VOA常速英语:Bulging Midriffs Signal Higher Health Risks

短语讲解：

1. There is compelling new evidence that a little bit of belly fat can be extremely hazardous to your health if you’ve had a heart attack.

a little bit of 一点儿
例句：Can I have a little bit of chocolate?
能给我点儿巧克力吗？
heart attack 心脏病发作
例句：He died of a heart attack.
他死于心脏病发作。

2. The study’s findings compare the increased risk of death to smoking a pack of cigarettes per day or having very high cholesterol.

compare to与…相比
例句：The writer was compared to Shakespeare.
把这个作家与莎士比亚进行了比较。

3. Lopez-Jimenez says researchers wanted to try to predict how well these patients would do in the future, based on where their body fat was deposited.

in the future将来，今后
例句：He does not care in the least what will happen in the future.
他对以后发生什么事一点也不在乎。
base on 在…基础上，基于，立足
例句：We must base ourselves on the interests of the people.
我们一定要从人民的利益出发。

4. While obesity has long been linked to cardiovascular disease, Lopez-Jimenez, who heads the Cardio- metabolic program at Mayo, says that was not the best predictor of long-term survival. Obesity is usually measured by calculating a person’s body mass index, the amount of body fat relative to height and weight.

link to 联系，连接
例句：Fingerprints linked the suspect to the crime.
指纹使嫌疑犯与犯罪联系起来。
cardiovascular disease 心血管疾病
relative to 关于…，与…有关
例句：Supply is relative to demand
供应是按需求而定的。

5. But in the study, individuals with a higher BMI, who had more body fat in general, lived longer than those with a lower BMI.

in general通常，大体上
例句：In general I agree with you.
我大体上同意你的看法。

6. Most people can shrink their "spare tires" with a low-calorie, high-fiber diet and a routine of moderate daily exercise.

spare tire 腹部的脂肪
例句：If you decrease your activity and continue to eat the same or more, you may gain back that spare tire that you worked so hard to lose. 
如果你减少运动量，并且继续吃相同或更多的食物，你过去努力锻炼而减去的脂肪很可能会卷土重来。