大学英语 实用阅读 ( 上 )

1. 大学英语实用阅读(上) College English Reading

2. Unit 5 • Text: Fighting ‘Big Fat’ • Supplementary Reading: Passage 1 It’s Not the Carbs, Stupid Passage 2 A Gene That Says, ‘No More’

3. Text: Fighting ‘Big Fat’ • Pre-Reading Questions • Comprehension( I. II. III. ) • Vocabulary Learning • Try to learn the following words • In-Class Discussion • Post-Reading Questions

4. Pre-Reading Questions 1. Nowadays, we often hear people around us say that they are on a diet or losing weight. Do you think people are getting heavier and their overweight is creating health problems for them? Discuss whether obesity is becoming a national problem. What makes you think so? What have you read in the national press that suggests a trend is developing in this regard? 2. In your opinion, is obesity a national or simply a personal health problem? Explain your reasons. At what stage does obesity become a national health problem? Discuss the factors involved when overweight or obesity rises beyond a personal health problem and becomes a national social problem.

5. 3. What are the positive connections between fast food and gaining weight? Are these “positive connections” assimilated by surveys or are they only public perceptions? Are there any personal, individual, healthy positives in fast food? We all will gain some weight at various stages in life, because of changes in our metabolism. What are the acceptable standards or guidelines for gaining weight? Do any of them include fast food? Are you familiar with Government Healthy Food Standards or even WHO Guidelines?

6. Comprehension Checking comprehension by giving the brief idea of the passage: In U.S., some people such as doctors, lawyers, preachers and moms are fighting against junk food which has made huge amount of “fat” people in the country and, especially, has been doing great harm to the school children.

7. Choose the best explanation to each of the sentences from the following three choices. They’re charging that somewhere along the line, America’s long romance with fast food, soda and junk has morphed into an abusive relationship. (Para. 2) a. They charge that American people’s long-lasting favor with fast food has become a misuse of it sometime during the course. b. They charge that American people’s long-lasting loving of fast food has become a misuse of it somewhere in the country. c. They charge that American people’s long-lasting favor with fast food has formed an abusive relationship.

8. Now lawyers are filing class-action lawsuits against fast- food makers, charging that deceptive marketing practices encourage obesity. (Para. 2) a. Now lawyers are collecting the documents of a group of people in order to fight against fast food makers for the bad result that their marketing practices have produced. b. Now lawyers are filing lawsuits of a particular class of people against fast-food makers for their wrong marketing practices that are producing obesity. c. Now lawyers are filing lawsuits of people in groups against fast-food makers with the charge that their marketing practices have misled people and have made obesity more likely to develop.

9. Fast-food makers call the obesity lawsuits “absurd,” and the junk-food industry is battling any efforts to curb its sales. (Para. 3) a. Fast-food makers think that the obesity lawsuit is ridiculous and the junk-food industry is making efforts to increase its sales. b. Fast-food makers think that the obesity lawsuit is ridiculous and the junk-food industry is fighting against any social forces that are making their efforts to limit its sales. c. Fast-food makers think that the obesity lawsuit is not reasonable and the junk-food industry is fighting with effort to reduce its sales.

10. Undeterred, Ludwig believes that rigorous scientific inquiry will do more to sway public opinion than expensive PR campaigns. (Para. 6) a. Without being scared, Ludwig believes that accurate scientific investigation will play a much more important role in affecting public opinion than Public Relations campaigns which will cost a lot of money. b. Being discouraged, Ludwig believes that serious scientific research will make more contribution in changing public opinion than expensive Public Relations campaigns do. c. Not being petrified, Ludwig prefers that careful scientific research rather than expensive Public Relations campaigns in persuading the public to change their opinions.

11. Last year Kentucky’s Lt. Gov. Stephen Henry, who is also a physician, found himself in a bare-knuckled legislative battle after he championed a bill that put minimum nutritional standards on foods sold in school vending machines. (Para. 9) a. Last year Kentucky’s Lt. Gov. Stephen Henry, who is also a physician, supported a bill to be discussed in the legislative assemblies that put minimum nutritional standards on foods sold in school vending machines. Later, he found that that bill was completely doomed to be defeated. b. Last year Kentucky’s Lt. Gov. Stephen Henry, who is also a physician, fought against a bill to be discussed in the legislative assemblies that put minimum nutritional standards on foods sold in school vending machines. Later, he was depressed that the bill was completely too weak. c. Last year Kentucky’s Lt. Gov. Stephen Henry, who is also a physician, proposed a bill to the legislative assemblies that put minimum nutritional standards on foods sold in school vending machines. Later, he found himself in a dilemma.

