words：301 time：4΄30΄΄
When you visit the doctor, the doctor usually checks to see if your temperature is “normal”. Now, new research suggests that the “normal” temperature of humans has been dropping over the last 200 years.
Human beings are warm-blooded animals. So our bodies need to work hard to stay at the same temperature. Our bodies make heat from the food we eat. 1 For example, we will sweat when we’re hot or get goose bumps (雞皮疙瘩) when we’re cold.
Though human temperatures can all be a little different, most doctors consider 37℃ to be normal. That’s been true since 1851, when a German doctor called Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich studied 25,000 patients. His results showed an average human body temperature of 37℃.
2 For example, a 1992 study found an average temperature of 36.8℃. In 2017, scientists looked at the temperatures of 35,000 patients in Britain and found their temperatures were 36.6℃ on average. Many people believed that the differences were because of mistakes in the earlier measurements.
Now a new group of researchers says, on average, human body temperature seems to have been dropping 0.03℃ every 10 years. The obvious question is “Why?”. One of the researchers says clearly, “We don’t know.”
3 One explanation could be simply that humans have become healthier over time. Science and medicines have gotten better, and doctors have found many ways to improve the health of their patients.
The scientists also say it’s possible that things like heating and air-conditioning help make it. 4
It’s important to remember that this story is about averages. 5 But no matter what your temperature is today, it probably would’ve been higher if you had lived 200 years ago and that’s pretty cool!
根據短文內容，從短文後的A~E選項中，選出適當的選項補全短文。
A. Still, the scientists do have a few possible explanations.
B. We also have other ways to keep our temperatures constant (恆定的).
C. In the real world, different people have different temperatures.
D. With them, humans don’t have to work so hard to control their body heat, and can run at a lower temperature.
E. But over time, other scientists studying body temperatures have gotten results with lower average temperatures.
參考答案：1-5 BEADC
溫馨提示：涉及語言知識點，大家要掌握哦！
measurement /'meʒəmənt/ n. 測量；衡量
拓展：take/make measurements 量尺寸
measure v. 測量；度量；估量
n. 措施；方法
eg. Take measurements of the room before you buy any new furniture.
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