A new research demonstrates just how dangerous it can be. BrendaPenninx, a gerontologist(老年病学家) in Forest University, North Carolina and her colleagues followed 2847 people over the age of 55 both withand without heart disease—for four years in order to trace the effects of depression.In the end, they found that people with major depression were at least three times as likely to die of heart disease as were patients who weren"tdepressed. Even subjects with mild depression experienced a fatality rate that was 50 percent higher than normal.Brenda Penninx isn"t sure exactly what the connection between heart disease and depression is, but since depression can raise stress, and stresstriggers an outpouring of the hormone cortisol (荷尔蒙肾上腺皮质素), and this could cause heart rate and blood pressure to rise.Other factors could also play a part: Depressed people are less likely to do physical exercises and eat right than those who do not suffer from themalady. "Depression deserves a lot more attention than it usually gets," Penninx warns. "It"s a huge risk factor, so it"s really crucial to take careof our emotions."（分数：10.00）(1).Why did Brenda Penninx and her colleagues follow 2847 people over 55 years old?（分数：2.00）

三、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Experts have long thought that depression could be bad for your heart. A new research demonstrates just how dangerous it can be. BrendaPenninx, a gerontologist(老年病学家) in Forest University, North Carolina and her colleagues followed 2847 people over the age of 55 both withand without heart disease—for four years in order to trace the effects of depression.In the end, they found that people with major depression were at least three times as likely to die of heart disease as were patients who weren"tdepressed. Even subjects with mild depression experienced a fatality rate that was 50 percent higher than normal.Brenda Penninx isn"t sure exactly what the connection between heart disease and depression is, but since depression can raise stress, and stresstriggers an outpouring of the hormone cortisol (荷尔蒙肾上腺皮质素), and this could cause heart rate and blood pressure to rise.Other factors could also play a part: Depressed people are less likely to do physical exercises and eat right than those who do not suffer from themalady. "Depression deserves a lot more attention than it usually gets," Penninx warns. "It"s a huge risk factor, so it"s really crucial to take careof our emotions."（分数：10.00）(1).Why did Brenda Penninx and her colleagues follow 2847 people over 55 years old?（分数：2.00）A.Because they wanted to know their physical conditions.B.ecause the people all had heart disease.C.Because 50% of the people died of heart disease.D.Because they wanted to know how depression affected people"s hearts.√