英國(guó)政府宣布，將把葉酸添加到英國(guó)面粉中，以幫助預(yù)防嬰兒的先天性脊柱缺陷。

Women are already advised to take folic acid before and during pregnancy, but many don’t. It’s important because getting enough of this B vitamin cuts the risk of a baby being born with spina bifida or other neural tube defects.

早已有專家建議女性在孕前和孕期服用葉酸，但許多人并未照做。這其實(shí)很重要，因?yàn)閿z入足量這種 B 族維生素可以降低嬰兒出生時(shí)患脊柱裂和其它神經(jīng)管缺陷的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

Mandatory fortification will mean everyone eating foods like bread in the UK, will get a dose. There was a concern that for some people, particularly the elderly, boosting folic acid might have unintended negative consequences, such as covering up the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.

強(qiáng)制加強(qiáng)葉酸攝入意味著在英國(guó)，每個(gè)吃面包等食物的人都會(huì)攝入一定的劑量。有人擔(dān)心，對(duì)于一些人，特別是老年人來說，增加葉酸攝入量可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生意想不到的負(fù)面后果，比如可能會(huì)掩蓋維生素 B12缺乏癥的癥狀。

But the government’s independent advisory body has looked at all the evidence and is satisfied fortification is the right thing to do.

但英國(guó)政府的獨(dú)立咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)已經(jīng)研究了所有證據(jù)，并認(rèn)為加強(qiáng)葉酸攝入是正確的決策。

詞匯表

spina bifida 脊柱裂
neural 神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的
mandatory 強(qiáng)制的
fortification 強(qiáng)化
unintended 無意的
symptoms 癥狀
deficiency 缺乏，缺少
evidence 證據(jù)

閱讀理解：請(qǐng)?jiān)谧x完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. What does taking folic acid help reduce the risk of in newborn babies?

2. True or false? People will be able to choose if they have folic acid added to their bread.

3. Why was there a concern that elderly people might not benefit from the boost in folic acid?

4. When are women normally advised to take folic acid?

答案  

1. What does taking folic acid help reduce the risk of in newborn babies?
Getting enough of this B vitamin (folic acid) cuts the risk of a baby being born with spina bifida or other neural tube defects.

2. True or false? People will be able to choose if they have folic acid added to their bread.
False. Adding folic acid to bread will be mandatory.

3. Why was there a concern that elderly people might not benefit from the boost in folic acid?
There was a concern that boosting folic acid would cover up the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.

4. When are women normally advised to take folic acid?
Women are advised to take folic acid before and during pregnancy.