Directions:  For each blank in the following passages there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically(经常) ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist. Using census(人口统计) data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, ____52____ at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was ___53____ to life expectancy over the age of 50. ____54____ differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and ___55____ occurring at different times of the year could both have an ___56____ on the health of a new-born baby and could ___57____ its life expectancy in older age. "A mother giving birth in spring spends the __58____ phase (阶段)of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer," said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who ___59____ the research. "When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby ___60___ food, it’s in the hot weeks of summer when babies are likely to be exposed to infections of the digestive system." In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months __61___ than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was __62____. Adults born in the Australian autumn - the European ___63___ - lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study ___64___ people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although ___65___ at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern ___66___, Doblhammer said.
52. a. scientists                     b. doctors                            c. readers                      d. who
53. a. familiar                      b. used                         c. related                      d. devoted
54. a. Seasonal                            b. Physical                    c. Mental                      d. Occasional
55. a. accidents                    b. infections                  c. ideas                         d. nutrition
56. a. efficiency                   b. result                        c. cause                        d. impact
57. a. shorten                       b. lengthen                   c. harm                        d. influence
58. a. first                           b. last                           c. middle                      d. initial
59. a. broke through             b. led to                       c. carried out                d. insisted on
60. a. normal                       b. fast                          c. general                            d. sea
61. a. shorter                       b. longer                      c. younger                    d. healthier
62. a. similar                       b. different                   c. contrary                    d. opposite
63. a. spring                        b. summer                    c. autumn                            d. winter
64. a. depended on               b. investigated into        c. called for                  d. focused on
65. a. food                           b. situation                   c. living conditions        d. nutrition
66. a. changes                      b. improves                  c. persists                            d. declines