专八阅读训练：The Affect of Electricity on Cancer

The Affect of Electricity on Cancer

Can electricity cause cancer? In a society that literally runs onelectric power, the very idea seems preposterous. But for morethan a decade, a growing band of scientists and journalists haspointed to studies that seem to link exposure to electromagneticfields with increased risk of leukemia and other malignancies. Theimplications are unsettling, to say the least, since everyonecomes into contact with such fields, which are generated by everything electrical, from power linesand antennas to personal computers and micro-wave ovens. Because evidence on the subject isinconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the healtheffects of electricity is legitimate—or the worst kind of paranoia.

Now the alarmists have gained some qualified support from the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency. In the executive summary of a new scientific review, released in draft form late last week,the EPA has put forward what amounts to the most serious government warning to date. Theagency tentatively concludes that scientific evidence “suggests a casual link” between extremelylow-frequency electromagnetic fields—those having very longwave-lengths—and leukemia,lymphoma and brain cancer, While the report falls short of classifying ELF fields as probablecarcinogens, it does identify the common 60-hertz magnetic field as “a possible, but not proven,cause of cancer in humans.”

The report is no reason to panic—or even to lost sleep. If there is a cancer risk, it is a small one.The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the BushAdministration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the WhitHouse. But now no one can deny that the issue must be taken seriously and that much moreresearch is needed.

At the heart of the debate is a simple and well-understood physical phenomenon: When an electriccurrent passes through a wire, tit generates an electromagnetic field that exerts forces onsurrounding objects, For many years, scientists dismissed any suggestion that such forces mightbe harmful, primarily because they are so extraordinarily weak. The ELF magnetic field generatedby a video terminal measures only a few milligauss, or about one-hundredth the strength of theearth’s own magnetic field, The electric fields surrounding a power line can be as high as 10 kilovoltsper meter, but the corresponding field induced in human cells will be only about 1 millivolt permeter. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate.

How could such minuscule forces pose a health danger? The consensus used to be that they couldnot, and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, thatpack sufficient wallop to knock electrons out of the molecules that make up the human body.Such “ionizing” radiations have been clearly linked to increased cancer risks and there areregulations to control emissions.

But epidemiological studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not provecause and effect. Though there is a body of laboratory work showing that exposure to ELF fieldscan have biological effects on animal tissues, a mechanism by which those effects could lead tocancerous growths has never been found.

The Pentagon is for from persuaded. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Forcescientists charge its authors with having “biased the entire document” toward proving a link. “Ourreviewers are convinced that there is no suggestion that (electromagnetic fields) present in theenvironment induce or promote cancer,” the Air Force concludes. “It is astonishing that the EPAwould lend its imprimatur on this report.” Then Pentagon’s concern is understandable. There ishardly a unit of the modern military that does not depend on the heavy use of some kind ofelectronic equipment, from huge ground-based radar towers to the defense systems built intoevery warship and plane.

1. The main idea of this passage is
[A] studies on the cause of cancer
[B] controversial view-points in the cause of cancer
[C] the relationship between electricity and cancer.
[D] different ideas about the effect of electricity on caner.

2. The view-point of the EPA is
[A] there is casual link between electricity and cancer.
[B] electricity really affects cancer.
[C] controversial.
[D] low frequency electromagnetic field is a possible cause of cancer

3. Why did the Pentagon and Whit House object to the release of the report? Because
[A] it may stir a great deal of debate among the Bush Administration.
[B] every unit of the modern military has depended on the heavy use of some kind of electronicequipment.
[C] the Pentagon’s concern was understandable.
[D] they had different arguments.

4. It can be inferred from physical phenomenon
[A] the force of the electromagnetic field is too weak to be harmful.
[B] the force of the electromagnetic field is weaker than the electric field that the cells generate.
[C] electromagnetic field may affect health.
[D] only more powerful radiation can knock electron out of human body.

5. What do you think ordinary citizens may do after reading the different arguments?
[A] They are indifferent.                          [B] They are worried very much.
[C] The may exercise prudent avoidance.  [D] They are shocked.