One day, a patient came to see me. He worked as a waiter in a restaurant and his problem was acid reflux(胃酸倒流), a disease that influences as many as 40 percent of Americans, a marked increase in recent years. Reflux can lead to esophageal(食道的) cancer, which has increased by about 500 percent since the 1970s. The drugs we use to treat reflux don’t always work and may even increase the risk of developing cancer when used long term.
What is responsible for these worrying developments? For one, our poor diet, with its huge increases in the intake of sugar, fat, soft drinks, and unhealthy foods. But another important fact has been overlooked：dinnertime. Over the past twenty years, the time of my patients’ evening meals has become later and later. Dinner—already pushed back by longer work hours—is often further, delayed(推迟) by activities such as shopping and exercise.
In my experience, the single most important treatment for reflux is to avoid late eating. A patient with reflux came to see me because her father and uncle died of esophageal cancer, and she was afraid of getting it too. Her nightly routine(常规) included a 9 p．m. dinner with at least two bottles of red wine. The reflux was serious, and changes were needed.
She listened, then did not come back to see me for a year. “For the first two months, I just hated you，” she told me, “and for the next two months, I was having some trouble eating. I guessed I was going to die of esophageal cancer.” Then she added, “You know, we’re the reason that it’s not so easy to get 6 p．m. reservation(预约) at the good restaurants anymore.”
To stop the increase in reflux disease, we have to stop eating at least three hours before bed. As for my waiter patient? I told him to eat dinner before 7 p．m. Within six weeks, his reflux was gone.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇议论文。文章主要讨论了吃晚饭吃得太晚的危害。
1．The disease the waiter caught is ________．
A．on the rise
B．easy to control
C．unusual in America
D．the most dangerous cancer
A 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的a disease that influences as many as 40 percent of Americans, a marked increase in recent years可知，患胃酸倒流病的人数正在逐年增加。
2．What does the underlined word “overlooked” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A．Talked about a lot.
B．Paid no attention to.
C．Carefully looked into.
D．Taken into consideration.
B 解析：词义猜测题。根据该句中的But以及下文介绍晚饭吃得太晚的弊端可知，晚饭时间是一个被人们忽视了的问题。
3．Why did the woman patient hate the author?
A．He spoke of her dead father and uncle.
B．He asked her to change her eating habits.
C．He couldn’t find a way to deal with her problem.
D．He couldn’t make her healthy again within a year.
B 解析：推理判断题。根据第三段中的The reflux was serious, and changes were needed.和第四段可知，作者让这位女病人将自己的晚饭时间提前，然而女病人很难做到，因此恨作者。
4．The author writes the text to tell us ________．
A．not to work late at night
B．to avoid eating at restaurants
C．unhealthy foods cause cancer
D．the danger of eating late at night
D 解析：写作意图题。作者以一个病人的案例引出晚上吃饭时间太晚容易得胃酸倒流病，并且给出自己的建议，然后再以一个女病人的病例对此加以证明，最后得出结论。由此可知，此文的目的在于告诫大家晚饭时间很关键，不能吃得太晚，否则会导致疾病，甚至会威胁生命。
