1. How much did the man weigh two months ago?
| A．About 150 pounds. | B．About 160 pounds. | C．About 170 pounds. |
| A．From a book. | B．From a friend. | C．From a cook. |
| A．Change his diet. |
| B．Learn about an author. |
| C．Start to exercise regularly. |
| A．Shopping lists. | B．Eating habits. | C．Cooking methods. |
3 . A few months ago, I was in a cinema queue behind a man whose two sons were asking if they could have Tango Ice Blasts bright blue partly frozen drinks. The father hesitated for a moment. They’d already had too much sugary stuff that day, he said. “But it’s sugar-free,” replied one of the boys. That sealed the deal. The boys walked off happily into the cinema holding their drinks.
In an era when sugar is widely seen as enemy No.1, sugar-free drinks and treats, sweetened with low-calorie additives (添加剂), become well-liked and promise guilt-free sweetness. Some people deliberately choose low-sugar options in the hope of losing weight or managing diabetes; others just enjoy the taste.
But even if you aren’t seeking them out, it’s hard to avoid artificial sweeteners. In 2021, researchers looked at foods for sale in Hong Kong and found that sweeteners were present not just in products where you would expect them, such as sugarless chewing gum, but also in salad dressings, breads, instant noodles and many crisps.
They have become such a common part of our diet that environmental scientists have started looking for traces of them-particularly acesulfame potassium, which passes through the body largely undigested — as a marker for human waste in lakes and rivers.
The rise of sweeteners is, in part, a sign of the spectacular success of sugar taxes, which have been introduced in more than 40 countries since 2010. In the UK, the soft drinks industry tax was announced in 2016 and fully carried out in 2018, as part of a plan to “tackle childhood obesity”. The tax charged manufacturers 24p a litre for any drink with 8g or more of added sugar per 100ml. Almost all the major soft drinks brands in the UK cut the sugar content of their products and replaced the missing sweetness with some kind of artificial alternative. “Original” Coca-Cola and “blue” Pepsi were among the few drinks to keep their recipes the same. Once they became more expensive, compared to the sugar-free alternatives, their sales fell.
1. What made sugar-free drinks and treats popular?| A．The public’s pursuit of health. | B．The taste of low-calorie additives. |
| C．People’s promise to manage diabetes. | D．Parents’ expectation of guilt-free sweetness. |
| A．Because they are present in every food product. |
| B．Because they can be found in the environment. |
| C．Because they are widely used in our diet. |
| D．Because they are part of a plan to deal with obesity. |
| A．Major soft drinks brands reduced their products’ sugar content. |
| B．Coca-Cola and Pepsi refused to change their recipes. |
| C．Nearly all big soft drinks brands turned to artificial sweeteners. |
| D．Drink companies lowered the price to raise their sales. |
| A．Sugar, Enemy No.1. | B．The Rise of Artificial Sweeteners. |
| C．The Secret to Health: Low-calorie Additives. | D．Scientific Facts Behind Health. |
4 . A recent analysis from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine highlights the benefits of replacing animal products with plant-based foods. This analysis, which amplifies a previous study by the same committee, further emphasizes the significant impact of plant-based diets on weight loss, cholesterol (胆固醇) and fat intake in overweight adults.
The most significant finding is that both healthy and unhealthy plant-based foods contribute to weight loss when they replace animal products in the diet. This conclusion is significant because it underlines the potential of a plant-based diet, regardless of the specific type of plant-based foods consumed, in managing weight and improving overall health.
This analysis is a secondary examination of a prior study that involved 244 overweight adults. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group followed a low-fat vegan (素食的) diet, and the second made no changes to their diet. Obviously, the study set no restrictions on calorie intake, and the researchers did not give participants specific instructions on diet quality.
The study authors used two different indexes (指标) to assess: the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and the unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI). The hPDI emphasizes fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans, while the uPDI includes more refined grains and fruit juices. Higher scores on the indexes correlate with greater consumption of plant-based foods and reduced consumption of animal products.
The results revealed that after 16 weeks, participants on the vegan diet showed increased scores in both indexes. This increase significantly correlated with participants losing an average of about 13 pounds, mainly from reduced fat mass. The second group showed no change in their index scores.
