Four out of ten women who diet end up heavier than when they started watching their waistline（腰围）, a study revealed today. The research also showed that a large percentage of women start noticing the pounds creeping back on just 21 days after reaching their ideal weight.
Yesterday, Dr Ian Campbell of the Jenny Craig weight management program said: “In the UK 61.4 per cent of adults are overweight or obese. Successful weight management requires a long-term commitment in order to lose weight successfully and for good. Dieting can be a real challenge so setting realistic goals and remaining focused on them is important. Otherwise as this research shows, women could end up heavier than when they started.”
The “Food: Body: Mind” report was publicized by Jenny Craig who quizzed 2000 women aged between 18 and 65 who diet regularly on their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors around weight loss. Six in ten said they are currently on a diet and one in five women said they are on a “continuous diet”.
It found the most common triggers to start dieting was seeing their “reflection in the mirror”, preparing for a summer holiday or unflattering photos posted on social networking sites. Other popular reasons include comments by friends or relatives or their other half.
However, the study showed that one in ten give up within one day, while almost a fifth manage to make it to a week or more. The average is ten days. Many blamed pressure they put on themselves to lose weight too quickly for the weight gain, which leaves them with a bigger appetite than normal. Others blamed colleagues, who tuck into fatty lunches and snacks unaware of the effect it has on the dieter, while mothers who polish off their children's leftovers（剩饭）was another common cause of weight gain.
【小题1】Which of the following might be the best title for this article?

A．Three reasons to fail in dieting	B．Important things for successful diet
C．Obesity: problem for 61.4% adults in UK	D．Four in ten women gain weight on diets

【小题2】In the UK, women who go on a diet __________.

A．are all overweight or obese

B．are likely to gain weight again after reaching their ideal weight

C．all fail because they are not persistent enough

D．end up heavier than when they start to diet

【小题3】The underlined word “triggers” in Paragraph 4 probably means __________.

A．effects

B．examples

C．causes

D．imagination

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT the reason why many people quit dieting very soon?

A．The pressure they put on themselves to lose weight quickly.

B．Colleagues who give them fatty lunches and snacks.

C．Reflections they see in the mirror.

D．Leftovers of children’s taken by their mothers.

【小题5】 In which column of the newspaper do you probably find the passage?

A．Health.

B．Economy.

C．Sports.

D．Education.

Children are getting so fat that they may be the first generation to die before their parents, an expert says.

Today's young people will be affected by potential (潜在的) killers such as heart disease because of their weight. Fatty fast－food diets combined with the lifestyles with televisions and computers could mean kids will die young, says Professor Andrew Prentice, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. At the same time, the shape of the human body is going through a great change because adults are getting so fat.

Here in Britain, the latest research shows that the average waist size for a man is 36～38 inches and may be 42～44 inches by 2032.This compares with only 32.6 inches in 1972. Women's waists have grown from an average of 22 inches in the 1920s to 24 inches in the 1950s and 30 inches now. One of the major reasons why children now are at greater risk is that we are getting fatter younger. In the UK alone, more than one million under 16 years old are thought

to be overweight or fat—double the number in the 1980s. One in ten of four－year－olds are also medically said to be obese.

The obesity which started in the US, has now spread to Europe, Australia, Central America and the Middle East. Many nations now record more than 20 percent of their population as obese and well over half of the population as overweight.

Professor Prentice says the change in our shape has been caused by high－energy foods combined with a dramatic (急剧的) drop in the energy we use as a result of technology developments.

He is not alone in his concern. Only last week one medical magazine revealed how obesity was fuelling a rise in cancer cases. Obesity also increases the risk factor for heart disease and so on. An averagely obese person's lifespan (寿命) is shortened by around nine years while a seriously obese person by much more.

Professor Prentice says,

“So_will_parents_live_longer_than_their_children,_as_an_American_obesity_expert_said_recently？”

“The answer is yes—and no.” Yes, when most children become obese. No, because this is now becoming an alarmingly serious problem in the US. “Such children will have a greatly reduced quality of life on both body and mind.”

So say “No” to sandwiches and hamburgers.

1.From the second paragraph, we know that ________.

A．heart disease is caused by people's weight

B．bad living habits make children die young

C．increasing weight could kill young people

D．adults know how to change their shape of body

2.According to Professor Prentice, people become fatter because ________.

A．the energy people take in is more than they need

B．high technology makes people use less energy

C．food contains too much energy

D．people like to eat fast food

3.For the underlined question, the answer “no” suggests ________.

A．children should refuse fast－food diets

B．children's obesity is becoming more and more serious

C．Americans have realized the bad consequence of the obesity

D．the government should call on fat people to lose weight as soon as possible

 

Millions of British people have ditched the traditional “thank you” and replaced it with the less formal “cheers”, according to a survey.

Although the average person will say “thank you” nearly 5,000 times a year, one in three are more likely to throw in a “cheers” or “ta” where it’s needed, rather than risk sounding old fashioned.

One in 20 now say “nice one” instead, while younger generations are more likely to offer a “cool” than a “thank you”. “Merci”, “fab” and even “gracias” were also listed as common phrases to use, as was “much appreciated”.

One in twenty who took part in the survey of 2,000 people by the Food Network UK for Thank You Day, which is marked on November 24, 2011, said a formal “thank you” was now not often needed in everyday conversation. More than one in ten adults said they regularly wouldn’t say “thank you” if they were in a bad mood.

Most people declared that saying “thank you” was something drilled into them by their parents. A huge 70 percent of those questioned will say “thank you” to a person’s face without even meaning it, while a fifth avoid saying it when they know they should — on at least two occasions every day.

It seems our friends and family get the brunt (压力) of our bad manners with half admitting they’re not good at thanking those closest to them — many justifying (为……辩解) the lack of thanks because their family “already know I’m grateful”.

When spoken words won’t do, it falls to a nice text to do the job for most people. A thank you email is also popular, while a quarter turn to social networks to express gratitude. A quarter of British people say thank you with food, with 23 percent cooking a meal to show their appreciation to someone. Another 15 percent bake a cake. A third will still send a handwritten thank-you note — but 45 percent admit it’s been more than six months since they bothered to send one.

It follows that 85 percent of people will be annoyed at not getting the gratitude they feel they should receive. 

1.Most of the people who took part in the survey say that they say “thank you” _____.

A．when they are in good mood              B．completely out of habit

C．when they feel truly grateful               D．purely out of politeness

2.The underlined word “ditched” in Paragraph 1 means “_____”.

A．abandoned        B．used             C．shared            D．grasped

3.It can be learned from the passage that _____.

A．different ways of expressing gratitude are all fashionable

B．people should avoid saying “thank you” nowadays

C．a thank-you note is still appreciated by most people

D．people in a bad mood never say “thank you”

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Most people express their gratitude to others by buying food for them.

B．About fifty percent of people try not to say thank you when they should.

C．Most people may feel natural when they fail to receive others’ gratitude.

D．Many people think it unnecessary to say thanks to their family members.