Marion Nestle's heavyweight criticism against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo comes at an odd moment for the industry. Americans are drinking fewer sugary sodas—in 2012 production was 23% below what it had been a decade earlier. Even sales of diet drinks are losing their fizz, as consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners. From one angle, it would seem that health advocates such as Ms Nestle have won. Yet in America companies still produce 30 gallons of regular fizzy drinks per person per year. In many countries, particularly developing ones, consumption is on the rise.
Ms Nestle, a professor at New York University, is both inspired by recent progress and dissatisfied with it. That is no surprise. Her first book, Food Politics, remains a bible for those who complain about the power of food companies. In her new book she attacks the industry's most widely consumed, least healthy product. Soda Politics, she says, is a book "to inspire readers to action". As a rallying cry, it is verbose. When readers learn on page 238 that she will pick up a particular subject in chapter 25, it is with no little dismay that they realize they are only on chapter 17. But what the author wants most is to craft a detailed guide to the producers' alleged violation, and how to stop them.
Ms Nestle says she would have no complaint with sweet fizzy drinks if they were sipped occasionally, as a treat. However, for millions of people in many countries, they are not. In Mexico companies sold 372 cans of fizzy drinks per person in 2012. About half of Americans do not drink them regularly, but those who do are disproportionately poor, less educated, male, Hispanic or black. 10% of Americans down more than four cans a day.
Drinking a lot of sweet fizzy drinks is plainly unhealthy. Unlike a Big Mac, they have no nutritional value; nor do their calories satisfy hunger. One large study found that for each can added to a person's daily diet, the risk of diabetes jumped by 22%. There are also links between sugar and heart disease, stroke and cancer. Drinking lots of sodas imposes clear costs on individuals, Ms Nestle argues, but it has a broader cost, too. American taxpayers subsidize corn production and let the poor use government food vouchers to buy fizzy drinks. More important, taxpayers
foot
the health bill for those who develop chronic disease.
单选题
Diet drinks become unpopular in America because______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据diet drinks定位到首段第三、四行：Even sales of diet drinks are losing their fizz，as consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners．其中losing their fizz指“失去活力”，等于题干become unpopular“不受欢迎”，故答案句为：consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners“消费者质疑人工甜味剂的好处。”与之相符的选项为[C]people doubt they are unhealthy“人们怀疑膳食饮料不健康。”其中doubt=question；the merits of artificial sweeteners暗示unhealthy“不健康”。选项[A]only poor people drink them“只有穷人饮用膳食饮料”；[B]they contain too much sugar“膳食饮料含糖过多”；[D]consumers think they are artificial“消费者认为膳食饮料是人工食品”，这三项均无法与答案句同义替换。故本题选择[C]。
单选题
In the book Soda Politics, Marion Nestle______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据关键词Soda Politics定位到第二段：Soda Politics，she says，is a book “to inspire readers to action”，其中she指代Marion Nestle，故答案句为：to inspire readers to action“激励读者采取行动”。该句上一句提到：In her new book she attacks the industry’s most widely consumed，least healthy product．综合两句我们知道Marion Nestle鼓励读者对不健康食品采取行动。选项[A]called for food companies to adopt some measures“号召食品公司采取一些措施”；该项与答案句inspire readers to action毫无关系，文章强调读者／消费者采取行动，而非食品公司，该项属于偷换概念。[B]criticized the food industry and the unwise consumers“批判食品行业和不明智的消费者”：文章提到she attacks the industry’s most widely consumed，least healthy product，但是并没有提到Nestle批判消费者，后半句纯属无中生有。[C]called on consumers to take action against unhealthy food“呼吁消费者对不健康食品采取行动”；该项与答案句inspire readers to action相符。其中called on“呼吁”=inspire“鼓励”；consumers“消费者”=readers“读者”；take action“采取行动”：action“行动”。故该项表述正确。[D]intended to write a detailed guide to the producers’violation“打算写下有关生产商过失的详细指南”；该项与答案句无关，故排除。综上本题选择[C]。
单选题
Nestle tends to agree that drinking cola occasionally is______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：观点题。根据Nestle，drinking cola，occasionally等关键词定位到第三段首句：Ms Nestle says she would have no complaint with sweet fizzy drinks if they were sipped occasionally，as a treat．其中，fizzy drinks指“碳酸饮料”，等于题干cola“可乐”；sipped“小口喝”=drinking“喝”；occasionally为原词复现。本题考查人物观点，要注意该人物所说的话，该题答案句为：Ms Nestle says she would have no complaint…，have no complaint“不抱怨”=[B]acceptable“可接受的”。选项[A]healthy“健康的”；[C]harmful“有害的”；[D]questionable“有问题的”；这三项均无法与have no complaint同义替换。故本题答案为[B]。
单选题
According to the last paragraph, having too many soda drinks ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节题。定位到最后一段首句：Drinking a lot of sweet fizzy drinks is plainly unhealthy．其中a lot of=too many：fizzy drinks=soda drinks。故答案关键词为plainly unhealthy“显然不健康”。而更加完整的答案来自第三、四两句：One large study found that for each can added to a person’s daily diet，the risk of diabetes jumped by 22％．There are also links between sugar and heart disease．stroke and cancer．这两句明确指出喝太多碳酸饮料导致患糖尿病几率上升，而且摄入过多糖分与心脏病、中风和癌症有关联。故答案为[D]has something to do with certain diseases“与某些疾病有关系”。选项[A]can increase the risk of death“可能增加死亡的风险”；文章说the risk of diabetes jumped“患糖尿病风险增大”，该项属于过分夸大。[B]will inevitably lead to diabetes“势必引发糖尿病”；inevitably“不可避免地”一词过于绝对，原文说的是“患糖尿病风险增加22％”。[C]may bring the problem of obesity“可能造成肥胖症”；该项的obesity“肥胖症”一词在文中并没有出现。综上[D]正确。
单选题
The underlined word "foot" (Line 6, Para. 4) is closest in meaning to______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：语义题。定位到最后两句。其中more important表示递进逻辑，说明前后两句方向一致，推断两个句子应该会出现同义词复现。本题答案句范围为：American taxpayers subsidize corn production and let the poor use government food vouchers to buy fizzy drinks．More important，taxpayers foot the health bill for those who develop chronic disease．可以推断，taxpayers foot the health bill=taxpayers subsidize；故推断foot=subsidize“资助”。选项[A]pay for“为……付钱，负担……的费用”；[B]kick away“踢开”；[C]look for“寻找”；[D]stay away “远离”。显然，与subsidize意思相关的只有[A]，将其代入原文，pay for the bill表示“买单，付款”，完全符合语境，故该题答案为[A]。