1 . While an analysis of the Global Dietary Database for the years 1990, 2005, and 2018 found overall consumption of sweetened drinks increased—by nearly 16% worldwide over the 28-year period studied—regional intake widely varied, researchers say.

Sugary drinks have been widely associated with overweight and heart related diseases, which are among the leading causes of death and years lost to disability globally. Many national guidelines recommend limiting added sugars to less than 5% to 10% of daily calories, and because sodas (汽水) add no nutritional value, some countries tax their consumption to help their residents meet this goal.

The study, published in Nature Communications, is the latest presentation of how adults in 185 countries drink sugar-sweetened beverages (饮料). Intakes varied widely by world region. In 2018, the average person consumed 2.7 servings of sugary drinks per week, but this ranged from 0.7 servings per week in South Asia to 7.8 servings per week in Latin America. And some of the highest sugary drink intakes in the world were among urban, highly educated adults in Sub-Saharan Africa (12.4 servings per week) and in Latin America (8.5 servings per week). “We were struck by the wide variations by world regions in 2018; that Latin America had the largest intakes at all time points despite an overall decrease overtime; and that Sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest increases across all time points,” says Laura Lara-Castor, a PhD candidate at Tufts University.

“These results suggest that more work is needed such as marketing regulations, food labeling, and soda taxes.” Information from the Global Dietary Database, which gathers hundreds of survey results, also revealed a relationship between sugary beverages and socio-economic status. “Sugar-sweetened beverage intake has increased in the past few decades despite efforts to decrease their appeal,” says researchers. “Some populations are especially easily affected, and our findings provide evidence to inform the need and design of national and more targeted policies to reduce their intake worldwide.”

1. What is the main concern about sugary drinks?

A．They are just a barrier to weight loss.	B．They are linked to health issues.
C．They are far from nutrition standard.	D．They are a total waste of money.

2. Why do some countries tax the consumption of sodas?

A．To increase income for the government.	B．To promote the sales of healthier drinks.
C．To discourage people from drinking sodas.	D．To set a limit to the price of sugary drinks.

3. What is the primary focus of the study published in Nature Communications?

A．Sugary drink consumption trends.	B．Impact of soda taxes on purchases.
C．Regional variations in dietary habits.	D．Global dietary information analysis.

4. What can we infer from the results of the study?

A．Sugary drinks have nothing to do with economic status.

B．The appeal of sugary drinks cannot be underestimated.

C．Some people are very particular about the sugary drinks.

D．National policies on sugary drinks are more than enough.

2 . Skipping meals is bad news. For teens especially, eating all three meals, or smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day is healthiest. There are many reasons not to skip meals.

Stay energized

One of the primary reasons not to skip meals is that eating keeps you energized. You need to be awake for the note-taking and lecture-listening you plan on doing throughout the day.     1    .

Keep you focused

I think it’s pretty safe to say that when teens are hungry, they’re only thinking about one thing: food! I can remember dozens of days in class when a teacher was lecturing, and all I could do was stare at the wall imagining milkshakes and pizza because I skipped lunch.     2    . Instead, always fill up at breakfast and lunch so that you can focus in school throughout the day.

    3    

Skipping meals affects your mood, too! You get angry easily when you’re hungry. If you want to be fun and have fun, make sure you’re eating plenty of nutritious, filling meals.

Start good habits

Eating well-balanced meals at regular intervals (间隔时间) throughout the day is a great habit to start in high school! If you skip breakfast and lunch, then pig out at dinner, you’re going to get accustomed to living that way.     4    . So do your body and future self a favor by forcing yourself to eat healthy meals throughout the day.

It’s not dieting

    5    . Diets that actually work balance healthy eating with exercise; they don’t eliminate (消除) meals altogether. If you’re unhappy with the way your body looks, talk to your parents and doctor about a healthy meal and exercise plan that might help you reach your goals.

A．Improve your mood

B．Don’t make my mistake

C．From ages 13 to 18, some girls keep growing

D．However, that’s not the way your body is meant to take in food

E．You might think skipping meals is just “dieting”, but in fact, it isn’t

F．Miss meals every once in a while simply because you’re not hungry

G．Your brain doesn’t know how to function well without plenty of calories keeping you awake

3 . When margarine (人造黄油) was first sold in the 1800s, plentiful alarmist words were uttered about it. However, it was simply a cream of vegetable oil and water, a processed, more sustainable and healthier alternative to an animal product. Anxiety about new foods and how they are produced continues today. Public discussions are full of concerns that “ultra-processed foods” or “UPFs” are downright unhealthy. One particular category in a fierce spotlight is plant-based meats. But how and where food is made doesn’t determine how safe or nutritious it is.

