A chemical important of brain development may play a role in explaining why some people are genetically (由基因決定地) likely to suffer from anxiety and could lead to new treatments, U．S. researchers said.

They said highly anxious rats which were kept had very low levels of a brain chemical called fibroblast growth factor 2 or FGF2, compared with rats that were more relaxed. But when they improved the anxious rats' living conditions—giving them new toys to explore and a bigger cage to live in—levels of this brain chemical increased and they became less anxious.

“The levels of this brain chemical increased in response to the experiences that the rats were exposed to. It also decreased their anxiety.”Javier Perez of the University o f Michigan said in a telephone interview. “It made them behave the same way as the rats that were relaxed，”he said.

In a former study of people who were severely depressed before they died, the team found the gene that makes FGF2 was producing very low levels of the growth factor, which is known primarily for organizing the brain during development and repairing it after injury.

Perez thinks the brain chemical may be a marker for genetic vulnerability (脆弱性) to anxiety and depression. But it can also respond to changes in the environment in a positive way, possibly by preserving new brain cells.

While both the calm and anxious rats produced the same number of new brain cells, these cells were less likely to survive in the high－anxiety rats, the team found. Giving the rats better living conditions or injecting them with FGF2 helped improve cell survival.

“This discovery may pave the way for new, more specific treatments for anxiety that will not be based on sedation(藥物鎮(zhèn)靜), but will instead fight the real cause of the disease，” Dr. Pier Vincenzo Piazza from France said in a statement.

6. We know from the passage that with the levels of FGF2 decreasing, the rats will ________.

A. die of anxiety soon          B. suffer from a headache

C. become more relaxed        D. become more anxious

7. What's the better way to increase the levels of FGF2?

A. Introducing more companions to the anxious rats.

B. Improving the living conditions of the anxious rats.

C. Injecting the anxious rats with some special medicine.

D. Giving the anxious rats more time to relax.

8. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

A. the team                 B. the gene

C. the growth factor          D. the brain

9. What's the main influence of the new discovery?

A. Doctors won't use any medicine to cure anxiety.

B. Doctors may treat anxiety more efficiently.

C. Doctors will find the real cause of anxiety.

D. Doctors may find new medicine for anxiety.

10. Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

A. Anxious rats and relaxed rats

B. Anxiety—a serious mental disease

C. Scientific research into the brain is important

D. Brain chemical may play key role in anxiety

6. 解析：選D。細節(jié)理解題。從第二段可知，隨著fibroblast growth factor 2的減少，老鼠就會變得更加焦慮；如果FGF2增加的話，老鼠就會變得安靜一些。故D項正確。

7. 解析：選B。細節(jié)理解題。從第二、六段的介紹可知，改善老鼠的生活環(huán)境可以使焦慮的老鼠變得安靜一些，故B項正確。

8. 解析：選D。指代題。從第四段可知此處的it指代大腦，故答案為D。

9. 解析：選B。推理判斷題。從最后一段中“This discovery may pave the way for new, more specific treatments for anxiety that will not be based on sedation, but will instead fight the real cause of the disease”可推知，這項實驗為醫(yī)生治療焦慮癥提供了更好更有效的辦法，故選B項。

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