This morning, while tidying up my office, I found an open box of packaged chocolate cookies that I’d bought sometime last year. The use-by date had come and gone more than eight months ago. Curious, I took a small bite. They still tasted pretty good.
Welcome to the world of ultra-processed (超加工) foods. And we’re eating a lot of them. Ultra-processed foods currently make up nearly 60% of what the typical adult eats, and nearly 70% of what kids eat. They include everything from cookies and sodas to packaged breads and frozen meals, even ice creams. You might not realize you’re eating one, but look close and you’ll see many ingredients you wouldn’t find in your kitchen.
And a large and growing amount of evidence has consistently linked overconsumption of ultra-processed foods to poor health outcomes. “Too much of it leads to obesity and type two diabetes (糖尿病) and heart disease and cancer.” says Christopher Gardner, a professor at Stanford University, who has spent decades studying the links between diet and chronic disease (慢性病).
One reason ultra-processed foods likely lead to health issues seems obvious: They tend to be low in fiber and high in calories, salt, added sugar and fat, which are all linked with poor health outcomes when eaten too much.
Eventually, Gardner says the burden of making healthier food choices shouldn’t fall completely on consumers-especially when it comes to setting kids up for better health long term. “It does need the whole society to pay attention to this, to work together, including the food industry and the government, to be able to reduce the amount of ultra-processed food our kids are consuming in their day,” he says.
1. What does the author want to say in the second paragraphs?| A．Ultra-processed foods preserve the flavor long. |
| B．Ultra-processed foods have become a big part of our diet. |
| C．Convenience explains the popularity of ultra-processed foods. |
| D．A lot of health problems result from consumption of ultra-processed foods. |
| A．Overproduction. | B．Overselling. | C．Overstore. | D．Overeating. |
| A．Fewer diseases. | B．Health problems. |
| C．Dietary changes. | D．Market competition. |
| A．Punish the food industry. | B．Reduce kids’ consumption. |
| C．Unite efforts from all sides. | D．Make smarter food choices. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Mars will launch a new range of lower calorie chocolate bars next month to avoid the government’s latest crackdown on unhealthy snacks.
The company’s “Triple Treat” range will include new versions of Mars, Bounty, Snickers and Galaxy bars, and will be available exclusively in Tesco supermarkets. The new formulation Mars bar will be 22 per cent smaller and contain 24 per cent fewer calories. However, it will cost 80p rather than the 65p charged for a standard bar. The company said the higher price was justified because it had used more expensive ingredients, such as date paste, raisins and peanuts in the new version.
From October, foods considered high in salt, fat or sugar, including Mars’s traditional bars, will be banned from checkouts, store entrances and the ends of aisles under government plans to control the obesity crisis.
The NHS (National Health Service) spends more than £6 billion a year treating obesity-related ill health. The government says that children in the poorest parts of the country are more than twice as likely to be obese as their peers in the wealthiest areas. Kerry Cavanaugh, Mars Wrigley UK Marketing Director, said: “Triple Treat does exactly what it says on the tin-it’s packed with a trio of fruit, nuts and our iconic chocolate, and is delightfully delicious to boot. At Mars Wrigley, we’re thrilled that Brits can now enjoy a great tasting-and health-friendly-Galaxy, Mars, Snickers and Bounty treat. Per 100g, the new Mars will contain 37 per cent less fat, 30 per cent less sugar and 55 per cent less salt than the original bar. Mars has developed the range over the past 18 months to ensure that it can continue placing its chocolate snacks in prominent locations in stores.”
Other candy and chocolate giants have struggled to make products that are in accordance with the government’s new rules. In 2019 Mondelez released Cadbury Dairy Milk with 30 per cent less sugar yet learnt that it was still in trouble when the criteria were confirmed two years later.
1. What do we know about the new Mars bars?| A．They are sold at an unacceptable price. |
| B．They will be available in three versions. |
| C．They can be bought in most supermarkets. |
| D．They feature lower calories and smaller size. |
| A．To crack clown on illegal snacks. | B．To ease the obesity crisis. |
| C．To raise money for poor children. | D．To treat obesity-related illnesses. |
| A．The New Mars are both tasty and healthy. |
| B．Britons will be disappointed at the new Mars. |
| C．Mars bars are reinvented as sugar-free snacks. |
| D．Restrictions on chocolate bars should be lifted. |
| A．The new rules require further tightening up. |
| B．Businesses are slow to respond to the new rules. |
| C．The new rules have hardly benefited snack producers. |
| D．Businesses have had a hard time adjusting to the new rules. |
【推荐2】Good health is the most valuable thing a person can have. It is important to remember that the body needs proper care in order to be healthy. There are three things that a person can do to help stay in good shape: eat right food, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly.
