听力练习

Body of Knowledge: Puberty

CNN's Judy Fortin takes a look at why puberty is starting at an earlier age.

For most parents, their little girls grow up way too fast. Well，now they might have the statistics to back up that claim. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, girls are hitting puberty earlier, showing signs as early as 8 years of age, and also getting their periods earlier, down from an age of almost 15 in the late 1800s to today’s average of about 12. The big question is why?

“There are a lot of reasons that people propose for that I’m not sure I ever have the exact answer, but part of it may be environmental toxins, it may be that girls and women are heavier now, their actual body weight is actually greater than it was before, and that can affect hormone production.”

While this trend could just be part of our species' natural evolution, it may also raise some health concerns for women later in life.

“We do know the longer someone has menstrual cycles, it does increase their risk for some kinds of cancer, the more estrogen you have exposed to your body, perhaps it increases the risk of breast cancer, possibly uterine cancer.”

Understanding what’s happening to their bodies will go a long way to helping girls tackle this fast track and possibly confusing race to becoming a woman.

Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

Now we all know that puberty is a natural phase, but the physical changes can be embarrassing especially for young girls. It’s important for parents to help kids understand the changes so that they will know exactly what to expect. For more information about early puberty, talk to your pediatrician or a family physician.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. puberty : n-uncount

Puberty is the stage in someone's life when their body starts to become physically mature.

2. estrogen : n-uncount

Also oestrogen, oestrogen is a hormone produced in the ovaries of female animals. Oestrogen controls the reproductive cycle and prepares the body for pregnancy.

文本参考中文翻译

CNN记者调查报道了为什么青春期来临的越来越早的问题。

对于大部分父母来说，他们的小女儿长大的太快了。现在，他们可能得到统计数据来支持这种看法。根据美国儿科学会的数据，女孩们的青春期出现的时间提前，八岁开始出现性状，经期也提前，19世纪末，经期来临的时间大约是15岁，而现在年龄降低到了12岁。为什么呢？

“人们提出了很多原因，我不确定我有了准确的答案，但是其中一部分原因可能是环境污染，也可能是由于女性现在体重增加，现在的体重比以前任何时候都高，这会影响荷尔蒙的分泌。”

这种倾向不仅仅是人类自然进化史上的一部分，还会造成女性为未来健康状况的担忧。

“我们知道，女人经期越长，就会越增加患几种癌症的风险，体内释放的雌性激素就越多，可能会增加乳腺癌的风险，也可能会患子宫癌。”

理解身体发生了什么变化大大有助于女孩子们处理从女孩过渡到女人的这个困惑的过程。

现在我们都知道青春期是一给自然的阶段。但是身体的变化可能会让人感到尴尬，尤其是对少女来讲。父母帮助孩子理解这种变化以便他们理解以后的情况非常重要。要了解更多青春期提前的信息，可以向儿科医生或家庭内科医生咨询。

单词注解：

1. puberty 青春期
2. estrogen 雌性激素