2008Text3Intheearly1960sWiltChamberlainwasoneofonlythreeplayersintheNationalBasketballAssociation(NBA)listedatoversevenfeet.Ifhehadplayedlastseason,however,hewouldhave①beenoneof42.②Thebodiesplayingmajorprofessionalsportshavechangeddramaticallyovertheyears,andmanagershavebeenmorethanwillingtoadjustteamuniformstofitthegrowingnumbersofbigger,longerframes.Thetrendinsports,though,maybeobscuringanunrecognizedreality:Americanshavegenerallystoppedgrowing.Thoughtypicallyabouttwoinchestallernowthan140yearsago,today’s③people–especiallythoseborntofamilieswhohavelivedintheU.S.formanygenerations–apparentlyreachedtheirlimitintheearly1960s.Andtheyaren’tlikelytogetanytaller.“Inthegeneralpopulationtoday,atthisgenetic,environmentallevel,we’veprettymuchgoneasfaraswecango,”saysanthropologistWilliamCameronChumleaofWrightStateUniversity.InthecaseofNBAplayers,theirincreaseinheightappearstoresultfromtheincreasinglycommonpracticeofrecruitingplayersfromallovertheworld.④Growth,whichrarelycontinuesbeyondtheageof20,demandscaloriesandnutrients–notably,protein–tofeedexpandingtissues.Atthestartofthe20thcentury,under-nutritionandchildhoodinfectionsgotintheway.Butasdietandhealthimproved,childrenandadolescentshave,onaverage,increasedinheightbyaboutaninchandahalfevery20years,apatternknownastheseculartrendinheight.YetaccordingtotheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention,averageheight–5′9″formen,5′4″forwomen–hasn’treallychangedsince1960.Geneticallyspeaking,thereareadvantagestoavoidingsubstantialheight.Duringchildbirth,largerbabieshavemoredifficultypassingthroughthebirthcanal.Moreover,eventhoughhumanshavebeenuprightformillionsofyears,ourfeetandbackcontinuetostrugglewithbipedalpostureandcannoteasilywithstandrepeatedstrainimposedbyoversizelimbs.“Therearesomerealconstraintsthataresetbythegeneticarchitectureoftheindividualorganism,”saysanthropologistWilliamLeonardofNorthwesternUniversity.Geneticmaximumscanchange,butdon’texpectthistohappensoon.ClaireC.Gordon,senior⑤anthropologistattheArmyResearchCenterinNatick,Mass.,ensuresthat90percentoftheuniformsandworkstationsfitrecruitswithoutalteration.Shesaysthat,unlikethoseforbasketball,thelengthofmilitaryuniformshasnotchangedforsometime.Andifyouneedtopredicthumanheight1inthenearfuturetodesignapieceofequipment,Gordonsaysthatbyandlarge,“youcouldusetoday’sdataandfeelfairlyconfident.”31.WiltChamberlainiscitedasanexampleto[A]illustratethechangeofheightofNBAplayers.[B]showthepopularityofNBAplayersintheU.S..[C]comparedifferentgenerationsofNBAplayers.[D]assesstheachievementsoffamousNBAplayers.32.Whichofthefollowingplaysakeyroleinbodygrowthaccordingtothetext?[A]Geneticmodification.[B]Naturalenvironment.[C]Livingstandards.[D]Dailyexercise.33.Onwhichofthefollowingstatementswouldtheauthormostprobablyagree?[A]Non-Americansaddtotheaverageheightofthenation.[B]Humanheightisconditionedbytheuprightposture.[C]Americansarethetallestonaverageintheworld.[D]Largerbabiestendtobecometallerinadulthood.34.Welearnfromthelastparagraphthatinthenearfuture[A]thegarmentindustrywillreconsidertheuniformsize.[B]thedesignofmilitaryuniformswillremainunchanged.[C]genetictestingwillbeemployedinselectingsportsmen.[D]theexistingdataofhumanheightwillstillbeapplicable.35.Thetextintendstotellusthat[A]thechangeofhumanheightfollowsacyclicpattern.[B]humanheightisbecomingevenmorepredictable.[C]A...
