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So called “sin taxes” on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco not only work, but will help rather than improperly punish the poor, according to a major new international analysis.
Just a day before the UK brings in a levy on sugary drinks, experts are urging every country in the world to use taxes to keep people from the eating, drinking and smoking habits that will damage their health.The experts analyzed the effects of taxes on sugary drinks, tabacco and alcohol in countries that have introduced them and found that the criticism that they are punishing the poorest in unfounded.
Experts did a survey. They looked at 13 countries: Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Albania, Poland, Turkey, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Niger, Nigeria, India and Timor-Leste. They found that wealthier families generally spend more on alcohol, soft drinks and snacks. In India, for instance, wealthier households spent seven times more on alcohol and three times more on soft drinks and snacks compared to poorer households. So those households end up paying a larger proportion of any tax.
On the other hand, taxes have a greater impact on the smaller household budgets of poorer families. They respond by buying less, with greater benefits for their health. In the UK, say the authors, the response to the possible introduction of a minimum price for alcohol was estimated to be 7.6 times larger in the poorest households, compared with the wealthiest.
In Mexico, the introduction of a sugary drinks tax resulted in an average of 4.2 litres less of soft drinks purchased per person, with a 17% decrease in purchases among lower income groups and almost no change in higher income groups. In Lebanon, they say, a 50% increase in the price of cigarettes would lead to twice as many people quitting smoking in poorer households as wealthy families.
“The evidence suggests that concerns about higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and soft drinks harming the poor are overstated,” said Dr Rachel Nugent from RTI International in Seattle, USA, and chair of the Lancet Taskforce on NCDs and economics.
“Some degree of taxation on tobacco is common in many countries, and while we are starting to see progress on alcohol taxes, there is much more governments should be doing – in both high and low income countries – to consider the careful introduction of taxes on other unhealthy products like soft drinks and snacks. Price policies such as taxes will be a key part of the response to rising rates of non-communicable
diseases(慢性非传染病).”
The UK sugar tax is a levy on the manufacturers of 18p per litre for drinks containing 5g of sugar per 100ml and 24p on those with 8g per 100ml.Many companies have reformulated their products, often swapping artificial sweeteners for sugar. Some – like Coca-Cola – have decided to stick to the original recipe and the price will rise, although the bottles and cans will shrink to reduce the impact.
1.What do we know about the “sin taxes”?
A. They receive warm welcome in developing countries.
B. They help people get rid of unhealthy lifestyles.
C. They have the same effects on the poor and rich.
D. They have a deeper influence on groups with high income.
2.Which of the following is TRUE about the responses to “sin taxes”?
A. The public have turned a deaf ear to it.
B. The government has introduced taxes on snacks.
C. Many companies have raised the price of their products.
D. Coca-Cola will use smaller packages to counter the impacts.
3.The author support his ideas in the passage by .
A. giving examples
B. telling stories
C. analyzing causes and effects
D. reasoning and concluding
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)-also called “second-hand smoke” and “passive smoking” contains over 4 000 chemicals, including over 50 known carcinogens (致癌物) and many poisonous things. No safe level of ETS exposure has been proved. Nor is there any expectation that further research will identify such a level.
Several recent reviews have confirmed the serious risks to health and life associated with passive smoking. Long time exposure to second-hand smoke has been proved as a cause of many of the same diseases caused by active smoking, including lung cancer, cardiovascular (心脏血管的) disease, and childhood disease.
Living with a smoker has been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease (冠心病) among non-smokers by 25-30% (a recent study indicates that this figure may actually be higher).
There is also growing evidence that passive smoking is causally linked to stroke in non-smokers, although further research is needed to estimate the risk.Second-hand smoke is especially dangerous for young children and infants, being associated with sudden infant death, pneumonia, bronchitis (支气管炎), asthma (哮喘) and respiratory symptoms as well as middle ear disease. ETS exposure in pregnant women can cause lower birth weight, foetal (胎儿的) death and preterm delivery.
Most of the adverse health outcomes brought about by ETS show that the risk increases steadily with increasing exposure. The level of individual risk is lower compared to active smoking. Nevertheless, the fact that large numbers of people are exposed results in a substantial burden of disease.
Action on smoke-free environments would not only protect people from the harm of ETS exposure but also contribute to the reduction of tobacco consumption in the whole population. The health effects of reduced passive and active smoking would include reduced illness and death from major disease types-in particular lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and stroke-and increased life expectancy.
