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  3. If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and

If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and

admin2019-11-02  57
问题    If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking.
   This needn’t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures.
   In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. It ought to be a disaster for big tobacco. Governments started banning cigarette advertising on television in the 1960s, and though the marketing rope is still loose in much of the world it is tightening. Many governments ban ads in print media and oblige manufacturers to display packs with gruesome warnings. The pack itself survives as a badge of a smoker’s taste and means, displayed and pocketed 20 or 30 times a day. Lighter colors hint at relative healthiness. Tall thin packs seem more feminine. In the war on tobacco marketing, packaging is "the last major frontier", says David Hammond of the University of Waterloo in Canada. "That’s why we’re seeing such strong opposition." The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.
   You don’t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It’s almost like a tax on our daily bread.
   In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, be conceivable, be harmful, it doesn’t do to shout too loudly about it.
   This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease.
   Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.
   Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you’d think they’d conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising.
   Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisement always depicts virile, cleanshaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy!
   Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!
   For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific warning say, a picture of a death’s head should be included in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from harm.
Why do a few governments take timid measures toward smoking?
选项 A、Because they are afraid of people.
B、Because diseases cost a lot.
C、Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue.
D、Because they are afraid of manufacturers.
答案C
解析 为何政府禁烟的举措没有力度?答案见第四段。 “你不用看得很远就能发现为什么官方对医学成果的反应如此冷淡，答案就是钱。对于税收来说，烟草是一种绝妙的商品，几乎就像对我们每天吃的面包征税一样。光烟草税收一项，英国政府就从抽烟人身上征到足以支付整个教育设施的费用。”所以禁烟没有力度，是因为他们害怕收入减少。选项A他们害怕人民，选项D他们害怕厂商，文中没有。选项B疾病花费很大，这和软弱无力的禁烟措施有关，但不是因花费大而采取不利的政策。
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