閱讀理解。
The Italian island of Sardinia recently lost its oldest person. Family members say Antonio Todde died in
his sleep early this month. Mr Todde was 112 years old. He was less than three weeks away from his 113th
birthday. Record-keeping experts say he was the world's oldest man.
His long life and that of other very old Sardinians are the subjects of a scientific project (項目) called
Akea. Luca Deiana of Sassari University is directing (指導) the study. He says the name Akea comes from
a traditional greeting (問候) on Sardinia. It means "health and life for 100 years." Professor Deiana and his
team started to collect information for the study in 1997. They identified (確定)) more than 220 Sardinians
who were centenarians-100 years old or older. His team needed three documents to make sure a person's
age. They were a government (政府) birth record, a church record and a statement (聲明) by a close family
member.
The Akea study has produced two major findings. The first is Sardinia's extremely high number of
centenarians. The island has about 135 centenarians for every one million people. In other Western countries,
the average (平均數) is about seventy-five centenarians for every one million people. The second major
finding is an unusual rate (率) of female (女性) to male (男性) centenarians. Sardinia has two women
centenarians for every male centenarian. In central Sardinia there are the same numbers of female and male
centenarians.
Studies in other parts of the world have shown a much higher percentage (百分比) of female centenarians.
The Akea study collected information about the health and food of about 140 of the centenarians. About
ninety percent of those in the study also agreed to provide blood (血) for scientific testing. The study team
hopes to identify genetic (基因) material in the blood that can be linked to successful aging. Study leaders
say there is no single reason why people on Sardinia live so long. They believe the answer is a combination
(組合) of genetic and environmental conditions (條件).
1. Centenarians are people who are ______ years old.
A．200
B．100
C．300
D．400
2. Akea is a scientific project about ______.
A．Mr Todde's death
B．the long life of Sardinians
C．Sassari university
D．Professor Deiana
3. What is the general idea of the third paragraph?
A．Sardinia has a large number of centenarians.
B．An unusual rate of female to male centenarians.
C．Two major findings of the Akea study.
D．Sardinia has equal numbers of female and male centenarians.
4. Why do Sardinians live so long according to the study?
A．Because the environment on Sardinia is very good.
B．Because they have special genetic material in their blood.
C．Because they have a glass of wine every day.
D．Because they enjoy special genetic and environmental conditions.