The term UPFs was first used in 2009 by Carlos Monteiro, a nutritionist. In a 2017 paper, he said he was worried that the shared experience of cooking was being increasingly lost and people weren’t eating together. In particular, he was seeing rising rates of diabetes and obesity. Keen to identify the root cause of these issues, he focused on food not made at home, but in factories. But the thing is, as Monteiro has stated openly, the UPF categorisation was never designed to group foods on the basis of nutrition.

Just like pork sausages and chicken popcorn, plant-based alternatives are made in factories, so are considered UPFs. But unlike those animal products, they don’t require antibiotics (抗生素) or hormones during production, require up to 96 percent less land, have carbon emissions up to 98 percent lower, need up to 99 percent less water and result in 100 percent fewer animals dying.

And side by side, they are almost always healthier than the over-processed animal meat products they replace, especially on fat and fibre content. Just compare the labels on the packets next time you are in the supermarket.

Many loud voices are raising concerns, suggesting that all UPFs, especially plant-based meats, are “unnatural”, “fake” and “full of chemicals”. We are seeing history repeat itself, and a fear of new foods being aroused all over again. But the science is unmistakably clear: diets rich in plant-based options are better for both people and the planet, factory or no factory.

1. Why does the author mention margarine in paragraph 1?

A．To stress the sales dilemma margarine faced before.

B．To illustrate people’s misunderstanding about margarine.

C．To show the ignored benefits of margarine to people’s health.

D．To emphasize people’s longstanding worry about novel foods.

2. Why did Monteiro create the UPF categorisation?

A．To classify the food made at home.

B．To encourage people to cook and eat together.

C．To discover the cause of some rising health problems.

D．To determine the nutrition level of factory-produced food.

3. What do the numbers in paragraph 3 imply?

A．Plant-based meats are more ecofriendly.

B．Plant-based meats shouldn’t be considered as UPFs.

C．Plant-based meats will replace UPF animal meat products.

D．Plant-based meats are healthier than sausages and popcorn.

4. What does the author think of the concern over plant-based meats?

A．Unnecessary.

B．Temporary.

C．Reasonable.

D．Alarming.

4 . Five nutrition myths and what health experts want you to know instead

MYTH 1: Fresh fruits and vegetables are always healthier than canned, frozen or dried varieties.

Research has found that frozen, canned and dried fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as their fresh counterparts.     1     However, some canned, frozen and dried varieties contain added sugars, saturated fats and sodium, so be sure to read nutrition labels, especially on prepared foods.

MYTH 2:     2    

By the 1980s, doctors, government health experts, the food industry and the media were reporting that a low-fat diet could benefit everyone. As a result, many people replaced calories from fat with calories from refined carbohydrates such as white flour and added sugar. In reality, healthy fats help reduce your risk. Examples of those include monounsaturated fats (found in olive oil, avocados and certain nuts and seeds) and polyunsaturated fats (found in sunflower oil, walnuts, fish and flaxseed).

MYTH 3: “Calories in, calories out” is the most important factor for maintaining weight.

It’s true that if you burn more calories than you consume, you will probably lose weight.     3     Rather, it’s the types of foods we eat that may be the long-term drivers of those conditions. Ultra-processed foods can lead to weight gain.

MYTH 4: Plant beverages are healthier than dairy milk.

While the nutrition of plant-based beverages can vary, many have more added ingredients which can contribute to poor health than cow’s milk.     4     Almond (杏仁) beverage on the other hand, typically has one or two grams in the same amount.

MYTH 5: Potatoes are bad for you.

Potatoes have often been vilified in the nutrition community because of their high glycemic index, which can spike your blood sugar. However, potatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium, fibre and other nutrients, especially when consumed with the skin on.     5    

A．All fat is bad.

B．All fat is not beneficial.

C．The reason for this is that they are rapidly digested.

D．They are also inexpensive and available year-round in grocery stores.

E．Typically, cow’s milk has about eight grams of protein per 250 millilitres.

F．They can be an easy way to make sure there are always fruits and vegetables available at home.

G．But research does not suggest that eating more will result in becoming overweight or obese.

5 . A diet high in protein is often promoted as part of a healthy lifestyle, and many diets encourage consumers to reduce fats in favor of protein to lose weight and gain lean muscle.