Overall, the analysis provides strong evidence that eating plant-based foods is effective for weight management and health improvement.
1. What does the underlined word “amplifies” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Abuse. | B．Expand. | C．Launch. | D．Classify. |
| A．The causes of putting on weights. | B．The key insight on plant-based foods. |
| C．The significance of managing weights. | D．The specific types of plant-based foods. |
| A．By improving participants’ diet quality. |
| B．By following participants’ daily routines. |
| C．By monitoring participants’ calorie intake. |
| D．By comparing participants’ indexes scores. |
| A．Being on diet is the key to losing weight. |
| B．All plant products are beneficial to health. |
| C．Plant-based foods show promising results. |
| D．Animal products have no effect on weight. |
5 . An increasingly popular way of eating called reducetarianism may sound like a new weight loss trend. But that’s not the goal; instead, reducetarianism is about cutting down the amount of meat you eat and making small changes that are healthy for you and the planet. “But the vast majority don’t want to go vegan”, says Brian Kateman, co-founder of the Reducetarian Foundation. So he has a simple message for us: “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.” Compared with a vegetarian, reducetarians take a more flexible approach that acknowledges challenges of giving up meat entirely but still limits meat when possible.
The opposite side of eating less meat is eating more plant foods. Animal products often replace fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, leading to lack of nutrients from them. A more plant-based diet can help lower the risk of health problems including heart disease, colon cancer, and obesity. And research shows the climate impact from raising plant-based foods is less than that caused by animal-based foods. This is largely because it takes much more land, water, and other resources to produce a pound of meat than plant protein, says Dana Ellis, a dietitian.
The type of meat you buy matters too. Grass-fed meat — from animals raised without antibiotics (抗生素) — tend to be the more sustainable options. By grazing, cows encourage grass growth and nutrient turnover in the soil, which may help offset cattle’s climate impact, according to a study published in 2021.
Looking for local produce that requires no air transport and cutting down the food waste are also significant aspects of being a reducetarian. The message of reducetarianism is that you don’t have to be perfect to help yourself and the planet by making small changes in how you eat and shop for food. And that’s something we all can accomplish.
1. What does reducetarianism refer to?| A．A new weight loss trend. | B．A healthy diet with little meat. |
| C．An idea of accepting imperfection. | D．An approach to being a vegetarian. |
| A．It ensures all the nutrients needed. | B．It does less damage to the environment. |
| C．It helps to free people from diseases. | D．It allows people to obtain more protein. |
| A．A meat lover. | B．A cow raiser. | C．A keen environmentalist. | D．A devoted vegetarian. |
| A．Small changes in diet better man and the earth. | B．Any quantity of food waste should be avoided. |
| C．Reducetarianism is something far from perfect. | D．Food produced locally can offer more nutrition. |
6 . Just like a car engine needs petrol, your body needs fuel. It needs food!
The things you eat and drink are turned into energy.
You need energy for everything-playing, walking, running, thinking-even sleeping.
Feeling hungry may mean you are running low on energy. If it is not meal time, you may need a snack to refuel.
But what sort of snack should you eat? This is like choosing the right fuel for a car. Some cars, such as racing cars, need the best fuel to go fast and keep their engines running smoothly.
So, if you want to be at your most lively, choose the best fuel. This means eating healthy snacks.
There is no better way to keep your engine running smoothly!
| Healthy Snacks (Eat these often) | Unhealthy Snacks (Eat these only sometimes) |
| ●Nuts ●Seeds ●Dried ●Fresh vegetables ●Fresh fruit | ●Chips ●Sweets ●Soft drinks ●Chocolate bars ●Cookies ●Fast food |
| A．Your body. | B．Petrol. | C．Fuel. | D．A car engine. |
| A．Bananas. | B．Peanuts. | C．Cookies. | D．Tomatoes. |
| A．Chips. | B．Chocolate. | C．Nuts. | D．Biscuits. |
| A．eat chips and biscuits | B．eat seeds than vegetables |
| C．eat healthy snacks at mealtimes | D．eat healthy snacks between meals |
| A．The best fuel helps racing cars go slowly. |
| B．Eating healthy food is good for your health. |
| C．Feeling hungry means you are sick. |
| D．You can’t eat unhealthy snacks. |
7 . Alarming levels of dangerous chemicals known as Perfluorinated Alkylated Substances (PFAS) were discovered in food packaging at a number of well-known fast-food restaurants and grocery store chains, a new report found. The report comes more than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public has relied heavily on takeout and grocery deliveries.
