2022年12月英语四级真题答案（第3套）

Even though we are living in an age where growing old is thought of as an inevitable misery, this doctor has been changing the game for seniors over the last 25 years.

It all started in 1991 when the Harvard-educated physician was transferred from working in a stressful emergency room to being the medical director of a nursing home in upstate New York. The depressing and regimented (严格管制的) environment got him thinking on what exactly could improve the residents, conditions.

Even though animals in nursing homes were illegal at the time, Dr. Bill Thomas took a chance. Based on a hunch (直觉), he brought in two dogs, four cats, hens, rabbits, 100 birds, a multitude of plants, a flower garden, and a vegetable patch.

The change was dramatic. There was a 50% drop in medical prescriptions along with a dramatic decrease in death rates — but most importantly, the residents were simply happier. Dr. Thomas's approach, named the Eden Alternative, has driven nursing homes to allow a more autonomous (自主的) and creative living space for their elderly. It erases the belief that growing old means growing useless. He encourages residents to think of their age as an enriching new phase of life rather than the end of it.

Thomas, now a speaker and author of several books, also created small, independently-run residences with their own bedrooms and bathrooms, and he has been preaching a singular message that getting old is not a bad thing.

"Within six weeks, they had to send a truck around to pick up all the wheelchairs," Thomas told the Washington Post. " You know why most people in nursing homes use wheelchairs? Because the buildings are so big."

The 56-year-old doctor's methods have been adopted in Australia, Japan, Canada, and America with enormous success. Last year he published Second Wind: Navigating the Passage to a Slower, Deeper, and More Connected Life, a guide on how to shift our perspectives on aging and growth.

He is currently traveling through North America performing with his guitar and his enthusiasm on his Age of Disruption Tour.

Research shows that in developed countries, more affluent and educated people tend to consume higher-quality diets—including more fruits and vegetables, fish and whole grains. On the contrary, economically disadvantaged people report diets that are nutrient-poor and energy-dense. They are less likely to have food-purchasing habits that conform to public health recommendations.

These dietary differences are often accompanied by higher rates of obesity and diabetes among lower- income people. This relationship between social class and diet quality and health is extensively documented. However, the research does not explain why this is the case- a question that has significant implications for designing effective policies and initiatives to improve diets and prevent chronic diseases.

Public-health initiatives to promote healthy diets often focus on providing nutrition education and recipes (食谱). These approaches, however, often presume less food literacy (i.e. food knowledge and skills) among low-income people. Are unhealthy diets really the result of poor choices, limited food skills and knowledge?

Research suggests that adults in food-insecure households are just as likely as those in food-secure households to adjust recipes to make them more healthy. They are also just as proficient in food preparation and cooking skills. There is no indication that increasing food skills or budgeting skills will reduce food insecurity.

Instead, disadvantaged groups are constrained by their economic, material and social circumstances. For example, low income is the strongest predictor of food insecurity in Canada, where one in eight households experiences insufficient access to nutritious foods.

It's well-established that food prices are an important determinant of food choice. Low-income households report that they find it difficult to adopt dietary guidelines because food prices are a barrier to improving their diets.

When researchers estimate the cost of diets people actually eat, higher-quality diets are typically more costly.

While this may be so, it does not, in itself, prove that healthy diets are necessarily more expensive or cost-prohibitive. After all, not all socio-economically disadvantaged people consume poor diets.

We can easily think of a number of foods and recipes that are both inexpensive and nutritious. The internet is full of recipes for "eating well on a budget."