For the study in Nature Metabolism, Bettina Mittendorfer and colleagues found that while increasing the proportion of protein in daily calorie intake is beneficial, consuming protein too much not only doesn’t add to the development of lean muscle but can cause unintended negative health effects.

“Consumers are being led to believe that they can never get too much protein in their diet,” says Mittendorfer. “However, our research shows that specific amino acids (氨基酸), which are the building blocks of protein, can trigger heart disease through a signaling mechanism at the cellular level in the blood.”

An amino acid found in animal-protein foods, such as beef, eggs, and milk, was found to be responsible for signaling activity in cells that typically clear away rubbish in blood vessels. As consumption of dietary protein increases, so does the consumption of leucine (亮氨酸), the specific amino acid responsible for triggering this cellular activity in the blood.

When functioning normally, these cells work to keep blood vessels free from plaque (血小板) buildup. When their production becomes overactive, the resulting accumulation of spent cells in the vascular system can cause the plaque buildup and blockages they are supposed to prevent. The resulting hardening of the arteries (动脉) is a leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

“Our hope is to eventually find the Goldilocks approach for maximizing the health benefits of dietary protein, such as building lean muscle, while avoiding the health drawbacks from overconsumption.” says Mittendorfer.

The researchers found that consuming more than 22% of daily calories from protein carries more downside risk than dietary benefit. For a normal adult, 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal, or 60 to 90 grams of protein per day is adequate to support health.

The study combined human trials with experiments in mice and cells.

1. Which of the following is the finding of the research?

A．It is beneficial to take in protein in daily diets.

B．A diet high in protein is always considered as a healthy lifestyle.

C．Many consumers are in favor of protein to lose weight and gain muscle.

D．Consuming protein too much doesn’t do good to the lean muscle development.

2. Which of the following is most likely to cause heart attack and stroke?

A．The plaque buildup.	B．Animal-protein foods.
C．The hardening of the arteries.	D．Overactive cellular activity in the blood.

3. What is the proper way to make good use of protein?

A．To take in proper amount of protein per meal.

B．To exercise everyday in order to build lean muscle.

C．To consume more than 22% of daily calories from protein.

D．To do more experiments in mice and cells to provide evidence.

4. What do we know about the study?

A．It is conducted in a relatively scientific way.

B．It finally finds a proper approach to keep fit.

C．It is totally against what people have believed.

D．It offers a diet standard for people of all ages all over the world.

6 . A recent citizen science study suggests that eating really wild food could improve gut (消化道) health, blood sugar and BMI.

Richard Mawby, who lived entirely on wild food for three months, lost 20kg in the process. Mawby is one of 26 UK foragers (觅食者) who took part in The Wildbiome Project, which was set up by foraging expert Monica Wilde, who got the idea after surviving on foraged foods for the whole of 2021.

It measured the impact on blood sugar, BMI and gut health — with exhilarating results. Participants of the project who were fat at the beginning lost an average of 5.6kg, and 16% of their body weight. One, foraging teacher Matthew Rooney, said he reduced his blood sugar level from 65 to a normal 40 within 10 days.

Though at least one participant mentioned being more tired than usual while on the diet, generally speaking, the foragers appeared to be healthier, reporting having increased energy and improved mental wellbeing. Gut health also improved. Wilde suggests this is due to the diversity of a wild diet. lt should be pointed out that all participants had food like fruits, seaweed in their freezers. They also added rabbit and fish and organic chicken eggs.

Of course, Wilde doesn’t expect everyone to adopt a 100%-foraged diet. “Even integrating a few wild foods could be beneficial,” she said. Indeed, Wilde points out that wild foods are often more nutritional than farmed ones, which are raised for size rather than nutritional value. “Eating wild also means eating seasonally. Following the advice that nature gives us is bound to be good for us — and the planet.”

Mawby agreed. “The project was a breath of fresh air,” he said. “I felt in harmony with my surroundings, seeing a noticeable improvement. Now, I’m more in tune with my body, and though I’ve reintroduced cacao and spices, really wild diets are still firmly on the menu.”

1. What is the purpose of the project?

A．To ensure foragers’ healthy lifestyle.	B．To provide 100%-foraged diet
C．To collect money for foraging research.	D．To promote eating wild food.

2. What does the underlined word “exhilarating” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Disappointing.

B．Exciting.

C．Interesting.

D．Disastrous.

3. What can we learn about foraged food from the last three paragraphs?

A．It has serious side effects.

B．It needs to be completely adopted.