51. Which of the following statements is true? _______
A. Although ETS contains many harmful things, it is not unsafe.
B. The fact that second-hand smoke is safe has been recently found.
C. It is expected that further research will be done to test the level of ETS.
D. By far the safe level of ETS has not been found and will not in the future.
52. Cardiovascular disease can be caused by _______.
A. long time passive smoking B. accidental active smoking
B. occasional passive smoking D. short term active smoking
53. According to the article, the statements about the risk of coronary heart disease are wrong EXCEPT that________
A. if you smoke, the risk of this disease will increase by 25-30%.
B. the non-smokers exposed to smoke will increase the risk of this disease by 25-30%.
C. for the smokers, the risk of getting this disease is higher than that of the non-smokers.
D. the non-smokers exposed to smoke will be more easily to get this disease than the smokers.
54. What does the underlined word “delivery” mean? ________.
A. Transferring to another B. Giving birth C. Throwing away D. Giving out
55. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this passage? ______
A. To introduce what is ETS.
B. To tell the readers how to avoid ETS.
C. To call for the action against ETS.
D. To warn the readers against smoking.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
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My college experience included this life-skill lesson: Drink alcohol on a full stomach. Or you will get inebriated too quickly. Of course, most college students shouldn’t be drinking at all, but we know from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that close to 60 percent of college students aged 18 to 22 do consume alcohol, which makes harm-reducing approaches important.
Unfortunately, campus authorities and researchers are reporting a practice that turns the full-stomach drinking strategy on its head: rather than filling up before a night of partying, significant numbers of students refuse to eat all day before consuming alcohol.
This is a high-risk behavior called “drunkorexia,” which is one part eating disorder, one part alcoholism—a very dangerous combination for college-age students. The term drunkorexia, which can also include excessive exercise or purging before consuming alcohol, was coined about 10 years ago, and it started showing up in medical research around 2012. Drunkorexia addresses the need to be the life of the party while staying extremely thin, pointing to a flawed mind-set about body image and alcoholism among college students, mostly women.
Imagine this scenario: A female college freshman doesn’t eat anything all day, exercises on an empty stomach, then downs five shots of tequila in less than two hours. Because there’s no food in her system to help slow the absorption of alcohol, those shots affect her rapidly, leading to inebriation and possibly passing out, vomiting or suffering alcohol poisoning. That’s drunkorexia.
Tavis Glassman, professor of health education and public health at the University of Toledo in Ohio, researches drunkorexia and worries about scenarios such as the one described above: “With nothing in her system, alcohol hits quickly, and that brings up the same issues as with any high-risk drinking: sexual assault, unintentional injury, fights, hangovers that affect class attendance and grades, and possibly ending up in emergency because the alcohol hits so hard,” he says.
“Alcohol can negatively affect the liver or gastrointestinal system, it can interfere with sleep, lower the immune system and is linked to several types of cancers,” Hultin says.
1.What does the underlined word “inebriated” in paragraph 1 mean?
A.excited B.overwhelmed C.addicted D.drunk
2.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A.a large number of college students spend most of their nights partying
B.some college students refuse to eat before drinking alcohol to keep slim
C.There is a direct link between body image and consuming alcohol
D.female college student is more likely to be hurt if she drinks alcohol
3.Which of the following may Tavis Glassman agree with?
A.With more food in one’s system, he may suffer from the effects of alcohol slowly.
B.Drinking five shots of tequila in less than two hours is the performance of drunkorexia.
C.Those who don’t attend classes and have lower grades tend to be addicted to alcohol.
D.Alcohol has negative effects on the immune system and may lead to several cancers.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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The ________ on driving after drinking alcohol is being carried out all over the country, which is helpful to reduce traffic accidents.
A．withdrawal B．prejudice
C．aim D．ban
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
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He drove after drinking alcohol, having a severe accident and had to get his arms removed．Since then, he has had to __31__ on his younger brother, who became his shadow, never leaving him alone for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was totally unable to do __32__ else. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their own problems and would often __33__. Finally, his younger brother went away and lived __34__, leaving him heartbroken and at a loss what to do.
__35__, a misfortune befell（降临）a girl. One night she was preparing dinner when the kerosene light on the stove was overturned, __36__ in a fire which took her hands away. Having decidedly __37__ her sister’s willingness to help her, she determined to be thoroughly __38__. At school, she always studied hard．Most of all she learned to be self-reliant. “I am lucky. Though my __39__ are broken, my heart can still fly.” she wrote in her blog.