Often called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment, PFAS are used in food packaging to prevent grease (油脂) and water from soaking through food wrappers and cups. PFAS can also be found in the ink used to print logos and instructions on food containers.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls exposure to PFAS a “public health concern”, citing that the human-made chemicals can harm the immune system and reduce a person’s resistance to infectious diseases.
Regulatory limits for how much PFAS food packaging should contain can vary greatly. For instance, a new law in California set the limit at less than 100 ppm. “Compared to America, Denmark sets a much lower regulatory limit of 20 ppm with great success,” said Xenia Trier, an expert at the European Environment Agency. “It does work to set limits and enforce them. PFAS do migrate from the paper into the food. Even though it was not 100%, we still saw considerable transmission. In general, transmission from packaging to food is increased as the temperature of the food rises. It is the same with the time spent in wrapping materials.” Trier told NBS, one of the major American mass-media companies.
In response to the issue, Whole Foods became the first grocery chain to publicly commit to remove PFAS from takeout containers and bakery paper. Many other companies followed suit. Experts say people who want to avoid PFAS in their takeout and food delivery packaging should favor companies that have promised to remove the chemicals. “As soon as you receive your takeout, you’d better take food out of the container immediately, and never reheat food in its original container. Instead, remove your food and heat it in ceramic (陶瓷的) or glass containers.” Trier said.
1. What can we learn about PFAS in food packaging?| A．They have been used for two years. |
| B．They do little harm to consumers’ health. |
| C．They are used to break down the chemicals. |
| D．They can make wrappers resistant to grease and water. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Neutral. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Opposed. |
| A．Considerable migration of grease and water. |
| B．PFAS transmission from packaging to food. |
| C．Wrapper exposure to high food temperature. |
| D．Regulatory limits concerning food packaging. |
| A．Food packaging contains dangerous chemicals. |
| B．Consumers are recommended to have PFAS-free products. |
| C．PFAS found in food packaging has become a great concern. |
| D．The government has taken measures to reduce PFAS exposure. |
8 . For many Chinese consumers, a satisfying breakfast is one that includes either hot porridge or steamed buns (馒头). Cold sandwiches, which are popular with Westerners, are probably one of the last options on their minds. But that is not to say that consumers, especially those in an international city like Shanghai, would avoid everything considered Western for breakfast. For instance, coffee, which has steadily grown in popularity in the country, is one drink that many cannot do without today.
To satisfy this growing demand for breakfast sets that combine elements from the East and the West, food companies have been rolling out (推出) a host of new offerings to attract the customer. One example is Shanghai Qiao Coffee, launched by local time-honored food company Qiaojiashan at the end of 2019. Apart from its traditional dim sum (点心), the store also sells various types of coffee.
According to Shen Yan, deputy manager of Qiaojiashan, the most popular breakfast set now is the steamed vegetable bun paired with black coffee. “The calories that one gets from a meal consisting of Chinese dim sum and coffee are less than those of a Western breakfast. Since a steamed bun has nearly 200 calories and a cup of black coffee barely has any calories, this combination can be considered healthy and delicious,” said Shen.
Even the smaller shoppers in the food scene are jumping on the East-West breakfast trend. Western food companies, too, have been rolling out Chinese breakfast options. “Consumers and even cultural heritage will also benefit from the increased competition. If not for the current trend which has revived interest in certain traditional dim sum, these foods could soon be lost to history,” Shen said.
