Question

They say that sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Yet childhood bullying (欺凌) really can damage your long-term health. Gone are the days when bullying was considered an unavoidable and finally harmless part of growing up — just last month we learned that childhood bullying can lead to poorer mental health even into middle age.

Now William Copeland at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and his colleagues have shown that it can have lasting physiological effects too. They tracked 1,420 nine-year-olds right through their teens. Each child was seen up to nine times during the study and asked about bullying. The team then measured levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood. CRP is a marker of inflammation (炎癥) linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease (心血管疾病) and problems like diabetes. “Because we were collecting biological samples throughout, we were able to look at CRP levels in subjects prior to their bullying involvement.” says Copeland. “This really gives us an idea of the changes bullying brings about.”

Although CRP levels naturally rise in everyone during adolescence, levels were highest in children who reported suffering from bullies. Even at the ages of 19 and 21, children who had once been bullied had CRP levels about 1.4 times higher than peers who were neither wrongdoers nor victims. In a cruel twist, the bullies had the lowest levels of all, suggesting they didn’t suffer the same health risks. They may even see a benefit from their behavior, though Copeland stresses it doesn’t defend their actions. “The goal would instead be to find other ways to produce this protective effect without it being at someone else’s expense.” he says.

Andrea Danese at King’s College London has before shown that ill-treatment during childhood can lead to high levels of inflammation in adult life. “This new study is a helpful addition in showing that these effects extend to another important childhood stressor.” he says. He suggests that care workers monitor levels of CRP in children having psychotherapy to see if it is helping to reduce the stress of being bullied.

1.What do you know about CRP?

A. It relates directly to diabetes.

B. It is a sign of the inflammation.

C. It is a sign of cardiovascular disease.

D. It is a sign of physiological effects caused by bullying.

2.What does the phrase “prior to” in Para.2 mean?

A. through B. during C. after D. before

3.What can be learned from paragraph 3?

A. CRP levels naturally rise along with the increase of age.

B. The bullies are not to blame for the health risks of the bullied.

C. The levels of CRP of the children once bullied are higher than their peers.

D. Copeland intends to defend the benefit of the bullies’ actions.

4. What does Andrea Danese think about childhood ill-treatment?

A. Copeland’s study shows nothing related to it.

B. It doesn’t have much to do with inflammation in adult life.

C. The stress of being bullied is reduced through psychotherapy.

D. Psychological treatment might help solve the problem caused by ill-treatment.

5.What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Bullying is beneficial to the bullies.

B. CRP levels reflect the risks of poorer health.

C. Bullying has lasting harmful effects on a person.

D. Bullying leads to high CRP levels.

Answer 1