BOSTON, Jan. 3 - Lowering salt intake appears tosignificantly reduce high blood pressure whether or not a person already eats ahealthy diet, researchers reported in Thursday's New England Journal ofMedicine. The finding does more than reinforce the common knowledge thatpeople with high blood pressure should cut their salt intake. It also suggeststhat even those without high blood pressure can benefit from a low-salt diet,according to the researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. Expertscautioned, however, that most U.S. consumers would have difficulty takingadvantage of the results unless the makers of processed foods changed theirpractices. The results were based on a comprehensive evaluation of 412 volunteers, half ofwhom ate a typical U.S. diet and half of whom consumed mostly fruits,vegetables and low-fat products - a dietalready found to lower blood pressure. At the same time, researchers, led byDr. Frank Sacks had volunteers consume one of three different levels of salt.The patients stuck with each diet for 30 days, then switched to a diet with adifferent salt content. The team found those who consumed 3 grams of salt a dayinstead of the 9 grams in a typical diet were able to lower their systolic ( 心脏收缩的 ) blood pressure - the highernumber in a blood pressure reading - by nearly 7 points if they were on a regular diet and by 3 points ifthey ate the healthier diet. The diastolic pressure ( 心脏舒张压 ) (the lower number) also declined - by 3.5 points with the regular diet and 1.6 points on the low-fatdiet. Consuming 6 grams of salt produced an intermediate benefit. Ahealthy diet and lower salt intake "both lower blood pressuresubstantially, with greater effects in combination than singly," Sacks andhis colleagues concluded. Reducing blood pressure by 3 points may not seem likea lot, Dr. Philip Greenland of Northwestern University Medical School inChicago said in an editorial in the Journal. But the population-wide impactcould be significant. A decrease of 2 diastolic points cuts the risk of highblood pressure by 17 percent, the risk of heart disease by 6 percent and thechance of a stroke or angina ( 心绞痛 ) by 15percent. The researchers stressed that the health benefits of the diet wouldnot be proved conclusively unless it was followed for a long period. Low-saltproducts were also hard to find, they said. 1. What can we learn from the passage? A) It's impossible for people in the U.S. to follow a low-fat, low-salt diet. B) A diet of low-fat products and fruits and vegetables can do nothing about higher blood pressure. C) High-salt diet can lead to lower blood pressure. D) Low salt intake can lower blood pressure. 2. Which of the following is true? A) Volunteers consuming 9 grams of salt a day have a higher risk of high blood pressure. B) The best amount of salt intake for volunteers is 6 grams a day. C) Volunteers consuming 3 grams of salt a day found their blood pressure lowered. D) Average Americans take more than 9 grams of salt every day. 3. According to experts, low-salt foods are hard to find because __________. A) nobody believes in low-salt diet B) most makers of processed foods follow a high-salt diet C) most Americans don't have high blood pressure D) they are more expensive than the high-salt ones 4. The word "intermediate" in Para. 2 probably means________. A) mixed B) medium-level C) important D) impressive 5. What's the best title for this passage? A) Lower Salt, Lower Blood Pressure B) Problems of U.S. Processed Foods C) Blood Pressure and Heart Diseases D) The Benefits of High Salt Intake