Children should avoid using mobile phones for all but essential calls because of possible health effects on young brains. This is one of the expected conclusions of an official government report to be published this week. The report is expected to call for the mobile phone industry to refrain from promoting phone use by children, and to start labeling phones with data on the amount of radiation they emit.
The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, chaired by former government chief scientist William Stewart, has spent eight months reviewing existing scientific evidence on all aspects of the health effects of using mobile phones. Its report is believed to conclude that because we don’t fully understand the nonthermal effects of radiation on human tissue, the government should adopt a precautionary approach, particularly in relation to children.
There is currently no evidence that mobile phones harm users or people living near transmitter masts. But some studies show that cell-phones operating at radiation levels within current safety limits do have some sort of biological effect on the brain.
John Tattersall, a researcher on the health effects of radiation at the Defense Evaluation and Research Agency’s site at Porton Down, agrees that it might be wise to limit phone use by children. “If you have a developing nervous system, it’s known to be more susceptible to environmental insults,” he says, “So if phones did prove to be hazardous — which they haven’t yet — it would be sensible.”
In 1998, Tattersall showed that radiation levels similar to those emitted by mobile phones could alter signals from brain cells in slices of rat brain, “What we’ve found is an effect, but we don’t know if it’s hazardous,” he says.
Alan Preece of the University of Bristol, who found last year that microwaves increase reaction times in test subjects, agreed that children’s exposure would be greater. “There’s a lot less tissue in the way, and the skill is thinner, so children’s heads are considerably closer,” he says.
Stewart’s report is likely to recommend that the current British safety standards on energy emissions from cell-phones should be cut to the level recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, which is one-fifth of the current British limit. “The extra safety factor of five is somewhat arbitrary,” says Michael Clark of the National Radiological Protection Board. “But we accept that it’s difficult for the UK to have different standards from an international body.”
1. Just because it has not been confirmed yet whether mobile phone emissions can harm human tissue, according to the government report, does not mean that .
A．the government should prohibit children from using cell-phones
B．we should put down the phone for the sake of safety
C．the industry can have a right to promote phone use
D．children are safe using cell-phones
2. Tattersall argues that it is wise to refrain mobile phone use by children in terms of .
A．their neural development
B．their ill-designed cell-phones
C．the frequency of their irrational use
D．their ignorance of its possible health effects
3. On the issue in question, Preece .
A．does not agree with Tattersall
B．tries to remove the obstacles in the way
C．a(chǎn)sks for further investigation
D．would stand by Stewart
4. What is worrisome at present is that the UK .
A．is going to turn deaf ears to the voice of Stesart’s plan
B．finds it difficult to cut the current safety standards on phone use
C．maintains different standards on safety limit from the international ones
D．does not even impose safety limit on the mobile phones’ energy emissions
5. Which of the following can be the best candidate for the title of the passage?
A．Brain Wave.
B．For Adults Only .
C．Catch Them Young.
D．The Answer in the Air.
解析
本文引用不用專家的觀點，指出手機輻射有損大腦，尤其是對處于神經(jīng)發(fā)育階段的孩子有影響，所以建議限制孩子使用手機。
1.【D】本題題意是：“根據(jù)政府報告上說，僅僅因為手機輻射未被證實有損人體，并不意味著孩子可以安全地使用手機。”根據(jù)第一段第一句話，“孩子們應該避免使用手機，除了接一些必須接的電話外，因為可能對孩子的大腦造成影響。”
2.【A】本題題意是：“Tattersall認為由于孩子們正處于神經(jīng)發(fā)育階段，限制他們使用手機是明智的。”根據(jù)第四段引號中的內(nèi)容“如果你有正在發(fā)育的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)，眾所周知它們更易受環(huán)境的侵害。”
3.【D】本題題意是：“在這個問題上，Preece 持支持Stewart的態(tài)度。”在第二段中Stewart用了8個月的時間瀏覽現(xiàn)存的手機影響健康的科學證明。在他的報告中下結論說由于我們不完全理解輻射對人體的影響，政府因該采取更審慎的態(tài)度，尤其與孩子相關的方面。在第六段中Preece agreed that children’s exposure would be greater.（Preece 也認為孩子暴露于手機輻射的幾率更大）。從此可以判斷，Preece是支持Stewart的觀點的。
4.【C】本題題意是：“如今令人擔憂的是英國與國際安全標準不同。”根據(jù)最后一段第一句：“Stewart的報告建議，現(xiàn)存的英國有關能量輻射的安全標準應該降低至國際委員會推薦的標準，即英國標準的五分之一。”從此可以看出，英國標準與國際標準不一致。所以答案為C，英國“保持與國際安全限制不同的標準”。
5.【B】本題題意是：“下面哪一個可以作為本段文字的標題？”A腦電波；B手機僅限成人；C從孩子抓起；D懸而未決定的方案。B更合適。
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