讓英國(guó)鬧心的小胖子

讓英國(guó)鬧心的小胖子

英國(guó)有十分之一的小學(xué)生患有兒童期肥胖癥問題，數(shù)據(jù)顯示兒童肥胖率有顯著上升趨勢(shì)。如何解決成了政府和兒童食品生產(chǎn)商家的棘手問題。

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí)：

curb 抑制[k??b]

coincide with 符合；與…相一致[,k???n'sa?d]

levy 征收；征稅['lev?]

pupil 學(xué)生；未成年人['pju?p?l; -p(?)l]

vigorous 有力的；精力充沛的['v?g(?)r?s]

tackle 處理['t?k(?)l]

keen 敏銳的，敏捷的；強(qiáng)烈的[ki?n]

bow to 向……鞠躬[ba?]

duck 躲避[d?k]

vested interests 既得利益；特權(quán)階級(jí)

coalition 聯(lián)合；結(jié)合，合并[,k???'l??(?)n]

scrap 廢棄[skr?p]

閱讀馬上開始，建議您計(jì)算一下閱讀整篇文章所用的時(shí)間，對(duì)照下方的參考值就可以評(píng)估出您的英文閱讀水平。

如果您讀完全文用時(shí)為： 那么，您的閱讀速度相當(dāng)于 每分鐘閱讀的英文單詞數(shù)

3分20秒 母語為英語者的朗讀速度 140

1分59秒 母語為英語的中學(xué)生的閱讀速度 250

1分8秒 母語為英語的大學(xué)生的閱讀速度 350

0分44秒 母語為英語的速讀高手 1000

Watered-down childhood obesity strategy under fire（643words）

By Helen Warrell and Kate Allen

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Ministers have watered down the UK’s long-awaited childhood obesity strategy, dropping proposed curbs on junk food television advertisements and focusing instead on the importance of school sport in moves seen as a victory for the food industry over health campaigner. The publication of the strategy, first expected in December 2015, has been continually delayed and its eventual release — coinciding with Team GB’s Olympic successes — shows a shift towards daily exercise rather than restrictions on industry. Under the plan, to be published on Thursday, food producers will be asked to make a 20 per cent reduction in the sugar content of children’s foods such as cereals and yoghurts by 2020, but this will be a request rather than a mandatory target. Public Health England will publish updates on industry progress every six months.

The government had announced in the Budget in March that it would be introducing a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry. Officials have now confirmed that the money raised from this levy will be invested in programmes to reduce obesity and encourage physical activity and balanced diets for schoolchildren. The investment will include ￡10m annually to help school breakfast clubs provide healthier food.

In addition, primary schools will be asked to help every pupil get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day.

A review of the nutrient levels in various foods could result in existing restrictions on food and drink advertising to young people being extended to products not currently covered by the rules. Public Health England is working with academics and the industry to update its nutrient data. Tackling the growing problem of childhood obesity was a priority for David Cameron, former prime minister, while Jeremy Hunt, his health secretary, had been keen to restrict advertising of unhealthy foods during popular TV shows such as The X Factor. However, the government’s new plan does not include any enforceable measures to curb advertising content.

Campaign group Action On Sugar said the government had bowed to industry pressure by ducking the tough decisions. Jenny Rosborough, Action on Sugar campaign manager, called the strategy “an embarrassing and inexcusable waste of a fantastic opportunity to put the nation’s health first”.

Graham McGregor, chairman of both Action On Sugar and Consensus Action On Salt And Health, said the strategy was “an insulting response to the UK crisis in type 2 diabetes”, which was set to greatly burden the NHS’s finances in years to come.

A spokesperson for NHS England warned that if the industry did not voluntarily make progress then “the need for further, broader action would be inarguable”.

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat leader, said the new obesity strategy “l(fā)ooks like a sellout by the government to vested interests” after “months of this report being delayed and pushed back”. The government should act to ban advertising for unhealthy foods being targeted at children, for example during children's’ TV shows, he added.

Ian Wright, head of the Food and Drink Federation, said of the obesity strategy that the government had “acknowledged that working in partnership with industry on a voluntary basis is the best way to make progress on this crucial issue”.

However, he criticised the forthcoming sugar tax, calling it “a disappointing diversion from effective measures to tackle obesity” and saying it was “unlikely to be technically practical across all the selected food categories”.

A coalition of food and drink manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and pubs launched a campaign this week called Face The Facts, Cut The Tax in a bid to persuade the government to scrap the levy, saying it would be “ineffective and harmful” and have a negative impact on businesses.

The campaign is funded by the British Soft Drinks Association, whose chief executive Gavin Partington said he agreed that obesity levels were too high but “burdening businesses and consumers with an inefficient tax is not the answer”.

請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測(cè)題目：

1. How many percentage the food producers will be asked to reduce in the sugar content?

A. 5 per cent

B. 20 per cent

C. 21 per cent

D. 25 per cent

2. What kind of target to ask producer to reduce the sugar in 2020?

A. request

B. mandatory

C. demand

D. claim

3. Which one is not right about the money raised from sugar tax to be used?

A. invested in programmes to reduce obesity

B. encouraged physical activity

C. help school breakfast clubs provide less healthy food

D. balanced diets for schoolchildren

4. How long are the primary schools asked to help every pupil to get physical activity a day?

A. at least 60 minutes

B. 30minutes

C. 45minutes

D. 80minutes

[1] 答案 B. 20 per cent

解釋：食品生產(chǎn)者被要求降低兒童食物中的百分之二十的含糖量。

[2] 答案 A. request

解釋：政府只是請(qǐng)求性并非強(qiáng)制性的要求食品生產(chǎn)商在2020年減低食品含糖量。

[3] 答案 C. help school breakfast clubs provide less healthy food

解釋：政府官方宣稱多征收在食用糖里的額外費(fèi)用會(huì)用來投資在降低肥胖的方案計(jì)劃中，鼓勵(lì)孩子們做更多的體育活動(dòng)，均衡在校學(xué)生的飲食。

[4] 答案 A. at least 60 minutes

解釋：每個(gè)未成年學(xué)生，政府要求學(xué)校每天要至少安排60分鐘的體育鍛煉給孩子。