1 . If you were born after 2008 in New Zealand, you’ll never ever be allowed to buy a pack of cigarettes there. In new legislation (立法) expected to take hold next year, no cigarettes or tobacco products will be available for people to purchase legally in the country. That means anyone who is 14 as of today will never be allowed to buy them in New Zealand. The four-year Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan hopes to reduce rates of smoking for older people while completely banning sales for the younger population.
Associate health minister Dr. Ayesha Verall, who announced the government’s plan, said the country is concentrating on a “smoke-free generation” with this legislation. “We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new population of youth.” said Verall in a statement.
The move comes as New Zealand’s health ministry pursues a large-scale crackdown (打压) on tobacco in the country. In April 2021, the country’s parliament announced its goal of being smoke free by 2025, arming to slowly reduce phase out, then entirely cut the prosper of smoking. There are already existing barriers to tobacco products in New Zealand, including high taxes and plain packaging on cigarettes.
“Clinical studies have shown that dramatically reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes makes at far easier for people to quit.” said Verall in parliament. “So the action plan will see New Zealand transition to low-nicotine cigarettes. This is a major change but it is based on clinical research and it is realistic, because with vapes (电子烟) widely available, there is a far less harmful option available for smokers who are addicted to nicotine. While vapes were introduced as a way to reduce cigarette consumption, they remain harmful according to research Vapes are also particularly appealing to young people, who have long been the target people for the product.
1. What is the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan expected to do?| A．Promote rapes in New Zealand. | B．Decrease smoking in New Zealand. |
| C．Reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes. | D．Ban selling cigarettes in New Zealand. |
| A．Expensive matter. | B．Honorable deed. | C．Illegal deed. | D．Easy affair. |
| A．Raising taxes. | B．Packaging plainly. | C．No selling to teenagers. | D．Ban on planting. |
| A．New Zealand cigarette ban | B．Benefits of vapes |
| C．Harm caused by smoking | D．New Zealand legislation on health |
2 . Germany’s top court has ruled that parts of the country’s 2019 climate (气候) action law must be changed because they don’t do a good job of protecting young people. The result is a big victory for the nine young people who started the law suing (诉讼).
The court suing stresses an important part of the climate change: The change will impact greatly on young people far more than the adults. That’s because the effects of earth warming will become more serious over time. As young people become adults, they’ll be left to deal with many problems that today’s adults have ignored. The government’s failure to plan carefully was putting their future lives in danger.
In 2019, Germany passed a new law, promising that the country would be carbon neutral (碳中和) by 2050. The law made a detailed plan of action until 2030. But the law didn’t have any specific rules or plans for climate actions that would be taken between 2031 and 2050.
Last Thursday, the judges of Germany’s highest court agreed with the young people. They said that not taking climate action made the basic rights of young people to a good future in danger.
The young people had challenged the government’s law in four specific areas. The judges didn’t agree with all of the challenges. But having the court support even a part of their case is seen as a big victory. Neubauer is one of the young people who sued. She works with the climate action group Fridays For Future. Ms. Neubauer said, “Climate protection is our basic right. This is a huge win for the climate movement. It changes a lot.”
The court has given the German government until the end of 2022 to fix the law. The climate law will now need to have a much more detailed plan for the actions that will be taken after 2030 to cut Germany’s pollution, allowing it to become carbon neutral by 2050. Germany’s government has said that it will quickly begin working to make the needed changes.
1. Why did the nine young people sue the Germany government?| A．They faced a higher rate of losing jobs. |
| B．The government refused their law suing. |
| C．The local court ruled against the climate law. |
| D．They weren’t satisfied with the climate action law. |
| A．The adults nowadays are put under pressure. |
| B．The climate change will influence the young. |
| C．Earth warming is becoming out of control. |
| D．Humans feel uncertain about the future. |
| A．Improve the present law. |
| B．Win people’s wide support. |
| C．Take strict punishment measures. |
| D．Achieve carbon neutral in advance. |
| A．Business. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Environment. |
3 . Have you ever heard a rumor spread around by students at your school? Rumors, like fake news, can often misinform individuals and lead them to believe false information.
In an attempt to settle this problem, the country of Singapore has passed a bill that bans companies and individuals from publishing false information online.
This law, known as The Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, has caused a public outcry (强烈的抗议), as the government has been given the power to remove content that it considers inaccurate or against the public’s interest.
Since Singapore’s citizens are part of different racial and religious groups, the government fears that rumors or fake news can increase tensions within an already small country.
With the new law coming into effect, Singapore’s government now has the authority to monitor news sites, social media platforms, and other databases of information to determine whether the content is falsified. The government can order for the removal of fake news, and publishers of this information can receive prison time and fines up to one million Singapore dollars!
Critics fear that the bill threatens their freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Since national issues and world news are generally discussed on online platforms, many are concerned that this new bill will prevent individuals from talking freely and having healthy conversations.
Several companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, have offices situated in Singapore, meaning that the new law will affect their company operations. Social media companies in Singapore could face a decline in activity, as users may fear posting their opinions and being punished by the government.
Others are concerned that the law does not clearly state what a “false statement” is. Such an ambiguity might allow the government to misuse their power, even though the intention is to curtail the mow of false information and rumors throughout Singapore.
This law does give rise to several concerns related to freedom and privacy and it will be interesting to see what Singapore’s government will do to deal with this problem.
1. Why are some people against the bill?| A．They think the bill can’t get rid of fake news. |
| B．They belong to different racial and religious groups. |
| C．They think their freedom of speech may be harmed. |
| D．They don’t want to increase tensions in their country. |
| A．Punish publishers of fake news. |
| B．Monitor telephone conversations. |
| C．Prohibit certain people from going online. |
| D．Fine fake-news makers any amount of money. |
| A．Their users’ privacy may be disturbed. |
| B．Their income will increase very slowly. |
| C．Their illegal activities will come to light. |
| D．Their social media may become less active. |
| A．prove | B．accelerate |
| C．promote | D．decrease |