Proper nutrition (营养) is important for good health. Your body cannot work well unless it receives the proper kind of "fuel". Donˈt eat too much food with lots of sugar and fat. Eat plenty of foods high in protein (蛋白质), like meat, fish, eggs and nuts. Vegetables and fruits are very important because they provide necessary vitamins and minerals. However, donˈt overeat. It is not helpful to be overweight.
Getting the proper amount of sleep is also important. If you donˈt get enough sleep, you feel tired and easily get angry. You have no energy. Over a long period of time a little amount of sleep may even result in a change of personality (个性). Be sure to allow yourself to have seven to nine hours of sleep each night. If you do, your body will feel strong and refreshed, and your mind will be sharp.
Finally, get plenty of exercise. Exercise makes the body strong and prevents you from putting on weight. It also improves your heart and lungs. If you follow a regular exercise program, you will probably increase your lifespan (寿命). Any kind of exercise is good. Most sports are very good for keeping the body in good shape: basketball, swimming, bicycling, running and so on, are good examples. Sports are not only good for your body, but they are enjoyable and interesting, too.
If everybody were to eat the right foods, get plenty of sleep and exercise regularly, the world would be a happier and healthier place. We would all live to be much older and wiser.
1. The passage mainly tells us that ________.| A．how we can keep fit |
| B．why health is important for us |
| C．nutrition is important for health |
| D．sleep is more important than nutrition and exercise |
| A．we should eat a lot of sweets |
| B．one needs a large amount of fat |
| C．people should eat according to the foodsˈ nutrition |
| D．we must try to sleep now and then |
| A．can keep you healthy | B．are no good for you |
| C．get you more energy | D．will keep your personality |
| A．Eating and Exercising |
| B．How Vitamins Work in Manˈs Body |
| C．How to Stay Healthy |
| D．Sleeping Well |
【推荐3】Does the lemon, the famous fruit of Limone, contain a secret ingredient that fights heart disease? Limone a small lemon-growing town on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, holds a mystery which has made it popular with tourists in search of health. About 30 years ago scientists discovered that many people from the town had a unique protein in their blood. Thanks to it, the town’s people remained unaffected by heart disease even if they smoked, drank alcohol or ate large quantities of animal fat.
The discovery was wonderful for the people who lived in Limone; nowadays a million tourists visit their town between March and November each year. That makes 4,000 tourists per day - four times the actual population of the town. It is popularly believed that the protein must come from the lemons, which the town has grown for centuries. Until the discovery of the protein, the fruit was the only real source of income for the townspeople.
Lemons, which were brought to Europe from the Middle East in the 12th century, have many well-documented power. Over the years they have been used to treat all sorts of illnesses. At its peak in the 19th century , the lemon industry in Limone produced as many as 15 million of the fruit annually. The crop was so successful because of the situation of Lake Garda: although it is relatively far north, it is protected from the winner cold by the mountains which surround it.
Nowadays, sadly, competition from southern lemon producers has meant that Limone concentrates more on its tourist industry than on lemon growing. The few remaining growers still produce the best quality lemon, however. Signor Ezio Ceruti, a lemon producer, says, “ To grow these lemons you need to love the trees and learn from the old people who still remember how it was once done .The trees respond by being healthy and producing beautiful fruit .” Although scientists do not yet know for certain whether this fruit contains the magic ingredient that protect the people of Limone against heart disease, a local lemon producer’s recommendation for health is simple: each day slice a whole lemon into a cup, fill with boiling water, cover, leave overnight, then strain and drink.
1. What do scientists believe about the unique protein?| A．It protects people against heart disease. |
| B．It can treat all sorts of illness. |
| C．It comes from the lemon. |
| D．It keeps people away from smoking and drinking. |
| A．people in Limone ate a whole lemon each day. |
| B．the tourist industry developed rapidly in Limone |
| C．more people in Limone started to grow lemons. |
| D．Lemon became the main source of income for Limone. |
| A．It has a population of about 1,000. |
| B．It is located at the top of a high mountain. |
| C．It produced more than 15 million lemons every year. |
| D．Its lemon-growing history dates back to the 19th century |
| A．we’re within easy reach of health |
| B．a lemon a day keeps the doctor away. |
| C．Lemon trees in Limone bear beautiful fruit . |
| D．one must work heart and soul to plant superior |
| A．Magic fruit of Limone |
| B．History of lemon growing |
| C．Lemon producers in Italy |
| D．Tourist industry in Limone |
【推荐1】Food waste is a serious problem. In 2010, nearly 133 billion pounds worth of food was transported to U.S. landfills. Food waste is truly a waste to all of humanity. That’s because when you throw out a rotten apple or a moldy container of leftovers, you’re not just throwing away the food, but all the resources that went into producing it.