1. What can we learn about breakfast in Shanghai in Paragraph 1?| A．Coffee is a must for many people. |
| B．Cold sandwiches are a popular choice. |
| C．People avoid western food for breakfast. |
| D．People prefer porridge and steamed buns. |
| A．Because it’s traditional. |
| B．Because it’s tasty and healthy. |
| C．Because it’s newly created. |
| D．Because it contains more vegetables. |
| A．Western food companies dislike East-West breakfast. |
| B．Big companies have the ability to seize the market share. |
| C．The competition for breakfast sets is of no benefit to consumers. |
| D．Some traditional foods may disappear without the combination trend. |
| A．Chinese consumers show more interest in western food. |
| B．Western breakfast is warmly welcomed by Shanghai people. |
| C．The Chinese-Western breakfast set is becoming a hit in Shanghai. |
| D．Shanghai Qiao Coffee has won great success for its breakfast sets. |
9 . We all know that eating later in the day isn’t good for our waistlines, but why? A new study weighed in on that question by comparing people who ate the same foods—but at different times in the day.
“We found that eating four hours later makes a significant difference for our hunger levels, the way we burn calories after we eat, and the way we store fat,” Vujović said, a researcher at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Together, these changes may explain why late eating is associated with increased obesity risk reported by other studies and provide new biological insight into the underlying mechanisms.” The study provides support for the concept that circadian(生理节奏) rhythm, which influences key physiologic functions such as body temperature and heart rate, affects how our bodies absorb fuel, researchers said.
The study does show eating later results in “an increase in hunger, impacts hormones(荷尔蒙) and also changes gene expression, especially in terms of fat metabolism with a tendency towards less fat breakdown and more fat deposition,” said Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and a consultant to Mayo’s Center for Sleep Medicine and Division of Addiction Medicine.
The study was small—only 16 overweight or obese people—but carefully planned to eliminate other potential causes of weight gain, the authors said. “While there have been other studies investigating why late eating associates with an increased risk for obesity, this may be the most well controlled, including strictly controlling the amount, composition and timing of meals, physical activity, sleep, room temperature and light exposure,” said senior author Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in the Brigham’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. All participants were in good health, with no history of diabetes or shift work, which can affect circadian rhythm, and had regular physical activity. Each person in the study kept to a strict healthy sleep/wake schedule for about three weeks and were provided with prepared meals at fixed times for three days before the lab experiment began.
Results showed that hunger pangs doubled for those on a night-eating regime. People who ate later in the day also reported a desire for starchy and salty foods, meat and, to a lesser extent, a desire for dairy foods and vegetables. By looking at the results of blood tests, researchers were able to see why: Levels of leptin, a hormone which tells us when we feel full, were decreased for late eaters versus early eaters. In comparison, levels of the hormone ghrelin, which spikes our appetite, rose.
1. According to the passage, the following may contribute to the obesity except _________.| A．the breakdown of less fat |
| B．the changes in gene expression |
| C．the increase in the levels of leptin |
| D．the disturbance of the circadian rhythm |
| A．highlight the results of the study |
| B．illustrate the process of the study |
| C．present the purpose of the study |
| D．demonstrate the reliability of the study |
| A．Stimulate. | B．Reduce. | C．Maintain. | D．Control. |
| A．Eating late accounts for obesity. |
| B．Obesity can be well controlled by eating late. |
| C．When you eat is irrelevant to how fat you are. |
| D．Eating late may impact the expression function. |
10 . We eat in our cars, at our desks, on the go, and in front of the TV. We eat takeout, packaged and prepared meals. Why? Because it fits our notenoughtimeintheday lifestyles.
Consumer trends around the globe show that over the past three decades people are purchasing more prepared foods at groceries and eating out more than ever before. It’s predicted that we’ll spend more at restaurants in the coming years.
While debates can be seen in different media over the food industry’s contribution to our growing waistlines and our health problems, the bottom line is this：
While it can be a challenge to always put healthy eating first, just do your best. Remember that the food you eat has a more significant effect on your health, weight and wellbeing than almost any other activities you do.
| A．Lunch is the biggest calorie intake when it comes to eating out. |
| B．Treat it with the importance that it deserves, but start small. |
| C．Our food matches our lives. |
| D．Purchase food locally and skip as many packaged items as you can. |
| E．What we eat, where we eat and how we eat are all under our control. |
| F．We’re consuming an increasing number of calories. |
| G．We can devote an hour of the day to enjoying a meal with our families. |
