次の英文を読み, 下記の設問に答えなさい。

Researchers from Tufts University (1)pooled data from five previous *epidemiological studies to investigate the prevalence of asthma in children in the Boston neighborhoods of Chinatown and Dorchester. Among children born in the United States, low socioeconomic status (SES) and exposure to pests (mice and cockroaches) were both associated with having asthma. Neither association was present in children born outside of the United States.

“In earlier studies, we found that country of birth to be associated with asthma risk, which led us to the current analyses. Our current findings may help bring a new perspective to asthma research as they highlight the importance of studying foreign-born children. Much of the existing research follows U.S.-born children from birth to see if, and potentially why, they develop asthma. It might add to our understanding of what causes asthma if we knew why foreign-born children seem to be less likely to develop asthma,” said Doug Brugge, senior author and professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

“Pooling data from these studies gave us a larger sample size and allowed us to conduct additional analyses. We found that, in addition to an association with place of birth; both low SES and exposure to pests are associated with asthma in U.S.-born children but not in foreign-born children,” said Mark Wooding, senior lecturer in the department of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

“While this type of epidemiological study cannot establish causation, our findings may be explained by the fact that certain pathogens common in the developing world are nearly nonexistent in the U.S. If exposure to such pathogens confers some sort of protection against developing asthma, foreign- born children may be less susceptible than children born in the U.S.,” Brugge said.

This idea, called the “hygiene hypothesis,” suggests that children born in less-developed countries may have early exposure to intestinal worms, viruses and bacteria that affect immunity and make them more resistant to asthma than U.S.-born children.

The studies were conducted from2002 to 2007, sampling a total of 962 children ages 4 to 18. There did not initially appear to be a significant relationship between pest exposure and asthma; but when the researchers took birthplace into account, they found that U.S.-born children who were exposed to pests were 60 percent more likely to have asthma than U.S.-born children not exposed to pests. Pest exposure had no statistically significant impact on asthma risk in foreign-born children. Similarly, U.S.-born children with low SES were two times more likely to have asthma than U.S.-born children without low SES, while low SES has no statistically significant effect on asthma risk in foreign-born children.

• *疫学の

問 英文の内容に合うように, (1)~(4)の各文の空所を補うものとして最も適したものをそれそれ選択肢1~4の中から選びなさい。 また(5)~(10)は質問に対する答えとして最も適したものをそれそれ選択肢1~4の中から選びなさい。

• (1) The word (1)pooled is closest in meaning to            .
  • 1. organized
  • 2. associated
  • 3. combined
  • 4. excavated
• (2) The hygiene hypothesis theol-y is far more             when there are concrete examples given to support it.
  • 1. persuasive
  • 2. persuadable
  • 3. persuade
  • 4. persuaded
• (3) According to the passage, U.S.-born children with low             have a higher risk of asthma.
  • 1. education
  • 2. income
  • 3. stress
  • 4. pressure
• (4) According to the passage, both low SES and exposure to pests are             with asthma
  • 1. associated
  • 2. claimed
  • 3. among
  • 4. held
• (5) Besides the current research, what else adds to the understanding of the causes of asthma?
  • 1. studying foreign-born children
  • 2. earlier studies
  • 3. studying about pests
  • 4. current findings
• (6) According to the article, which groups of children have the highest asthma risk?
  • 1. Those with low socioeconomic status in developed countries.
  • 2. Those who have higher exposure to pests in less developed countries.
  • 3. Those with low socioeconomic status and exposure to pests in the United States.
  • 4. Those were born in the United States and it depends on which state they were born in.
• (7) What does the hygiene hypothesis suggest?
  • 1. A more hygienic environment will lead to a lower risk of developing asthma.
  • 2. Exposure to pathogens affects immunity and confers a kind of protection against developing asthma.
  • 3. A hygienic environment will cause children to develop asthma.
  • 4. Certain pathogens existent in foreign countries will cause asthma, so we should terminate them in the United States.
• (8) Which is true about the passage?
  • 1. Studies of asthma were usually done by carefully monitoring United States children from birth.
  • 2. Following United States children from birth and seeing if they developed asthma, making the accumulated data more reliable.
  • 3. Studies of the countries in which children are less apt to develop asthma will establish causation for the development of asthma in the United States.
  • 4. The data Brugge collected on children clearly showed the correlation between asthma development and pest exposure.
• (9) In the first paragraph, the author compares children born in the United States and children born outside of the United States in order to illustrate which of the following points?
  • 1. Children born in the United States are more likely to have asthma.
  • 2. Children born outside of the United States are more likely to have asthma.
  • 3. Both groups of children had equal chances of getting asthma.
  • 4. Neither group of children was likely to get asthma.
• (10) Which of the following is NOT mentioned as having a significant effect on asthma risk?
  • 1. U.S.-born children without low SES
  • 2. exposure to pests
  • 3. U.S.-born children with low SES
  • 4. foreign-born children