高中英语外刊时文阅读训练
专题36
三胞胎探秘
Ⅰ.文章话题导入
Ⅱ.外刊原文阅读
Ш.阅读理解专项针对性练习
Ⅳ.话题高频词汇强化训练
Ⅴ.参考译文赏析
【话题·导语】
在美国，生三胞胎、四胞胎甚至更多的孩子越来越不常见。这种下降似乎与在使用体外受精等辅助生
殖技术期间转移胚胎数量的指导加强有关。
【原文·外刊阅读】
Triplets are becoming less common in the United States
（文章来源：CNN）
The rate of triplet and higher-order births in the US
declined 62% between 1998 and 2023, according to a
report published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. And the largest declines in rates
were seen among mothers 30 and older.
This decline appears to be associated with how
guidance has strengthened around the number of embryos transferred during the use of assisted
reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization, known as IVF, wrote the researchers, from the CDC's
National Center for Health Statistics.
Couples are more likely to have twins, triplets or more babies in a single pregnancy when using
assisted reproductive technology because these fertility treatments may involve transferring multiple
embryos into the uterus in hopes of resulting in a pregnancy.
More embryos not only increase the likelihood of a viable pregnancy, they raise the risk that the
pregnancy could involve more than one fetus – hence, twins, triplets or more.
“Monitoring trends in triplet and higher order multiple births is important because women with a
triplet/+ pregnancy are at higher risk of complications during pregnancy and their infants are at greater
risk of preterm birth and infant death,” Joyce Martin, a researcher at National Center for Health
Statistics and the main author of the report, said in an email.
As fertility treatments became more mainstream after the 1980s, there was a rise in the incidence of
multiple births, said Dr. Micah Hill, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, who
was not involved in the new report.
In the early 2000s, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted
Reproductive Technology started to issue guidelines on how many embryos should be transferred under
different scenarios. The guidelines were issued to help reduce the risk of complications for women
undergoing fertility treatments, including the risk of preterm birth.
While the new data does not indicate how many multiple births have been conceived spontaneously
versus through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) like IVF, the overall decline does appear to
parallel the introduction of the guidelines.
Guidelines were released in 2004, Hill said, and updated in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021.
“If you look at the CDC's numbers, you can sort of see these declines follow every year or two
after these guidance updates have happened,” Hill said.
“These guidelines have evolved as the technology has evolved,” he said. “I think it's been
successful in making fertility treatments safer, which is really what we care about when we're talking
about reducing these higher-order multiples.”
In part, recommendations in the latest guidelines, published in 2021, range from recommending the
transfer of only a single embryo at a time for patients younger than 35 to recommending no more than
four untested early-stage embryos for patients older than 40.
It's not just guidance around embryo transfers that has changed in the past decades, possibly leading
to declines in triplets and higher-order births.
There also have been shifts in the use of fetal reduction during fertility treatments, a procedure to
reduce the number of fetuses when a pregnancy with triplets or more occurs, said Dr. Amanda Williams,
interim chief medical officer for the maternal and infant health nonprofit March of Dimes, who was not
involved in the NCHS data.
Separately, she called the new NCHS report, showing a decline in triplets and higher-order multiple
births, “fantastic news” for maternal and infant health.
“When you have three or more babies inside, you are at a markedly increased risk for preterm
birth, for low birth weight, for infant mortality, for NICU stays, and then on the maternal side, increased
risk for gestational diabetes, increased risk for gestational hypertensive disorders like preeclampsia,” she
said. “So this is good news for families, because triplets and higher order pregnancies are so much
riskier for mom and baby.”
【原创·阅读理解】
1. What was the percentage decline in triplet and higher-order births in the US from 1998 to 2023?
A. A decline of 42 percent
B. A significant 52 percent drop
C. A substantial decline of 62 percent
D. A major reduction of 72 percent
2. Which age group of mothers saw the largest decline in triplet and higher-order births?
A. Mothers aged under 25 years old
B. Mothers between the ages of 25 and 30
C. Mothers aged 30 years and older
D. Mothers over the age of 40 years
3. What association did researchers find regarding the rate of multiple births and assisted reproductive
technologies (ART)?
A. ART has no measurable impact on birth rates.
B. More embryos transferred increases chances of multiples.
C. Fewer embryos tend to lead to more viable pregnancies.
D. Spontaneous conception causes most multiple births.
4. What is one of the main purposes of the updated guidelines regarding embryo transfers released by the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine?
