托福考试在即，考生表示压力很大，尤其是托福阅读，明明感觉读懂了，但是做的题还是错处。的确，阅读在托福考试中，题量大，费时间。怎么样才能自己的阅读水平和做题速度呢?北京新航道和大家一起共同努力，攻克托福难关。下面是为大家整理的一些阅读方面的材料，专门为大家平时训练而备。其实，阅读不禁要把TPO做好，也要多做一些课外的阅读练习，这样了解得多，做题也就事半功倍了。

　　Receptors for Taste Found in the Lungs

　　Take a deep breath. Taste anything? Actually, your lungs may. Because scientists have discovered that the same receptors that exist on the tongue to taste bitter substances are also found on the smooth muscle of the lungs.

　　Researchers were studying the receptors on smooth lung muscles that regulate contraction and relaxation of theairways. That’s when they made the discovery—which was so unexpected that the researchers themselves were skeptical.

　　Finally, they became convinced that the receptors were really there, though not clustered in taste buds as they are on the tongue. The scientists then exposed human and mouse airways to various bitter compounds to gauge the effects.

　　Many toxic compounds are bitter, so the researchers expected the lung muscle to tense up and contract—to compel the breather to move away from whatever was bitter and perhaps toxic. But, in a second surprise, bitter compounds relaxed and opened airways better than any existing asthma drug. The study is in the journal Nature Medicine. [Deepak Deshpande et al., "Bitter taste receptors on airway smooth muscle bronchodilate by localized calcium signaling and reverse obstruction"]

　　Researchers will continue to search for the role of the receptors. Meanwhile, the work represents a surprising new lead in the search for drugs to treat asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

　　—Cynthia Graber

　　上面是一篇托福课外阅读材料，大家要认真阅读，加强了解和理解，为以后的考试做好准备。最后，提醒大家，阅读要注重全局观念，抓住重点转折点，相信大家都能拿到。

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