Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is essential to one's life. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have been told, and told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip. But for many people, the thought of food as the first thing in the morning is never a pleasure. So despite all the efforts, they still take no breakfast.
Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures could be obtained, the number of people who didn't have breakfast increased by 33% —from 8. 8 million to 11.7 million—according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America. For those who dislike eating breakfast, however, there is some good news.
Several studies in the last few years have shown that, for adults especially, there may be nothing wrong with omitting breakfast. "Going without breakfast does not affect work," said Arnold E. Bender, former professor of nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College in London, "
Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better work is surprisingly inadequate（不充分的）, and most of the recent work involves children, not adults. "The literature," says one researcher, Dr. Earnest Polite at the University of Texas, "is poor."
What does the word "literature" in the last sentence refer to? （ ）
- A.Modern American literature
- B.Any printed materials
- C.Written works on a subject
- D.Stories, poems and plays
正确答案及解析
正确答案
解析
literature所在句的前一句指出，早餐与健康或工作有关的科学证据不充分，而且大部分最近的研究工作是有关儿童的，而不是有关成年人的。由此可推测，literature一词指的是“（某学科的）文献，资料”，故选C。