Water plays a major role in food production, and as a result, food waste translates to a large amount of water wastage. All foods have a water footprint, the direct and indirect water that goes into producing a certain food, although some footprints are larger than others. In general, meats tend to need the most water for production, primarily because of the amount of food the animal needs. Also, larger animals aren’t as efficient in terms of meat production as smaller animals like chickens or turkeys, and the bigger beasts therefore have a larger water footprint.
Food waste has environmental impacts, too. “If you put all the food waste into one country, it would be the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter,” says Brian Lipinski, an associate in the World Resource Institute’s Food Program. Decomposing (分解) food that makes its way into landfills releases methane (甲烷), which is significantly more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.
All is not lost, however. There are many efforts underway to cut food loss at every level. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency recently called for a 50 percent reduction in food waste by 2030. Meanwhile, Portland launched a citywide composting (堆制肥料) program a few years ago. And at the retail (零售) level, the former president of Trader Joe’s recently opened a store near Boston that sells surplus food donated by grocery stores at low prices.
Still, waste can’t be avoided. There’s never going to be some ideal or perfect way to eliminate it all. Fortunately, change at any level, whether it’s as a supplier, retailer or consumer, will help ease the impact of food waste on natural resources.
1. Why is wasting food a waste of water resources?| A．Food waste contains a lot of water. |
| B．Food waste causes water pollution. |
| C．Food production needs plenty of water. |
| D．Dealing with food waste consumes much water. |
| A．It smells rather terrible. |
| B．It poisons the soil severely. |
| C．It carries a lot of bacteria. |
| D．It releases a greenhouse gas. |
| A．Strategies for ensuring food safety. |
| B．Measures for reducing food waste. |
| C．Benefits of the composting program. |
| D．Causes of monitoring food production. |
| A．Better late than never. |
| B．Content is better than riches. |
| C．Many hands make light work. |
| D．Make hay while the sun shines. |
【推荐2】Russian police have started a new attempt to get drivers to slow down at zebra crossings by having painted horses as zebras walk across on the busiest streets in some of the big cities in an attempt to improve road safety and raise awareness among Russia’s notoriously (臭名昭著地) careless drivers.
The light grey horses, painted with black stripes, carried signs on their backs reading: “Careful, children are on their way to school.” The police sent the “zebras” to several different locations in the Russian capital, where officials in orange vests walked them over zebra crossings and handed out leaflets (传单) to passing drivers.
Some held up rainbow-coloured umbrellas over the painted animals to protect them from the rain. Russian roads are notoriously dangerous and drivers still rarely take the initiative (主动采取措施) to avoid pedestrians. Nearly half of all traffic accidents in the country’s big cities are caused by cars hitting pedestrians, and a third of those occur on crossings, according to traffic police figures published last month.
In the first six months of this year, 378 people were killed and more than 6, 600 injured on pedestrian crossings in Russia, according to police. In Moscow alone, 43 people were killed, including two children.
Though police officials said that only safe paint would be used on the animals, animal rights activists still disagreed with the idea, accusing the police of “treating animals like garbage”.
“Children understand that paints are bad for animals,” the Interfax news agency quoted president of Vita animal rights group Irina Novozhilova as saying.
Let’s hope this part of the campaign is over and animals are left out of future attempts to raise pedestrians’ awareness.
1. Why do Moscow police have “zebras” walk across on the busiest streets?| A．To make a call on protecting animals. |
| B．To remind people zebras are in danger of extinction. |
| C．To tell people it is dangerous to cross streets. |
| D．To raise drivers’ awareness of road safety. |
| A．The zebras. | B．The horses. |
| C．The policemen. | D．The drivers. |
| A．most Russian drivers have realized the seriousness of the problem |
| B．Russian drivers often ignore traffic lights |
| C．Russian drivers seldom give way to pedestrians |
| D．the driving skills of Russian drivers are bad |
| A．Drivers must slow down at pedestrian crossings. |
| B．These animals are ill-treated by the police. |
| C．The paints used on the horses are safe. |
| D．Road safety should be improved. |
| A．Critical. | B．Reserved. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
【推荐3】When plates are set on the table, phones, rather than forks, are at the ready. At this point in our social media entanglement (纠缠), the fact that the camera eats first is pretty much a given. Sure, some chefs, including Michelin rated star chefs, express their displeasure at this, but efforts to make the table a screen-free domain have mostly fallen flat.
