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．asks 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
本文引用不用专家的观点，指出手机辐射有损大脑，尤其是对处于神经发育阶段的孩子有影响，所以建议限制孩子使用手机。
1.【D】本题题意是：“根据政府报告上说，仅仅因为手机辐射未被证实有损人体，并不意味着孩子可以安全地使用手机。”根据第一段第一句话，“孩子们应该避免使用手机，除了接一些必须接的电话外，因为可能对孩子的大脑造成影响。”
2.【A】本题题意是：“Tattersall认为由于孩子们正处于神经发育阶段，限制他们使用手机是明智的。”根据第四段引号中的内容“如果你有正在发育的神经系统，众所周知它们更易受环境的侵害。”
3.【D】本题题意是：“在这个问题上，Preece 持支持Stewart的态度。”在第二段中Stewart用了8个月的时间浏览现存的手机影响健康的科学证明。在他的报告中下结论说由于我们不完全理解辐射对人体的影响，政府因该采取更审慎的态度，尤其与孩子相关的方面。在第六段中Preece agreed that children’s exposure would be greater.（Preece 也认为孩子暴露于手机辐射的几率更大）。从此可以判断，Preece是支持Stewart的观点的。
4.【C】本题题意是：“如今令人担忧的是英国与国际安全标准不同。”根据最后一段第一句：“Stewart的报告建议，现存的英国有关能量辐射的安全标准应该降低至国际委员会推荐的标准，即英国标准的五分之一。”从此可以看出，英国标准与国际标准不一致。所以答案为C，英国“保持与国际安全限制不同的标准”。
5.【B】本题题意是：“下面哪一个可以作为本段文字的标题？”A脑电波；B手机仅限成人；C从孩子抓起；D悬而未决定的方案。B更合适。
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