Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action. It was 50 years ago this month that America's surgeon-general sounded that warning, marking the beginning of the end of cigarette manufacturing—and of smoking itself—as a respectable activity. Some 20m Americans have died from the habit since then. But advertising restrictions, smoking bans and stigma have had their effect: the proportion of American adults who smoke has dropped from 43% to 18%; smoking rates among teenagers are at a record low. In many other countries the trends are similar.
The current surgeon-general, Boris Lushniak, marked the half-century with a report on January 17th, declaring smoking even deadlier than previously thought. He added diabetes, colorectal cancer and other ailments to the list of ills it causes, and promised "end-game strategies" to stamp out cigarettes altogether.
Were that to happen America's three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, could be
snuffed out
, too. Public health officials plot the same fate for multinationals that supply other markets. The hit list includes Philip Morris International (PMI), which along with Altria makes Marlboro, the top-selling global brand; Japan Tobacco; and British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco of Britain.
They are a hardy group, unlikely to be frightened. But the methods they have used to withstand a half-century of battering by regulators may be losing power. In the rich world, where the economy is stagnant, smokers are trading down to cheaper puffs. The regulatory climate in developing countries is becoming more hostile. New technologies such as e-cigarettes promise to deliver nicotine less riskily. Big tobacco firms may master them, but it would be a radical shift, similar to converting the car industry from internal-combustion engines to battery power. David Adelman of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, does not "see anything that's reversing the conventional tobacco business model." But the model needs adjustment.
Some reasons for Mr. Adelman's confidence are sound. Advertising bans and the industry's status prevent would-be competitors. When cigarette-makers raise prices, smokers cough up. Global consumption keeps rising, thanks largely to population growth in poorer countries. The cigarette giants indulge investors with big dividends and share buy-backs; they have flocked to tobacco share.
单选题
According to Paragraph 1, it can be learned that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：选项A“适当的医疗可以降低抽烟的危险”，似乎在表明抽烟没关系，能治好。不符合原文，也不符合常理。选项B曲解了原文“marking the beginning of the end of cigarette manufacturing—and of smoking itself—as a respectable activity”的信息，该句大意是：将禁烟和禁止烟草生产当作一种可敬的行为，而并非选项B中关于“50年前抽烟被认为很体面”的意思。选项C符合原文“But advertising restrictions, smoking bans and stigma have had their effect: the proportion of American adults who smoke has dropped from 43％ to 18％; smoking rates among teenagers are at a record low. In many other countries the trends are similar”的表述。禁烟效果的确很明显。故C项正确。选项D正好与选项C所表述的意思相反。
单选题
Boris claimed that smoking ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的大写词“Boris"定位到第二段，而“claimed(宣称)”对应该段第二行的“declaring(宣称)”，故答案来自declaring后面的内容。选项B中的“prohibited(禁止)”，选项D中的“ended(结束)”与第三行的“promised ‘end-game strategies’ to stamp out cigarettes altogether”的表述是一致的，但是文章并没有提到什么时候才能实现禁烟，B项的“soon”，和D项的“in the following half-century”是错误的，故这两项是错误的。选项A和C两项表述接近，与原文也接近，原文提到：He added diabetes colorectal cancer and other ailments to the list of ills it causes. 大意为：吸烟导致各种疾病。与选项A的表述基本一致，C项中的“usually”一词是错误的，文章并没有讲述吸烟导致疾病的频率有多高，因此答案为A。
单选题
The underlined phrase "snuffed out" (Para. 3, Line 2) means ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：原文：Were that to happen America's three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, could be—snuffed out, too. 大意为：如果这件事情发生了，美国三大烟草公司也会被snuffed out。too一词说明上文提到了与“snuffed out”意思相同的词，我们找到上一段最后一句：...and promised“end-game strategies”to stamp out cigarettes altogether. 上文说把香烟stamp out，下文又说烟草公司被snuff out，说明“snuff out”=“stamp out”。即使两个短语都看不懂，至少我们知道out表示“向外”，把烟草和烟草公司“向外”，自然是表达一个否定的意思。我们来看四个选项：“call out(召集，叫喊)”；“wipe out(擦掉，彻底摧毁)”；“find out(发现)”；“fall out(争吵，掉队)”。A和C两项明显是中性，没有否定、贬义的意思，肯定不与snuff out相等，故排除。而D项“fall out(争吵，掉队)”也不符合文章要求，故答案是B。
单选题
New technologies like e-cigarettes ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“new technologies like e-cigarettes”定位到第四段中间部分：New technologies such as e-cigarettes promise to deliver nicotine less riskily．选项A中的“produce no harmful chemicals”显然与“deliver nicotine less riskily”不符，原文说的是“less riskily(危害更少)”，而不是“没有危害”，故A项可以排除。B和C两项文章没有提到。而D项对应倒数第二句：David Adelman of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, does not“see anything that's reversing the conventional tobacco business model. ”其中“may not easily”对应“does not see anything”；“substitute conventional tobacco(取代传统烟草)”对应“reversing the conventional tobacco business model(转变传统烟草商业模式)”。故该项正确。
单选题
When the price of cigarette goes up, smokers may ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“when the price of cigarettes goes up”定位到第五段第二行：When cigarette—makers raise price…其中“goes up”对应“raise”。故本题答案非常好找，但是不好理解。答案句是“smokers cough up”。即使不认识“cough up(咳出，掏出，勉强说出)”，我们也可以通过排除法来解题。首先选项A，have a cough(咳嗽)，这么字面意思的词可以先排除。其次，选项B，stop buying it和选项D，quit smoking at once表达意思差不多，因此这两项可以排除。从而我们可以得出答案为选项C，be reluctant to buy it(不情愿购买，勉强购买)。