four mornings and from then on everything she ate or drank was carefully measured.
Her every move was noted too, her daily exercise routine timed to the last second. At regular intervals,
after eating, she filled in forms about how hungry she felt and samples were taken for analysis.
❹ The scientists help volunteers impose a kind of order on the long days they face in the room. 'The
first time, I only took one video and a book, but it was OK because I watched TV the rest of the time,
says Nicola. And twice a day she used the exercise bike. She pedaled （踩踏板）for half an hour,
watched by researchers to make sure she didn't go too fast.
❺ It seems that some foods encourage you to eat more, while others satisfy you quickly. Volunteers
are already showing that high-fat diets are less likely to make you feel lull. Believing that they may
now know what encourages people to overeat, the researchers are about to start testing a high-protein
weight-loss diet. Volunteers are required and Nicola has signed up for further sessions.
Task 1 |
考前冲刺
