2016年12月大学英语四级考试写阅读理解
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
“Sugar, alcohol and tobacco,” economist Adam Smith once wrote, “are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which have become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation.”
Two and a half centuries on, most countries impose some sort of tax on alcohol and tobacco. With surging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the world have begun to toy with the idea of taxing sugar as well.
Whether such taxes work is a matter of debate. A preliminary review of Mexico’s taxation found a fall in purchases of taxed drinks as well as a rise in sales of untaxed and healthier drinks. By contrast, a Danish tax on foods high in fats was abandoned a year after its introduction, amid claims that consumers were avoiding it by crossing the border to Germany to satisfy their desire for cheaper, fattier fare.
The food industry has, in general, been firmly opposed to such direct government action. Nonetheless, the renewed focus on waistlines means that industry groups are under pressure to demonstrate their products are healthy as well as tasty.
Over the past three decades, the industry has made some efforts to improve the quality of its offerings. For example, some drink manufacturers have cut the amount of sugar in their beverages.
Many of the reductions over the past 30 years have been achieved either by reducing the amount of sugar, salt or fat in a product, or by finding an alternative ingredient. More recently, however, some companies have been investing money in a more ambitious undertaking: learning how to adjust the fundamental make-up of the food they sell. For example, having salt on the outside, but none on the inside, reduces the salt content without changing the taste.
While reformulating recipes(配方) is one way to improve public health, it should be part of a multi-sided approach. The key is to remember that there is not just one solution. To deal with obesity, a mixture of approaches—including reformulation, taxation and adjusting portion sizes—will be needed. There is no silver bullet.
(1).What did Adam Smith say about sugar, alcohol and tobacco?
A.They were profitable to manufacture.
B.They were in ever-increasing demand.
C.They were subject to taxation almost everywhere.
D.They were no longer considered necessities of life.
参考答案：C
解题思路：
定位由题干中的sugar, alcohol and tobacco定位到文章第一段。点睛细节题。第一段最后提到，糖、酒精和烟草是极受欢迎的税收对象。C选项表述符合原文，正确答案为C项。避错第一段提到，糖、酒精和烟草不是生活必需品，B项“它们不再被认为是生活必需品”表述与原文不符，故错误。A、D文中均未提及。
(2).Why have many countries started to consider taxing sugar?
A.They are under growing pressure to balance their national budgets.
B.They find it ever harder to cope with sugar-induced health problems.
C.The practice of taxing alcohol and tobacco has proved both popular and profitable.
D.The sugar industry is overtaking alcohol and tobacco business in generating profits.
参考答案：B
解题思路：
定位由题干中的taxing sugar及题意定位到文章第二段。点睛细节题。第二段第二句提到，肥胖给公共健康系统带来的压力越来越大，所以世界各国政府开始考虑对糖征税。B选项表述符合原文，正确答案为B项。避错A、C、D文中均未提及。
(3).What do we learn about Danish taxation on fat-rich foods?
A.It did not work out as well as was expected.
B.It gave rise to a lot of problems on the border.
C.It could not succeed without German cooperation.
D.It met with firm opposition from the food industry
参考答案：A
解题思路：
定位由题干中的Danish定位到文章第三段。点睛细节题。第三段提到，丹麦对高脂肪食物征税在其推出后一年就被废止了，由此可知，它并没有像预期那样奏效。避错第三段提到，消费者越过边境去德国满足他们对更便宜、更油腻的食物的渴望，并没有说给边境带来了许多问题，故B项错误。C、D在文中也均未提及。
(4).What is the more recent effort by food companies to make foods and drinks both healthy and tasty?
A.Replacing sugar or salt with alternative ingredients.
B.Setting a limit on the amount of sugar or salt in their products.
C.Investing in research to find ways to adapt to consumers’ needs.
D.Adjusting the physical composition of their products.
参考答案：D
解题思路：
定位由题干中的recent定位到文章倒数第二段。点睛细节题。由倒数第二段第二句可知，最近一些公司在学习如何调整他们所销售食品的基本构成。D选项表述符合原文，正确答案为D项。避错A、B项是过去三十年来的做法，故排除。C在文中未提及。
(5).What does the author mean by saying, at the end of the passage, “There is no silver bullet” (Line 4, Para.7)?
A.There is no single easy quick solution to the problem.
B.There is no hope of success without public cooperation.
C.There is no hurry in finding ways to solve the obesity problem.
D.There is no effective way to reduce people’s sugar consumption.
参考答案：A
解题思路：
定位由题干定位到文章最后一段。点睛推断题。最后一段提到，关键是要记住不只有一个解决方案，解决肥胖问题，多种方法混合是有必要的。由此可推断，A选项表述正确。故答案为A项。
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