听力文本

Governments in the United States and United Kingdom are waging a war on sugar in the interests of public health. Both countries claim that the overconsumption of sugar by much of the population is detrimental to people's well-being. On Thursday, the U.S. government issued new dietary guidelines that strongly recommend people receive less than 10 per cent of their daily calorie intake from added sugar. On the same day, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he has not ruled out the idea of a tax on sugar to encourage consumers to buy food with reduced levels of the sweet stuff. Politicians in the U.K. are debating how a reduction in the intake of sugar could help alleviate Britain's rising rates of obesity.

The American and British governments both cite a study conducted in Mexico that showed a tax on sugary, carbonated drinks led to a reduction in consumption. The tax was implemented on January 1, 2014 and purchases of the taxed beverages went down by 12 per cent by December of that year. Sales of mineral water increased by four per cent over the same period. An alternative to taxing sugared drinks is to reduce the level of sugar in them. Researchers at Queen Mary University in London say that reducing the sugar content in sugar-sweetened drinks by 40 per cent over five years could prevent one million cases of obesity in the U.K. Researchers say people might not even notice the changes.

中文翻译

因公共健康危机，英美政府展开“糖战”5Dp)r&NK#XRICo.0A]q。据两国政府所说，糖摄入量超标有害公民健康+le!uDQ3uC-z=k。周四，美国政府公布最新膳食指南，强烈建议民众将糖中卡路里摄入量减少到10%以下n8]([PFy9#xhk。同一天，英国首相大卫·卡梅伦表示，为了鼓励民众减少甜食摄入量，他不排除向糖征税IRi#^1doRgT0b。就如何减少糖分摄入量，降低英国肥胖率，英国政界展开热论5vxsCpgt=V!。

英美政府均提及了墨西哥的一项调查，调查显示“糖税”“碳酸饮料税”能够减少民众的糖分摄入量FflZE%wWNi。2014年1月，墨西哥开始实施“糖税”，截止到同年12月，含税饮料销量减少12%!Gt,fD0oHFV),27r|。矿泉水销量同年增加4%91mnm3!7zETRgBeKzt。除了征收“饮料税”，政府还可以减少饮料含糖量ISL4uB2vHt。伦敦玛丽女王大学研究员表示，5年内将饮料含糖量降低40%，100万英国民众将因此免于肥胖症pBsMZOOGU52uV。研究人员表示，民众甚至不会注意到这些变化^)@kj&#]y*l)。

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重点讲解

1.Prime Minister 首相

例句：Did you listen in to the Prime Minister yesterday evening?

你昨晚收听首相的广播讲话了吗?

2.lead to 导致

例句：Heart failure led to her father's death.

心力衰竭导致她父亲的死亡Rxi.WUrpz|+|R;;3Tf*。

3.detrimental to 有害的

例句：Lime in the soil is detrimental to some plants.

土壤里的石灰对某些植物有害,9@^_UjZ|0OOH*Nj。

4.encourage to 鼓励

例句：The idea is to encourage people to get to know their neighbours.

其目的是促使人们结识邻居=I|]C+IA[La7yT6。

听力题目

1.What are the US and UK governments waging a war on?

a) tax

b) well-being

c) sugar

d) calories

2.What do governments say sugar is detrimental to?

a) people's well-being

b) calories

c) tax

d) diet

3.What kind of guidelines did the US government issue?

a) sensible ones

b) dietary guidelines

c) online guidelines

d) free guidelines

4.What has the British leader not ruled out?

a) forced diets

b) banning sugar

c) replacing sugar with sweeteners

d) a tax on sugar

5.Who is debating a reduction in the levels of sugar people consume?

a) the U.S. government

b) sugar company CEOs

c) British politicians

d) consumers

6.Which country reduced consumption of sugary drinks following a tax?

a) India

b) Mexico

c) the UK

d) the USA

7.How much did sales of mineral water rise after a tax on sugary drinks?

a) 10%

b) 8%

c) 6%

d) 4%

8.What could be an alternative to taxing sugary drinks?

a) education

b) reducing levels of sugar

c) sweeteners

d) honey

9.How many cases of obesity did researchers say could be prevented?

a) 896,622

b) one million

c) 100,000

d) a billion

10.What did researchers say people might not notice?

a) changes (in sugar levels)

b) a ban on sugar

c) a tax on sugar

d) sugar replaced by honey

听力答案

1.c

2.a

3.b

4.d

5.c

6.b

7.d

8.b

9.b

10.a