Get cold hands, but hate wearing gloves? There might soon be a technology that can help you. The US scientists are developing an arm heater that allows people to go glove free in freezing conditions, helping them to carry out mechanical repairs or first aid.

In cold weather, wearing gloves might be a good choice because they can keep your hands at a comfortable temperature, but they often reduce flexibility. Take off your gloves, though, and numbing cold has an equally damaging effect on your fine motor skills, as well as being extremely uncomfortable.

John Castellani, an American physiologist who specializes in cold weather, and his team are attempting to solve the problem with a pair of electrically heated armbands worn around the forearms.

Dr. Castellani says that much of the problem is due to the body shutting down blood flow to surrounding areas. “Through research, we find keeping the forearms warm can prevent this,” he says.

A previous study showed that heating the torso (躯干) also keeps the hands warm, but that approach requires too much power for a portable device. Castellani’s team has found that warming just the forearm with a battery-powered gadget improves both finger temperature and ability in tasks requiring manual skill, such as putting pegs in a peg board. In a series of tests, the device reduced flexibility loss by 50 percent and finger strength loss by 90 percent compared with wearing no gloves at 0.5 ℃. The electric forearm heater helps by a combination of delivering warmer blood to the fingers and reducing blood vessel constriction (血管收缩). Even if the wearer can’t go glove free, it could allow them to wear thinner gloves.

【小题1】Why is the electric forearm heater being developed?

A．To deliver warmer blood to the fingers in cold weather.

B．To reduce blood vessel constriction in cold weather.

C．To have the wearer go without gloves in cold weather.

D．To keep hands warm and skillful in cold weather.

【小题2】What do we know about electrically heated armbands according to the passage?

A．They are difficult to carry around.

B．They have been on sale in the market.

C．They use less power comparatively.

D．They can heat the body together.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．The wearer.	B．The arm heater
C．The blood vessel	D．The warmer blood

【小题4】What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To inform.	B．To entertain.
C．To advertise.	D．To educate.