A. To promote an increase in multiple births overall.
B. To help reduce complications of fertility treatments.
C. To encourage more comprehensive fertility interventions.
D. To eliminate the necessity for fetal reduction methods.
【高频词汇训练】
1．由于经济衰退，一些家庭很难维持收支平衡。
As the economy was in decline, some families to make ends meet.
2．Though he was treated in hospital, he managed to help me through his remote guidance. (同义句转换)
in hospital, he managed to help me through his remote guidance.
3．一般来说，植物或动物有生殖能力。
The plant or animal has, __________ __________, the power of reproduction.
4．The statistics show that the number of teaching staff members in this school 1700.
统计数据表明这个学校的教职工人数已减少到1700 人。
5．上星期天我们学校举行了五公里赛跑。来自各个年级的200 名学生参加了这次赛跑。
The 5kilometre race . 200 students from all grades were involved in this running race.
6．A great number of farmers and herdsmen have become businessmen, (投身于) the mainstream of
the market economy. (根据汉语提示完成句子)
7．这些温泉的颜色从绿色到鲜艳的红色和橙色。
The hot springs’ colors range from green a brilliant red and orange.
8．我慢慢地详细地解释传统的泡茶的过程。
I slowly explained the traditional procedure of ．
【参考译文】
三胞胎在美国越来越不常见
美国疾病控制和预防中心周四发布的一份报告显示，1998 年至2023 年间，美国三胎和高胎出生率下
降了62%。在30 岁及以上的母亲中，发病率下降幅度最大。
美国疾病控制与预防中心国家卫生统计中心的研究人员写道，这种下降似乎与在使用体外受精等辅助
生殖技术期间转移胚胎数量的指导加强有关。
当使用辅助生殖技术时，夫妻更有可能在一次怀孕中产下双胞胎、三胞胎或更多婴儿，因为这些生育
治疗可能涉及将多个胚胎移植到子宫中，以期怀孕。
更多的胚胎不仅增加了可行妊娠的可能性，还增加了妊娠可能涉及多个胎儿的风险，例如双胞胎、三
胞胎或更多。
国家卫生统计中心研究员、该报告的主要作者乔伊斯·马丁在一封电子邮件中说：“监测三胞胎和高阶
多胎分娩的趋势很重要，因为三胞胎/+妊娠的女性在怀孕期间并发症的风险更高，她们的婴儿早产和婴儿
死亡的风险更大。”
辅助生殖技术协会主席Micah Hill 博士表示，随着20 世纪80 年代后生育治疗变得更加主流，多胎分
娩的发生率有所上升。他没有参与这份新报告。
21 世纪初，美国生殖医学学会和辅助生殖技术学会开始发布关于在不同情况下应移植多少胚胎的指导
方针。发布这些指南是为了帮助降低接受生育治疗的妇女的并发症风险，包括早产风险。
虽然新的数据没有表明有多少多胞胎是自发受孕的，而不是通过体外受精等辅助生殖技术（ART）受
孕的，但总体下降似乎与指南的引入平行。
希尔说，指导方针于2004 年发布，并于2006 年、2008 年、2009 年、2013 年、2017 年和2021 年更
新。
希尔说：“如果你看看美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，你可以看到这些指导更新后，每隔一两年就
会出现这些下降。”
他说：“这些指导方针随着技术的发展而发展。”。“我认为它成功地使生育治疗更安全，这正是我
们在谈论降低这些高阶倍数时所关心的。”
在某种程度上，2021 年发布的最新指南中的建议范围从建议35 岁以下的患者一次只移植一个胚胎到
建议40 岁以上的患者不超过四个未经测试的早期胚胎。
在过去的几十年里，不仅是关于胚胎移植的指导方针发生了变化，还可能导致三胞胎和高出生率的下
降。
母婴健康非营利组织March of Dimes 的临时首席医疗官Amanda Williams 博士表示，在生育治疗期间
使用减胎手术也发生了变化，这是一种在发生三胞胎或更多妊娠时减少胎儿数量的手术。
另外，她称新的NCHS 报告显示三胞胎和高阶多胎出生率下降，这对母婴健康来说是“好消息”。
她说：“当你体内有三个或更多婴儿时，早产、低出生体重、婴儿死亡率、新生儿重症监护室住院的
风险显著增加，然后在母体方面，妊娠期糖尿病的风险增加，先兆子痫等妊娠期高血压疾病的风险增
加。”。“所以这对家庭来说是个好消息，因为三胞胎和高阶妊娠对妈妈和宝宝来说风险要大得多。