New research from Aston University has found that people are indeed influenced by the food photos that their friends post on social media. For example, for every serving of fruits and vegetables that a person thinks their friends are eating, they’ll eat one-fifth of a serving more. This number makes more sense within the context of the recommended “five a day”, meaning someone who’s being influenced would make a point of eating six portions of fruits or vegetables. Similarly, for every three portions of junk food that a person sees friends consuming on social media, they’ll eat an extra one.
The researchers have also suggested that social media can be very beneficial when it comes to people’s choices of food and their diets. Study supervisors Dr. Jason Thomas said, “The implication is that we can use social media as a tool to encourage each other’s eating choice within friendship groups, and use this knowledge as a tool for public health interventions.”
Actually, the daily food situation is somewhat different from everything else posted on social media. People also desire to copy what they see but they need good social media literacy skills in order to grasp what’s realistic and what’s absurd. It is necessary to avoid the fake perfection of social media.
It gets boring trying to figure out what to eat three times a day, week after week, so no wonder people want to take the path of least resistance and eat what their friends are eating. Unfortunately, most of what gets posted is the more time-consuming recipes or the attractively styled restaurant meals. By all means, keep your antennae (触角) out for new ideas, but gather them from food magazines, cookbooks, store flyers, reliable cooking websites, and recommended recipes from friends and family.
1. What phenomenon is talked about in Para.1?| A．The influence of social media on people’s diet. |
| B．People’s taking photos of food before eating. |
| C．Chefs’ efforts to make the table screen-free. |
| D．The pursuit of dining in fancy restaurant. |
| A．They’ll copy what their friends do. |
| B．They’ll take junk food more seriously. |
| C．They’ll consume more than their friends. |
| D．They’ll care more about their friends’ eating habits. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Concerned. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Point out the unreality of social media. |
| B．Call on people to enrich their knowledge in cooking. |
| C．Introduce the general classification of food posted online. |
| D．Encourage people to broaden their sources of food inspiration. |
【推荐1】Imagine being able to pop to your local park and pick some tomatoes, potatoes or even bananas to take home for dinner. Sounds too good to be true, right? For residents (居民) of Andernach, German, it’s not just a dream — it’s their reality.
In 2010, Andernach began its edible (可食用的) city project that hadn’t been carried out before, planting 101 varieties of tomatoes in public green spaces around the city center. Its 30,000 residents are free to help themselves to whatever grows, as are any other visitors. The town’s motto of sorts is “Picking is encouraged — help yourself!” Every year a new type of plant is highlighted. In 2011, 100 types of beans were planted, while 2012 saw the introduction of 20 onion varieties. And it has become the phenomenon of the city.
It’s a community effort, as local citizens are encouraged to help plant and maintain the gardens. This offers an opportunity to socialize as well as to learn about planting, cultivating and harvesting food.
An Andernach resident spoke to DW,“I often drop by to pick some herbs that I’m missing at home. Everything is easily accessible. There aren’t any fences. You just take what you need. The only thing is that you have to be quick once the fruits are ripe or they’ll all be gone!”
Andernach may have been the first in German, but it isn’t the only edible city. It’s part of the Edible Cities Network, a project funded by European Union to connect green urban foot initiatives (方案) around the world. Other cities include Carthage in Tunisia, Havana in Cuba and Sempeter-Vrtojba in Slovenia. In February 2022, the first Edible Cities Network Conference took place. Dr Ina Saumel, principal investigator of the Edible Cities Network, called it “a unique opportunity to invite researchers of edible city solutions and practitioners all together.”
Ultimately, the Edible Cities Network aims to give people “greener, more edible and, above all, more livable cities.” It is a response to the pressures of global climate change, and a significant cause full of hope.
1. What can residents do in public green spaces according to the edible city project?| A．Sell the produce they grow there. | B．Learn something about dealing with people and planting. |
| C．Cook whatever plant as they like. | D．Pay to pick some vegetables and fruits there. |
| A．Creative and popular. | B．Conventional and costly. |
| C．Common and fundamental. | D．Rare and unacceptable. |
| A．Andernach is the only city to carry it out. | B．European Union originally established it. |
| C．It helps combine theories with practices. | D．It invites people to share meals together. |
| A．To help residents relieve their pressure. | B．To involve residents in urban planting. |
| C．To increase the produce supply in cities. | D．To create environmentally friendly cities. |
【推荐2】In 2015, researchers from Australia's Deakin University published one of the first studies measuring food's physical effect on the left hippocampus(海马体), a seahorse-shaped brain region crucial for memory, learning and decision making. It is also one of the first areas to shrink in people with dementia(痴呆). 252 people filled out diet surveys and then underwent scans that measured their brains. Four years later, they returned for another scan.
The study found that the left hippocampus was heftier in the healthy eaters than in the unhealthy ones, regardless of age, sex, weight, exercise habits or general health. The average difference was 203 square millimeters, nearly one third of a square inch. Sounds small, but that's room for a lot of extra brain cells. And strong new evidence showed that eating the right food and skipping the wrong stuff could help protect against declines in thinking and memory that lead to dementia.
"Plant-based diets may protect against memory decline and dementia," says lead researcher Claire McEvoy, RD. How is the power food working with your brain cells? Animal and test-tube experiments suggest that vitamins and fatty acids found in the plant food help new cells make copies of DNA when they divide and multiply. Meanwhile, the high-fat and the high-sugar processed food harms brain cells by leaving brain tissue damaged by free radicals (自由基). This may hold back brain plasticity, making the processed food an especially big threat for the developing brains of kids.
While food emerges as an important brain protector, experts say brain supplements (补充剂)aren't all that effective. These pills and capsules may contain many ingredients. But actually, studies show that they do not activate brain cells in a significantly positive way. "Let the buyer be aware of it," says David Hogan, MD, a specialist at Calgary University.
1. What does the underlined word "heftier" in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Darker. | B．Larger. |
| C．Smaller. | D．Cleverer. |
| A．The health benefits of plants. |
| B．The effects of food on the brain. |
| C．The key components of healthy diet. |
| D．The harm of the processed food to the brain. |
| A．Food is an important protector of the brain. |
| B．Pills and capsules contain many ingredients. |
| C．Brain supplements don't really benefit the brain. |
| D．Supplements affect the brain in a significant way. |
| A．Eating smart can benefit our brain. |
| B．The animal-based diet damages free radicals. |
| C．The high-fat food is the direct cause of dementia. |
| D．A balanced diet contributes to kids' learning ability. |
【推荐3】Sending a package back is not easy. Repacking, printing labels and shipping it back up to the seller is an increasingly familiar experience for online shoppers. In America 21%of online orders, worth some $218bn, were returned in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation, up from 18%in 2020. For clothing and shoes it can reach around 40%.
The problem has its roots in the birth of e-commerce. To compete with bricks-and-mortar (实体的) sellers and make consumers comfortable with ordering online, e-commerce firms offered free returns. Consumers came to expect it.
Each step of the process is costly. Retailers have to pay for goods to be picked up or posted. Processing returns is labor-intensive (劳动密集型), explains Zac Rogers who worked as a returns manager at Amazon. A return must be opened and someone has to decide what to do with it. “A worker in an Amazon warehouse can pick 30 items in a minute, but a return can take ten minutes to process, ” says Mr. Rogers.
Once processed, only 5% of the returned goods can be resold immediately by retailers. Most go to liquidators at the lowest prices or are thrown away.
One solution involves adding friction (阻力). Last year, a Japanese fashion brand became one of the first retailers to charge a small fee for posted returns. Other firms are selling more refurbished (翻新的) goods as a way to cut losses.
Startups are getting in on the action. Using artificial intelligence to help retailers decide what to do with the returned goods is the brainchild of them. Happy Returns, another startup, helps with logistics (物流). It has 5, 000 drop-off points for returns across America, mostly in chain stores. The returns are collected and sent back to retailers all at once, saving up to 40% of postage costs.
Some are experimenting with virtual reality (VR). Over half of the items are returned because they are the wrong size. In June Walmart said it would buy Memomi, an augmented-reality (AR) startup that lets shoppers virtually try on glasses in real-time for a seamless, easy and fun omnichannel experience. Walmart also offers ways to try on clothes and arrange furniture in rooms using AR.
1. Why did e-commerce firms offer free returns at first?| A．To cut costs. | B．To develop logistics service. |
| C．To compete with physical stores. | D．To show the advantage of shopping online. |
| A．Efficient. | B．Automatic |
| C．Expensive. | D．Time-consuming. |
| A．By charging a fee. | B．By raising the price of goods. |
| C．By selling more returned goods. | D．By using advanced technologies. |
| A．Walmart has pioneered the use of AR. |
| B．Technology plays a role in reducing returns. |
| C．VR and AR will be used in more industries. |
| D．Cooperation among companies is important. |
