In October 1949 the United Nations brought a number of specialists on food to Geneva, to discuss the problems of eating habits and food supplies of peoples throughout the world. One problem that interested the specialists particularly was a form of illness, about which little was known, among the children in Africa and Latin America. The World Health Organization planned to study this disease to determine the relationship between the eating habits of the people and disease.

Two doctors were chosen to make the study. They flew to Africa south of the Sahara and during the next two months visited ten countries. They found that serious diseases of poor eating, often mistaken for other diseases, existed in all parts of Africa. The diseases were similar and could therefore all be named kwashiorkor.

The diseased children are usually from one to four years old. As the illness progresses, the child's stomach becomes swollen by liquid collecting in the body. The skin changes colour and may break out in open sores. The hair changes colour and starts to fall out. The patient loses all interest in his surroundings and even in food, and becomes so weak that he wants to lie down all the time. Stomach liquids are no longer produced.

The doctors reasoned that kwashiorkor was found in the young children of this age in many parts of Africa because of lack of milk or meat. Their mothers, after stopping their breast-feeding, gave them foods full of starches instead of greatly needed proteins. They found that the addition of milk to the food of children suffering from kwashiorkor saved many lives.

The unbelievable thing about kwashiorkor is that the very existence of the disease- which has been killing thousands of children for centuries — was not even recognized in Latin America as recently as ten years ago. The deaths oi those children were mistakenly listed as due to other diseases. It was the WHO's work in Africa that led to the discovery of the problem in Central America.

1.From the passage we learn that kwashiorkor is a disease caused by______.

A. poor living conditions

B. lack of proteins in food

C. breast-feeding

D. lack of food

Best Answer:B

详解：答案B。依据文章第四段前两句:医生们分析，正是由于缺乏牛奶和肉食才导致非洲许多地区的幼儿感染上这种疾病，他们的母亲在给幼儿断奶以后，经常给他们喂一些淀粉类食物而非一些幼儿长身体所需要的蛋白质。故答案为B。

2.It is difficult to discover kwashiorkor because ________.

A. it has no symptoms at all

B. it is hard to identify signs of it

C. it doesn't last long enough for careful observation

D. it is hardly distinguishable from other diseases

Best Answer:D

详解：答案D。依据文章第二段的第三句和第五段的更后两句：两位医生发现经常被误诊为其他疾病的这种严重疾病在非洲随处可见;大量孩子们的死亡通常被错误地认为是由于其他疾病造成的，实际上，正是世界卫生组织在非洲开展的工作才更终发现了这一问题。故答案为D。

3.What is mentioned as a simple but efficient way of curing this disease?

A. Taking a special medicine.

B. Avoiding any food containing starch.

C. Having more meat or milk.

D. Taking medicines full of proteins.

Best Answer:C

详解：答案C。依据文章第四段的更后一句：医生们认为，给患这种疾病的孩子们的饮食中添加一些牛奶和肉食就会挽救许多孩子的生命。故答案为C。

4.The disease has been known in Latin America_______.

A. for ten years

B. for centuries

C. for dozens of years

D. before the discovery in Africa

Best Answer:A

详解：答案A。依据文章更后一段第一句：令人不可思议的是，几个世纪以来夺走了成千上万条儿童性命的这种疾病直到十年前才在拉美被人们识别出来。故答案为A。

5. What is the best title for the article?

A. Milk and Meat Are Daily Necessities.

B. Kwashiorkor and Bad Eating Habits.

C. A New Form of Illness in Africa and Latin America.

D. A Case of Eating Habits.

Best Answer:B

详解：答案B。依据全文：第一段讲了医生们首次发现了这种疾病，第二段讲了医生们开始对这一疾病进行研究，第三段讲了这一疾病的症状，第四段讲了医生们分析了导致这一疾病的原因，第五段讲了直到十年前中北美洲才认识到这一疾病的存在。故答案为B。