2013GRE考试记录帖

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All are equal

Around half the difference in the longevity of the sexes can be explained by smoking. One reason why Russia bucks振作 the trend towards equal life expectations for the two sexes (women there live 12 years longer than men) is that its men have not followed their Western confreres and cut down on the cancer sticks.

In British in 1960s, when the habit was commonplace, men were much likely to be smokers than women. But they have also been more likely than women to give up cigrattes over the past half-century.

A further fifth of the longevity gap between the sexes is explained by alcohol. In this case, however, the gap is widening. In 1979 two men died from alcohol-related caused for every woman who succumbed死. In 2009 it was 2.4.

A third important factor is obesity-or, rather, the physiological complication并发症 obesity brings, such as high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes. On the face of things, there is little difference between the sexes in this area. But obesity may have a greater impact on women because it increases the risks of both hypertension and diabetes in their sex more than it does in men. And men re also closing the gap in another area related to obesity and high blood pressure: coronary冠状动脉或静脉的 heart disease. In England, deaths from this fell more than 50% between 1991 and 2005 for both men and women. But, because heart disease kills twice as many men as it does women, the reduction in the male mortality死亡率 rate has been greater.