The spread of Western eating habits around the world is bad for human health and the environment. These findings come from a new report in the journal Nature.
There are ways to solve this diet-health-environment problem. But they will require a change in eating habits. And what we eat can be a product of culture, personal taste, price and ease.
David Tillman, a professor of ecology at the University of Minnesota. In the study, he examined information from 100 countries to identify what people ate and how diet affected health. He noted a movement beginning in the 1960s. He found that as nations industrialized, population increased and earnings rose, more people began to adopt what has been called the Western diet.
The Western diet is high in refined, or processed, sugar, fat, oil and meat. By eating these foods, people began to get fatter and sicker. “The excess, let us say, in the 15 richest nations in the world, right now is on the order of about 400 or 500 extra calories a day that are eaten beyond what people need, and that lead people to gain weight.” David Tillman says overweight people are at greater risk for non-infectious diseases like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. “Unfortunately when people become industrialized, if they adopt this Western diet, they are going to have these some health impacts, and in some cases if you are Asians, you have the more severely.”
And, a diet bad for human beings, is also bad for the environment. As the world's population grows, experts says, more forests and tropical areas will become farmland for crops or grasslands for gazing cattle. These areas will be needed to meet the increasing demand for food.
“We are likely to have more greenhouse gas in the future from agriculture than that coming out of all forms of transportation right now.”
Mr. Tillman calls the link between diet, the environment and human health, "a dilemma": a problem offering a difficult choice. He says one possible solution is leaving the Western diet behind.
24. Which of the following statements is Not true according to the passage?
A. Different cultures may cause different eating habits
B. Population increase is likely to lead to environmental destruction
C. The Western diet will probably make some people overweight
D. The Western diet is unhealthy because it is high in vitamins and proteins
25. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The Western diet does less harm to the health of Asians
B. More greenhouse gas has been giving off from agriculture
C. Western eating habits are responsible form some diseases like cancer
D. Nearly all the people in the developed countries consume more calories than needed
26. The underlined word “dilemma” in the last paragraph means
A. a relation to be maintained B. an opinion causing an argument
C. a decision to be made D. a problem offering a difficult choice
27. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. What people eat does influence on their health
B. Our change in diet will lead to global climate change
C. The western diet is bad for environment as well as for human beings
D. Industrialization considerably shortens the lifespan to the world people.
DBCC
政治经济类文章的概念:
要做好这类阅读,平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事,掌握一定背景知识,对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解,还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章,要抓住文章的核心,即文章整体和各段主要在说什么,也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题:
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁,语言鲜活,但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多,长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容,读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉,经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花,文章看完,一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨,同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章,我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式,我们可采取“顺读法”,以便抓关键语句,领会文章主旨;而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式,我们则可以采取“逆读法”,先读试题,再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急,因为你觉得难,其他人也一定是同感。在高考前,我们就要有这种心理准备,高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过,我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读,以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干:
根据英语中五种基本句型结构,把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来,其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干,句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句:
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句,在理解时,如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解,然后把大意拼凑起来,整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句:
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成,句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词,只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系,再把各层分句的意思加以连贯,整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词:
如果一个句子看完,一点句意的感觉也没有,下下策就是抓住句中的关键词,通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
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