A
A Common Habit Leads to Shocking Harm
Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit; most people don’t even notice that they’re doing it when they sit down. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.
A study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason this happens is because the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart, crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate. This causes your body to increase your blood pressure to push the blood back to the heart. You won’t feel any immediate effects, but if you sit for long periods of time it’s important that you take note of how long you have your legs crossed for. You shouldn’t have your legs crossed for more than 15 minutes, and it’s important that you get up and walk around at least once every hour.
Crossing your legs can also lead to neck and back pain. Ideally, it’s best for our bodies to sit with our feet planted flat, hip width apart, on the floor, but it’s not easy to maintain perfect posture all day at the office. When you sit with your legs crossed your hips are in a twisted position, which can cause one of your pelvic bones to rotate. Since your pelvic bone supports your neck and spine, this can cause pressure on your lower and middle back and neck.
You also might notice that when you sit with your legs crossed for long periods of time your feet and legs get tingly or have the feeling of being asleep. This is because when one leg sits on top of the other it causes pressure on the veins and nerves in your legs and feet. It can cause numbness or temporary paralysis in the legs, ankles, or feet. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your legs until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.
So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.
1. According to the passage, which is not the problem caused by sitting with your legs crossed?
A. Increase blood pressure
B. Cause neck and back pain
C. Lead to numbness or temporary paralysis
D. Keep in a twisted position
2. What’s the best explanation of the underlined word “circulate”?
A. Go straight
B. Move around
C. Fall down
D. Work against gravity
3. Which of the following statement is true?
A. Once you cross your legs while sitting, you’ll feel immediate effects.
B. The numbness in the legs ,ankles or feet won’t cause permanent nerve damage.
C. The perfect posture for sitting is to sit with your feet planted flat and hip width apart.
D. As long as you cross your legs for less than 15 minutes, it won’t do harm to your health.
【答案】1. D 2. B 3. C
【解析】
【分析】
本是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了跷二郎腿腿坐着不利于健康，它可能影响你的血压，造成颈部和背疼痛等。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第三段When you sit with your legs crossed your hips are in a twisted position, which can cause one of your pelvic bones to rotate.可知当你两腿交叉坐着的时候，你的臀部处于扭曲状态，并非颈部和脊柱，故D选项正确。
【2题详解】
词义猜测题。根据第二段中的“because the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart, crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate.可知，由于你腿部的血液要克服引力才能被抽回心脏，二盘腿增加了阻力，这应该使血液更加难以流通，故可得出circulate意为“流通”。故选B。
【3题详解】
细节理解题。根据第三段的Ideally, it’s best for our bodies to sit with our feet planted flat, hip width apart, on the floor. 可知，最理想的是，我们的身体最好坐着，双脚平放在地上，与臀部同宽，故C项正确。
【点睛】词义猜测题主要考查学生根据上下文推测生词短语的能力，突出考查语境的分析和把握能力。学生在做此类题目时可借助上下文语境对需要猜测的词或短语进行合乎逻辑的推测。如第2小题，推测“circulate”词义，根据第二段中的“because the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart, crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate.可知，由于你腿部的血液要克服引力才能被抽回心脏，二盘腿增加了阻力，这应该使血液更加难以流通。后句This causes your body to increase your blood pressure to push the blood back to the heart.这导致你的身体增加血压把血液送回心脏也为猜测的circulate意义提供了暗示。
