科学家发现， 1 型糖尿病在低龄儿童身上发病时更严重、来势更凶猛。 1 型糖尿病是免疫系统攻击控制血糖水平的胰腺细胞造成的。

Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed later in life. Researchers at the University of Exeter studied pancreas samples from 250 donors, allowing them to see how the beta cells which produce the hormone insulin formed normally and in type 1.

儿童，尤其是七岁以下的儿童，似乎比在年龄更大时诊断出的人 1 型糖尿病发展得更凶猛。埃克塞特大学的研究人员仔细研究了来自 250 名捐赠者的胰腺样本，这让他们得以一窥产生胰岛素这种激素的胰岛 β 细胞在正常人的胰腺和 1 型糖尿病患者的胰腺中形成方式的区别。

They showed early in life the beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy. The researchers say it's a really significant finding and that the future was looking much brighter with drugs that can slow the immune system's attack.

这些样本显示出在生命早期胰岛 β 细胞会以小团的形式存在，这让免疫系统能够轻易地识别并破坏它们。研究人员称这项发现意义重大，它为糖尿病治疗的未来带来了希望，因为将会有可以减缓免疫系统攻击的药物。

词汇表

aggressive 凶猛的，侵略性的
diagnosed 被诊断出
pancreas 胰腺
donor 捐赠者
hormone 激素
cluster 小团，小簇
immune system 免疫系统
pick off 识别

听力练习

一、听第一遍音频，回答问题。

1. What have the researchers discovered?
a. How diabetes affects people
b. How the human body fights diabetes

二、用一分钟阅读下列问题，然后听第二遍音频并回答问题。

1. Children fight off diabetes more aggressively than adults.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. The beta cells studied were taken from the _______.

3. Beta cells produce _______.
a. blood sugar
b. diabetes
c. insulin

4. It is easy for the immune system to destroy beta cells early in life because _______.
a. they are small
b. they exist in small groups
c. they are weak

三、听第三遍音频，将句子补充完整。（提示：可以反复听，直到听清楚每一个词）

1. Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed ________________.

2. They showed early in life that beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to ________________.

答案

一、听第一遍音频，回答问题。

1. What have the researchers discovered?

b. Researchers have learned how the body produces beta cells to fight diabetes.

二、用一分钟阅读下列问题，然后听第二遍音频并回答问题。

1. c. Not given. This article does not comment how aggressively people fight off diabetes

2. The beta cells studied were taken from the pancreas.

3. c. Researchers at the University of Exeter studied pancreas samples from 250 donors, allowing them to see how the beta cells which produce the hormone insulin formed normally and in type 1.

4. b. They showed early in life that beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy.

三、听第三遍音频，将句子补充完整。（提示：可以反复听，直到听清楚每一个词）

1. Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed later in life.

2. They showed early in life that beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy.