The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place
Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet. . . We are surrounded by the word "diet" everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.
Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale（秤） instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word "diet" in food labels.
On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don't have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients(营养成分). Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm that comes from using them.
1. From Paragraph 1, we learn that _________.| A．diet products fail to bring out people's potential |
| B．people have difficulty in choosing diet products |
| C．diet products are misleading people |
| D．people are fed up with diet products |
| A．try out a variety of diet foods |
| B．hesitate before they enjoy diet foods |
| C．pay attention to their own eating habits |
| D．watch their weight rather than their diet |
| A．losing weight is effortless |
| B．it costs a lot to lose weight |
| C．diet products bring no pain |
| D．diet products are free from calories |
C: central point P: point Sp: sub-point（次要点） C: conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Today，we are constantly bombarded with media reports about research on the right diet to follow to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle or lose weight—but it’s hard to know which one to pick and，once chosen，it's harder still to stick to it.And now there’s another choice to get our teeth into.
A flexitarian(弹性素食者)diet involves eating plant—based foods and only occasionally eating meat and fish.This eating style allows you to supplement some ingredients that you wouldn’t get in a stricter vegan(素食主义者)diet—another trend growing in popularity.And like veganism，flexitarianism isn’t about eating carefully to help you lose a few pounds—it’s something people choose for ethical reasons，to help the planet.And a study into the global food system and how it affects the climate，has found that eating mainly plant-based foods is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all by 2050.
This research found that food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve to achieve this.But without a single solution，a combined approach is needed.Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford was one of the lead authors of the report.He told the BBC“We really found that a combination of measures would be needed to stay within environmental limits and those include changes towards healthier more plant—based diets.”
But whereas vegans think it's wrong for animals to be killed for food，flexitarians believe eating meat once in a while is acceptable.And Dr Springmann agrees—as long as we“treat it as a luxury，it’s probably OK but you shouldn’t have more than one serving of red meat，which includes beef and pork，per week.”And here’s another fact to digest:If we moved to this type of diet，the study found that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture would be cut by more than half.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the topic. | B．To entertain the readers. |
| C．To ask for information. | D．To present an idea. |
| A．is the most popular eating style | B．involves eating no meat |
| C．benefits the environment | D．only balances the nutrition |
| A．It’s wrong to kill animals for food. |
| B．Improving farming practices makes no sense. |
| C．A plant-based diet has nothing to do with climate change. |
| D．Combined measures are needed for environmental protection. |
| A．Methods of keeping fit | B．Choose a flexitarian diet |
| C．Measures to protect the environment | D．Keep a strict vegan diet |
【推荐2】Living the light life
Many of us like to dine out and treat ourselves to delicious food. We are used to choosing hearty, fat-filled dishes and sugar-charged desserts, which are not easily cooked at home.
The recent rise of light meals, however, gives dine smarter choice. According to Economic Daily, low-calorie, low-fat and high-fiber meals have become popular in China’s restaurants and online delivery platforms.
The country saw a rapid expansion of restaurants specializing in light meals, from just 600 in 2017 to more than 3,500 in 2018. According to a report released by Meituan, a major online food delivery platform, the number of light meals ordered online also rose 75 percent from the previous year.
Having a light meal, however, doesn’t mean eating only vegetables. Different from the meat-free lifestyle, a typical light dish avoids oily, salty and spicy food. Instead, it contains things like boiled meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Healthy nutrients are the theme of the light meal.
“These dishes are useful for keeping healthy and controlling your weight. That’s probably why so many young people, especially millennials (千禧一代), are into them.Diners see it as a great way to avoid bloating (变胖),” wrote the Telegraph.
“After eating several light meals, I felt my appetite (胃口) has shrunk. I now prefer light flavors,” Zou Jing, a college teacher in Wuhan, told China Daily. She shared a picture of her lunch: a mixture of beef, eggs, corn, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.
These changes in eating behavior are connected to deeper changes in how people think about food, says Walter Willett, chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health, US. “Diet quality, not quantity is important for both weight control and long-term well-being,” Willett told The New York Times.
So the next time you have a party with friends, try a light meal. It will satisfy not only your stomachs but maybe also your hearts.
1. What are light meals?| A．Fat-filled dishes. |
| B．Meat-free dishes. |
| C．Sugar-charged desserts. |
| D．Low-calorie and high-fiber meals. |
| A．Listing numbers. |
| B．Giving examples. |
| C．Giving descriptions. |
| D．Showing other people’s opinions. |
| A．The typical feature of light meals. |
| B．Different eating lifestyles. |
| C．Healthy nutrients. |
| D．The importance of vegetables. |
| A．Light meals are usually colorful. |
| B．Light meals can help people control their weight. |
| C．Light meals are cheaper than other meals. |
| D．Light meals are simple and convenient. |
| A．Light meals will stay popular for a short time. |
| B．One’s eating habit shows their personality. |
| C．It’s important to eat the right amount of good food. |
| D．There is a change in attitude toward healthy eating. |
【推荐3】The climate change has become an issue that no one can escape from. If the world wants to limit climate change, water shortage and pollution, then we all need to choose “flexitarian (弹性素食)” diets, say scientists.
This means eating mainly plant-based food, which is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all in 2050, they say. Food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve, according to the study. Without action, the impacts of the food system could increase by up to 90%. Fast on the heels of the landmark report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) comes this new study on how food production and consumption impact major threats to the planet.
The authors say that the food system has a number of significant environmental impacts including being a major driver of climate change,providing freshwater and reducing pollution through over use of nitrogen (氮) and phosphorus (磷).
The study says that thanks to the population and income growth expected between 2010 and 2050, these impacts could grow between 50%-90%. This could push our world beyond its geographic boundaries. So when it comes to climate change, the authors looked at what they called a “flexitarian diet”.
“We can eat a range of healthy diets but what they all have in common, according to the latest scientific evidence, is that they are all relatively plant-based,” said lead author Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford.
“You can go from a diet that has small amounts of animal products; some might call it a ‘Mediterranean-based’ diet; we call it a ‘flexitarian’ diet. We tried to stay with the most conservative one of these which in our view is the flexitarian one, but even this has only one serving of red meat per week,” he added.
If the world moved to this type of diet, the study found that greenhouse gas emissions (排放) from agriculture would be reduced by more than half.
1. What will happen if the new diet is popular globally?| A．The climate will become warmer. |
| B．The food consumption will increase. |
| C．People will have less greenhouse gas. |
| D．People will produce more food waste. |
| A．Supportive. |
| B．Doubtful. |
| C．Opposed. |
| D．Indifferent. |
| A．The animals will be saved. |
| B．People will need more water. |
| C．The climate change will stop. |
| D．The pollution will be controlled. |
| A．Eat animal products every meal. |
| B．Eat plant-based vegetables every meal. |
| C．Eat mainly vegetables and never eat animal products. |
| D．Eat plant-based meal mainly and animal products sometimes. |