C．It is highly recommended.

D．It is produced for size and diversity

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．Really wild diets are found to boost foragers’ health.

B．Foraged foods are more nutritional than farmed ones.

C．A UK foraging expert survive on really wild food.

D．Improved wild diets are still firmly on the menu.

7 . With all the dietary information online, it can be hard to know what tips to follow. Watch out for these words and expressions.

Fat Is Good

It doesn’t matter if you are part of the fat is GOOD for you or BAD for you group, the important question to ask is the source of the fat. If it comes from a land-based animal, and is likely to be solid at room temperature, then it is saturated (饱和的) fat whereas if it comes from fish or plants, and it is likely to be liquid at room temperature, then it is unsaturated fat. All the evidence indicates that eating more unsaturated fat than saturated fat lowers your risk of dying early.

Natural Sugar Is Better

The vast majority of sugar we consume is sucrose (蔗糖). It is the white powdered stuff we cook with and is made up of glucose and fructose. How about sugar from honey? It is often marketed as natural and better for you. Actually, it just has its own distinct flavour, but is as sweet because of glucose and fructose.

High-pH Water

Some people think we need to eat alkali (碱) food to maintain our blood at a pH of 7.4. But everything we eat or drink passes through the stomach, which, at a pH of 1.5, is the most acidic part of the body. It is then neutralised to a pH of 7. So, nothing we eat will change the pH of our blood.

Don’t Eat Anything That You Can’t Pronounce

Whether foods are natural or highly processed, they are all full of chemicals. Are you supposed to fear “phenylthiocarbamide”, because you can’t pronounce it? This is simply the chemical responsible for the bitter taste found in brassicas, the plants in the cabbage and mustard family.

Don’t Eat Food With More Than Five Ingredients(佐料)

Simple foods are not necessarily healthier for you. If I, for instance, use Chinese five spice powder in a recipe, that would count as one of the five ingredients. However, what if I added the typical components of five spice powder separately into a dish? Does that mean my recipe suddenly becomes bad because it has more than five ingredients?

1. According to the passage, healthier fat ______.

A．can be found in fish and plants	B．comes from land-based animals
C．remains solid at room temperature	D．can lower the death rate of elders

2. The passage suggests that ______.

A．diets can help adjust the pH of our blood	B．honey sugar can do more good than sucrose
C．foods with more ingredients may be as healthy	D．chemicals we can recognize are safer to take in

3. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To compare tips on food choices.	B．To introduce different health concepts.
C．To recommend fitness recipes to readers.	D．To warn us of some dietary misunderstandings.

8 . Research studies indicate that children who eat breakfast perform better at school. Maybe it works that way for adults too since our brains need fuel to work properly.

Skipping breakfast is a common way for people who are trying to lose weight, but unfortunately, it’s usually not a successful way. Your body (or more likely, your brain) expects to be refueled a few times each day. When you don’t eat breakfast, you may feel so hungry by lunchtime that you eat more foods than you normally would, which cancels out the calories you cut by skipping breakfast. You may also be tempted to choose foods that are not the healthiest choices when you feel like you are starving.

For many people, eating breakfast may be an important part of a weight loss diet. Research studies tell us that people who eat breakfast are more likely to keep up a healthy weight. Some experts believe that breakfast keeps your metabolism (新陈代谢) running higher. In fact, it takes three or four days of eating nothing before the body starts changing down your metabolism. It’s more likely that people who regularly eat breakfast also make good dietary choices the rest of the day.

Breakfast should include a healthy source of protein and plenty of fiber; the combination will help satisfy your hunger and will keep you feeling full until lunchtime. The protein can come from low-fat meat, low-fat dairy products, or nuts. Eggs are also a good source of protein. High-fiber foods, include fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

If you really don’t like to eat breakfast in the morning, you can split it up into two smaller meals. Eat a hard-boiled egg, or a small cup of yogurt at home before you leave for work, and then about an hour or two later, take a break from work and snack on an apple and a handful of healthy nuts like pecans or walnuts.

1. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．Eating breakfast keeps us healthier than skipping it.

B．Skipping breakfast isn’t very useful for losing weight.

C．Our brain needs a lot of fuel to work properly.

D．What healthy food we should eat for breakfast

2. What does the underlined word “tempted” Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Pretended.

B．Determined.

C．Attracted.

D．Warned.

