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  3. By now you’ve probably heard that the percentage of active smokers among us has steadily and significantly dwindled. Today nearl

By now you’ve probably heard that the percentage of active smokers among us has steadily and significantly dwindled. Today nearl

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问题    By now you’ve probably heard that the percentage of active smokers among us has steadily and significantly dwindled. Today nearly 16% of high-school-age kids are regular puffers, as opposed to 36% of teens in 1997. This is, in a word, fantastic. Fewer teen smokers means fewer addicted adults down the road, and ultimately, fewer smoking-related deaths. However, in a potentially worrisome development, over the past three years there’s been an almost 800% increase(yes, that’s an 8)in the use of electronic cigarettes—small, battery-powered machines that deliver vapor that is far gentler than tarry, chemical-riddled smoke but still carries a hefty nicotine payload.
   E-cigarettes can be flavored to taste like candy and emit a vaguely scented, superfine substance often referred to as vapor, which is actually aerosol. It dissipates almost instantaneously without telltale traces on breath or clothes. E-cigs can be used one drag at a time, allowing novices to precisely control their nicotine intake without "wasting " half or more of a cigarette before they’ve built up a tolerance. It’s not hard to imagine an enterprising kid whipping out an e-cig in the school stairwell and grabbing a couple quick puffs on the way to geometry.
   E-cigarettes are so new that there’s no long-term research on their health effects. Technically, they emit lower levels of toxins than conventional cigarettes, meaning e-cig smokers inhale fewer noxious chemicals to get the same dose of nicotine. But that’s only because tobacco smoke is so incredibly toxic. "When you burn tobacco, you release thousands of chemicals," says Peter Shields, MD, deputy director of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. "You just don’t get that in an e-cig. " This is welcome news to long-term smokers looking for a safer alternative, but it’s hard to ignore the feeling that these devices might make it significantly easier for kids to pick up a lifelong addiction. Are e-cigs harbingers of a brave new smoke-free future, or are they just the latest Trojan horse from big tobacco?
   If we’re going to try to answer that question, we’d better do it soon, because kids are not waiting for scientific data to be handed down by white-coated experts. Between 2011 and 2014, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5% to 13. 4%, a shockingly precipitous rise.
   For generations, cigarette smoking has been a powerful symbol of rebellion and adulthood. And during those yearning years on the way to maturity, kids long for such signifiers. The car. The girlfriend or boyfriend. Experimentation with drugs and alcohol. Today’s kids probably know the dangers of cigarettes better than any other generation—and yet are still drawn to them, though not at the same levels as previous gens. Thankfully, the romantic self-image cigarettes confer does not appear to extend to e-cigarettes. I spoke with several teens about nicotine use in their peer groups and was told that around 10% of their classmates were regular smokers and that another 5% did it occasionally. Most interestingly, all of them also reported that e-cigarettes were seen as "babyish," "immature" or "a toy. " "You look kind of dumb smoking a little plastic tube," a high-school junior stated. "No one’s going to say you look cool doing that. "
The word "precipitous"(para. 4)is closest in meaning to______.
选项 A、dangerous
B、overwhelming
C、dramatic
D、smooth
答案C
解析
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