Just as you can be slim and inactive, it's possible to be overweight and active. But which is better for your health?

D5. Passage Three. Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

Just as you can be slim and inactive, it's possible to be overweight and active. But which is better for your health?

Two months ago, an awful lot of us decided it was time to get off our ever-spreading backsides and do some exercise. This new year's resolution wasn't just about vanity (虚荣), oh no. The government tells us that obesity(肥胖) has a "severe impact" on our health, and places a "significant burden on the NHS(the National Health Service)", so slimming is practically our duty to our country.

If the fat is already melting away, then lucky you. But what if the exercise doesn't seem to be working? What if you can now run a kilometer in a minute and a half, yet your weight has hardly changed? Are you a lost cause? Or is it possible to be both fat and fit — not just fit enough to exercise, but fit enough to live as long as someone a lot lighter?

Not according to a 2004 study from the Harvard School of Public Health, which looked at115,000 nurses aged between 30 and 55. Compared with women who were both thin and active (i.e, who reported taking 150 minutes or more of exercise a week) researchers found that obese but active women had a mortality rate (mortality rate is the number of deaths during a particular period of time among a particular type or group of people) that was 91% higher. Though far better than the inactive obese (142% higher), they were still worse off than the inactive lean (5% higher). "This data does not support the theory that if you are physically active, you don’t have to worry about your weight," was the opinion of Frank Hu, who led the study.

A similar picture emerged in 2008 after Harvard-affiliated researchers examined 39,000 women with an average age of 54. Next to active women of normal weight, the active but overweight were 54% more likely to develop heart disease, while the active but obese were in 87%greater danger. "Even high quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of heart disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent(同时发生的) weight loss," the authors concluded.

1. According to the government, losing weight____.

A) helps ease the burden on the medical care system

B) is the only way to express one's love for the country

C) shows that people care more about their appearance

D) will benefit the individual more than the country

2. Those who are trying to lose weight through exercise might face the problem that____.

A) they have a much higher mortality rate

B) they can't run fast enough to lose weight

C) exercise doesn't work as they expected

D) they face the danger of sudden death

3. A 2004 study from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that____.

A) it is impossible to be both fat and fit

B) doing exercises makes people healthy

C) the thin tend to be physically active

D) taking more exercise means longer life

4. Harvard-affiliated researchers found in 2008 that if fat people got much exercise,____.

A) they still had high risk of heart disease

B) they were less likely to develop heart disease

C) they didn’t have to worry about their weight

D) they could lose a lot of weight at the same time

5. What can be concluded from the passage?____

A) Being slim and inactive is better than being overweight and active.

B) Physical activity is especially important to those who are overweight.

C) Obese people can do nothing to reduce their high risk of heart disease.

D) The government's focus on obesity is not grounded in solid data.