3. All the following are a good source of protein EXCEPT _______.

A．low-fat meat	B．low-fat dairy products
C．vegetables	D．eggs

4. The passage is most probably taken from _______.

A．a news report	B．a personal diary
C．a biology book	D．a healthy life website

9 . Super Size Me

Fast food, otherwise known as junk food, is a huge passion for a large number of people across the Western world. But what would happen if you ate lots of junk food every day? Would it seriously damage your health? These were the questions which led Morgan Spurlock, an independent film-maker, to do an experiment, which he came into a documentary film entitled Super Size Me.

The main basis of his experiment was that Spurlock promised to eat three McDonald’s meals a day, every day, for a month. He could only eat food from McDonald’s and every time an employee asked if he would like to ‘super size’ the meal, he had to agree. ‘Super sizing’ refers to the fact that with this type of meal you get a considerably larger portion of everything for only a very small price increase.

Before he started, three doctors certified that Spurlock weighed about 84kg and was in good health. Although both Spurlock and his doctors knew he would put on a bit of weight, and that this diet was unhealthy, none of them were quite prepared for just how unhealthy it turned out to be. The changes in his body were horrifying. In the first week, he put on 4.5 kilos and by the end of the thirty days he had gained nearly 14 kilos, bringing his total weight to 98 kg.

Weight gain was only one of the negative effects, however. When all three doctors saw the severe damage to his liver, they all recommended stopping the experiment after 20 days. Spurlock continued to follow the diet, however, because he wanted to show people what this kind of diet can do to you. Watching the film, you begin to realize that it could be a fast-forward picture of your life: in 30 days you go to see what could happen to you over 20 or 30 years of overconsumption.

Junk food is exactly what it says it is -- junk. Spurlock says, ‘I’d love people to walk out of the movie and say, “Next time I’m not going to ‘super size’. Maybe I’m not going to have any junk food at all. I’m going to sit down and eat dinner with my kids, with the TV off, so that we can eat healthy food, talk about what we’re eating and have a relationship with each other.”’ Food for thought indeed.

1. In the one-month experiment, Spurlock ______.

A．ate three McDonald’s meals every day	B．could choose to “super size” his meal
C．got extra-large meals at a lower price	D．pretended to eat for better visual effect

2. How do we know that “The changes in his body were horrifying”?

A．He gained one sixth of his body weight in one week.

B．Doctors suggested him stopping the experiment halfway.

C．He fast-forwarded the video past the medical examination.

D．He turned out to be 20 or 30 years older than people of his age.

3. Spurlock made a documentary film, aiming to tell people that______.

A．human nature often drives us to desire more

B．how we eat is far more important than what we eat

C．overconsumption for a short time does little harm to the body

D．if we eat too much junk food, we ourselves will be supersized

10 . When fighting sugar dependence, avoiding added sugar in the diet is key, which sounds simple — right? It certainly does, but things become a bit more complicated once we introduce alternative sweeteners into the mix.

    1     Many people think that if they replace the sugar in their diet with alternative sweeteners, they’ll be good to go, but this isn’t necessarily the case.

Alternative sweeteners are everywhere.     2     For example, Stevia is a popular sugar substitute (代替者) because it is up to 200 times sweeter than sugar and provides fewer calories. Mon k fruit is another example that is free from calories, sweeter than table sugar, and gained from the juice of monk fruit.     3     Sugar alcohols provide fewer calories than regular sugar because they are not fully absorbed by the body.

Now that we know some of the common types of alternative sweeteners, let’s take a deeper dive into the problem with them. Research in animals has shown that removing calories from foods that taste sweet can interrupt the ability to control energy intake.     4     If we consume high amounts of alternative sweeteners, it may heighten our preference for sweetness, resulting in the overuse of sugar-sweetened foods and drinks.

The other interesting thing about alternative sweeteners is that our brains don’t recognize them as “fake (假的)” sugar.     5     Whenever a food tastes sweet, a message is sent to the brain that communicates we are tasting a sweet food — which can further feed into the sugar dependence cycle.

So what do I recommend? In order to fully put a definite end to sugar dependence, reducing your intake of alternative sweeteners should be the goal.

A．The taste profile of alternative sweeteners varies.

B．We can’t forget about the ever-so-popular sugar alcohols.

C．There are countless alternative sweeteners on the market.

D．Our brain senses something sweet and thinks it is real sugar.

E．They may help reduce the calorie content of good-tasting foods and drinks.

F．Artificial sweeteners may also cause one’s body to prefer sweeter-tasting foods.

G．Alternative sweeteners are referred to as “low-calorie” or “no-calorie” sweeteners.