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Vocabulary: food & health 詞匯: 食品 & 健康
Would you drink less fizzy drinks if the price was higher?
Obesity is back in the headlines in the UK, with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges calling for fizzy drinks to be heavily taxed and junk food adverts banned until after the watershed.
The body, which represents doctors in the country, has called for unhealthy foods to be treated more like cigarettes, which were the target of a successful campaign.
Prof Terence Stephenson, the chair of the Academy, said: "That required things like a ban on advertising and a reduction in marketing and the association of smoking with sporting activities – that helped people move away from smoking."
A quarter of adults in the UK are considered obese, which makes it one of the nations where the problem is most prevalent.
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Stephenson believes there is no "silver bullet" for tackling the problem of expanding waistlines; instead, the entire culture around eating needs to change to make it easier to make healthy decisions.
The Academy's recommendations include: a £100m budget for treatments like weight-loss surgery; the banning of junk food and vending machines in hospitals, where all food must meet the same nutritional standards as in schools; and information about calories for children on food labels.
The British Soft Drinks Association rejected the idea that a tax on fizzy drinks, which it said contributed to "just 2%" of the total calories in an average diet, would address a problem "which is about overall diet and levels of activity".
Health minister Lord Howe welcomed the report and said he wanted to see "businesses intensifying their efforts as well".
Some teenagers seem to be getting the healthy food message. George from Peterborough, interviewed by the BBC, believes that the key is moderation. He said: "Just don't have fizzy drinks every day. It's the same with things like crisps."
Quiz 測驗
1. Doctors are comparing foods which make people fat to what kind of harmful product?
Cigarettes.
2. According to the article, how many people in the UK are considered too fat?
A quarter of the population.
3. Which measures does the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges want hospitals to adopt with regard to food?
A ban on junk food and vending machines.
4. Is this statement true or false? The British Soft Drink Association rejected the idea that people are fat because they consume fizzy drinks
True. The British Soft Drink Association says soft drinks contribute to just 2% of the total calories in an average diet.
5. Which expression in the article means "a simple and very effective solution for a difficult problem"?
A silver bullet.
Glossary 词汇表 （点击单词收听发音）
obesity肥胖症
a fizzy drink汽水
to tax徵稅
junk food垃圾食品
the watershed分水嶺時間 （在晚9點後才能播出）
unhealthy不健康的
to move away from停止（做某事）
obese肥胖的
the silver bullet（喻）捷徑，高招兒
to tackle應對，解決
the waistline腰圍
healthy健康的
the weight-loss surgery瘦身手術
a vending machine自動售貨機
the nutritional standards營養標準
the calories卡路里
the food label食品標簽
a soft drink軟飲
the health minister（英國）衛生大臣
crisps薯片