12. But their presence in the schools places corporate interests on a collision course with public-health concerns and prompts some rather unpalatable rationalizations. (Para. 10) a. But their presence in the schools offers a collaborative course that the public-health concerns and proposes some rather unfavorable matters for consideration. b. But their presence in the schools brings some business interests by offering a collaborative course that the public-health concerns but brings some rather unfavorable matters for consideration. c. But their presence in school makes their commercial benefits conflict with public-health concerns and causes some rather unpleasant explanations.

13. Paraphrase the following sentences in your own words based on your understanding of the whole article. But with the sudden, dramatic up-tick in childhood obesity, its blame-the-fatso argument is beginning to have a hollow ring. (Para. 4) But with the sudden, dramatic increasing number in childhood obesity, the argument which is to blame the big fat persons is beginning to make no sense.

14. “Fat kids are to the junk-food industry what secondhand smoke was in the war against tobacco,” (Para. 4) Fat kids are one of the bad results brought by the junk-food industry, like what people thought of secondhand smoke in the war against tobacco.

15. Anyone with the raw intelligence to decipher a nutrition label might call Ludwig’s soda study common sense, but the powerful soda-industry lobby was outraged that its products were being singled out for blame. (Para. 6) Any person who is able to read a nutrition label would probably regard Ludwig’s soda study as something that every one knows, but the soda-industry became very angry because their products were chosen to be blamed.

16. They’re pressing for monetary damages, of course, but they also want the companies to put cigarette-style warning labels on their food. (Para. 7) They are charging for their economic losses of course and they also want the fast-food companies to put warning labels on their food just as what the cigarette producers do on their products.

17. For every kindergartner choosing whole-wheat bread instead of white, there are many more who eat lunch from the cafeteria vending machines. (Para. 9) Only a small number of kids in the kindergarten choose whole-wheat bread instead of white while others eat their lunch from the cafeteria vending machines.

18. Vocabulary Learning Choose among the choices marked with a, b, c or d the one that is closest in meaning to the underlined part of each of the sentences taken or adapted from the article. Colbert is a soldier in a growing army of lawyers, doctors and otherwise ordinary citizens who are taking on the sprawling and powerful junk-food industry. a. assuming b. engaging c. fighting d. welcoming

19. In the war against junk food, the overweight children crowded into Dr. David Ludwig’s drab waiting room could be considered collateral damage. a. additional b. parallel c. more important d. less important

20. “We don’t think Ludwig’s studies are legitimate.” Says NSDA spokesman Sean McBride. a. unreasonable b. legislative c. popular d. correct The junk-food trade in schools has become so brisk that state lawmakers and public-health departments are stepping in. a. dangerous b. energetic c. zesty d. overheating

21. Incensed, Henry began to canvas the state, asking for, and getting, support from parents and fellow physicians. a. poll b. persuade c. travel d. deceive As more states and districts try to limit kids’ access to junk, the debate over vending machines, which has been simmering for years, may be reaching a boiling point. a. persevering b. stashing c. cooking d. deliberating

22. She was demoralized. “Everyone was excited about the money the school might get,” says Myers. “No one asked whether this was good for the children.” a. pessimistic b. discouraged c. sad d. provoked

23. Try to learn the following words. mobilize v. 发动 preacher n. 讲道者 exhort v. 力劝 morph v. 变换 metabolism n. 新陈代谢 closed-door adj. 绝密的 curb v. 制止 atherosclerosis n. 动脉粥样硬化 diabetes n. 糖尿病 refute v. 驳斥 rigorous adj. 严峻的 cholesterol n. 胆固醇 disclose v. 透露 knuckle v. 认输 jeopardize v. 使受危险 incense v. 使发怒 swarm into v. 蜂拥而入 amputate v. 切断

24. In-Class Discussion Directions: Discuss the following questions as a team and present the team’s idea in class. 1. List the advantages and disadvantages to be a “fat” person? Consider the health risks, the employment uncertainties, the social isolation and the psychological deterioration of a person’s self esteem as they get fatter. 2. What would you say to defend fast-food culture if you were a fast-food manufacturer or retailer? 3. What are the advantages to a city like Beijing having so many Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and McDonald’s established, with a suspected trend set for more to be established? Do foreign fast food enterprises jeopardize the Chinese restaurant industry?