One day, the young man and the girl were both invited to a（n）__40__ programme. The boy told the television hostess about his __41__ future, whereas the girl was full of __42__ for her life. They were both asked to write something on a piece of paper with their __43__. The boy: My younger brother’s arms are my arms. The girl: Broken wings, flying heart.
They had both gone through the same ordeal（痛苦经历）, but their different __44__ ________ determined the nature of their lives. As seems the case, __45__ disasters can strike our life at any time. How you handle the __46__ when faced with it is the true __47__ of your character. If you choose to __48__ or escape from the ordeal, it will follow you wherever you go. But if you decide to be strong, the __49__ will turn out to be a fortune on which new __50__will arise.
1.A．live B．stand C．rely D．assist
2.A．something B．everything C．nothing D．anything1,3,5
3.A．quarrel B．share C．support D．dislike
4.A．happily B．lonely C．separately D．disappointedly
5.A．Unfortunately B．Unexpectedly C．Similarly D．Naturally
6.A．leading B．bringing C．causing D．resulting
7.A．turned to B．turned down C．turned off D．turned against
8.A．alone B．free C．independent D．successful
9.A．arms B．wings C．dreams D．promises
10.A．interview B．radio C．sports D．health
11.A．hopeful B．uncertain C．bright D．miserable
12.A．calmness B．enthusiasm C．patience D．excitement
13.A．hands B．strength C．toes D．mouths
14.A．characters B．desires C．opinions D．attitudes
15.A．unexpected B．passive C．rough D．serious
16.A．emergency B．misfortune C．difficulty D．accident
17.A．test B．reflection C．display D．problem
18.A．ignore B．resist C．complain D．suffer
19.A．problem B．result C．failure D．hardship
20.A．solutions B．ways C．rewards D．hopes
高三英语完型填空困难题查看答案及解析
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71. People eat a lot of sugar __________ cakes, soft drinks, sweets and so on every day.
A．in form of
B．in the shape of
C．shaped by
D．at form of
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
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is known to us is that tobacco contains nicotine and other harmful products，so you should give up smoking．
A．As B．It C．What D．Which
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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______ is known to us is that tobacco contains nicotine and other harmful products, so you should give up smoking.
A. As B. It C. What D. Which
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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______ is known to us is that tobacco contains nicotine and other harmful products, so you should give up smoking.
A.As B.It C.What D.Which
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Bees seem to fly aimlessly as they search for the sugary liquid called nectar (花蜜). But their flight plans actually do have a pattern. Flowers act as the insects’ air-traffic controllers. And new research shows bees prefer flowers that aren’t too flashy.
Flowers give bees clues about how much a plant can offer. Those clues can be in the color of petals, in the type, in the smell or even in the electrical charge. All of these characteristics send signals to the bees, telling them whether to land or not, among which the colors play the most significant role. The insects keep track of the color of the flowers that are especially rich in nectar. They then visit more flowers of that color.
However, color can’t guarantee bees a good meal. It may change depending on the angle at which sunlight hits its petals. A yellow follower, for example, may look somewhat blue from one angle and red from another. Beverley Glover studies plants at the University of Cambridge in England. Glover and her colleagues showed that even when the color of petals looks similar, bees behave differently in searching for nectar. They started to guess that the strength of petals’ indescence (色彩斑斓) might be related to how bees find the petals.
Glover and her colleagues tested their hypothesis in the lab. In their experiment, they found that bees felt confused sometimes when the petals were very iridescent and that bees had no problem finding the flowers with more nectar when the petals were not very iridescent. The team shared its new findings in the March 21 Current Biology.
“At first glance, it’s very surprising because animals can usually detect a more vivid signal more easily,” says Klaus Lunau, a biologist in Germany, who was not involved in the study.
1.What can we know about the flight of bees?
A. They usually fly in a regular pattern.
B. They fly under the direction of flowers.
C. They usually fly without any purpose.
D. They fly to some very flashy flowers.
2.What is the most important clue for bees to search for nectar?
A. The petals’ type. B. The followers’ smell.
C. The followers’ electrical charge. D. The petals’ color.
3.What does the underlined word “hypothesis” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Discussion. B. Method.
C. Assumption. D. Invention
4.What is the new finding of the team?
A. Petals that are not very flashy are better for bees to make adjustments.
B. Petals of different color usually give different signals.
C. Petals that are vivid are detected by bees more easily.
D. Petals of different types make bees confused to find the right flower.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
There is also growing evidence that passive smoking is causally linked to stroke in non-smokers, although further research is needed to estimate the risk.