25. Post-Reading Questions 1. Try to find more information on the Internet about obesity and list what basic procedures that people should take to lose weight without further harm to their health. 2. List the cultural differences between being “fat” in China and America? Are the national differences based simply on diet and social acceptability? Are there different cultural perceptions on what is considered fat between the two Societies? 3. If obesity becomes a serious social problem, what changes should we expect in our daily life? Are there national health standards or health insurance expectations that will impact our daily routines as well as our diet?

26. Supplementary Reading 1 It’s Not the Carbs, Stupid

27. F Directions: Decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F) or Not Mentioned (NM). 1. [ ] William Banting successfully lost his weight by drinking a large amount of wine according to the requirements of Bantingism. 2. [ ] It was the obesity gene discovered half a decade ago which made the mismatch between nature and nurture. 3. [ ] Scientists believe that high level of fat and fructose may mess up your brain chemistry, as a result of which you will not stop eating when you should. F T

28. T 4. [ ] It is evident that fat and sugar could be habit-forming for those who eat them constantly. 5. [ ] Regular injections of hormones will probably help control eating and lose weight. 6. [ ] People support the idea that carbohydrates are the chief offender in causing the explosion of obesity in the United States. NM NM

29. F 7. [ ] Michael Schwartz, a Princeton University psychologist recently discovered that animals that used to be fed with high-sugar diet became, when the sugar was removed, anxious. 8. [ ] Gene technology has been supportive in the solution of the social problem of obesity. NM

30. Directions: Translate the following sentences in Chinese. 1. Banting was a well-meaning London undertaker who grew so fat in middle age that he could not descend a staircase face first, for fear of being toppled by his copious paunch. (Para. 1) Banting是伦敦一位善良的殡葬工作人员，在中年的时候变得大腹便便，以至于下楼的时候为了不至于摔倒不敢脸朝前走。

31. 2. Other researchers are finding evidence that constant exposure to fat and sugar can cause some humans to crave them as they do an addictive drug. A Princeton University psychologist recently showed that rats fed a high-sugar diet were, when the sugar was removed, thrown into a state of anxiety similar to that seen in withdrawal from morphine or nicotine. (Para. 5) 其他一些研究人员发现的有力证据证明，经常性食用脂肪和糖会使某些人对它们产生类似于对毒品的依赖。一名普林斯顿大学的心理学研究人员最近发现，喂食高含糖量食物的老鼠，在没有糖吃的时候，便会陷入一种与那些离开吗啡和尼古丁的老鼠相类似的焦虑状态。

32. 3. While scientific work in this arena is in its infancy, it’s already clear that varying the amount of fat and other nutrients in the diet affects brain chemistry by activating certain genes, and this in turn directs our dietary preferences. (Para. 6) 虽然这个领域内的科学研究工作尚处于初级阶段，但是我们已经清楚地看到，改变饮食中的脂肪和其它营养成分可以激活一定的基因，进而影响大脑的化学成分，接下来便会引导我们的饮食偏好。 4.By submitting ourselves to a steady dose of highly processed, sweet, high-fat foods, we have unwittingly entered into a dangerous experiment, the long-term consequences of which are only now beginning to surface. (Para. 6) 长期对精加工、高糖高脂肪含量食物的依赖，使我们不知不觉地陷入了一个危险的试验过程，它的长期影响人们目前才刚刚开始认识到。

33. Supplementary Reading 2 A Gene That Says, ‘No More’

34. Directions: Translate the following sentences into Chinese. 1. For years, researchers have hypothesized about a biochemical signal that helps keep eyes from becoming bigger than the proverbial stomach. (Para. 3) 多年来，研究人员假设有这么一种生物化学信号，它可以使人改掉馋嘴的毛病。（或：眼大肚子小；眼馋肚子饱的毛病） 2. Friedman and his colleagues then went looking for a human genetic counterpart. (Para. 4) Friedman和他的同事进而开始从人类身上寻找那个对应的基因。

35. 3. Friedman’s team doesn’t know yet whether variations in the gene are rare or common in humans—or whether they play a role in mild overweight as well as serious obesity. (Para. 4) Friedman领导的研究小组还没有弄明白基因变异在人类中究竟是很少见还是很常见——或者说它是否在严重肥胖之中一样，在体重略微超重之中也起到了一定作用。 4. Genetic research that could tip the scales in that struggle is worth its weight indeed. (Para. 7) 能在这场革命中起决定作用的基因研究，它的价值之巨大是无法估量的。

36. Directions: In the following article, some sentences have been removed. Choose the most suitable one from the list a-g to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. 1. d 2. a 3. c 4. g 5. f