The number of smokers in England is about 8 million. According to the Department

The number of smokers in England is about 8 million.According to the Department of Health, smoking is the biggest cause of earlydeath in the country. Smokers in England have been asked to give up smoking for28 days this month, in an action backed by Cancer Research UK and the BritishHeart Foundation.

Research shows people who manage not to light up forthis length of time are 5 times more likely to kick the habit. Public healthexperts say campaigns that include a combination of hard-hitting ads andsupportive messages work best.

Quitting smoking can be difficult. However, people aremuch more likely to succeed if other people are doing the same than if they tryto do it alone and go cold turkey. Robert West, Director of TobaccoStudies at University College London, points out how pressure from peoplearound can prevent a smoker going on smoking. “We are social animals,” he said.

The action has met some doubts among readers of theBBC News Online website. Some compared it to asking people to stop eating as away of fighting overweight. Others doubt the action’s effectiveness. “Itsweakness is that it fails to explain why a person smokes, and the reasons areas many as the number of smokers”, says someone who signed as BluesBerry.

Another reader, Cazz, has decided to give it somecredit. He says:“ Campaigns like this won’t necessarily inspire the majority ofsmokers to quit, but may encourage those thinking about quitting to set a dateand try. Surely it’s worth a shot. ”

1.What does the text mainly talk about?

A．A new actionto quit smoking.

B．A way offighting overweight.

C．A countrywith the most smokers.

D．The biggestcause of early death.

2.The underlined phrase “go cold turkey” in the thirdparagraph means “_______”.

A．buy a coldturkey   B．eat too muchfood   C．stop a badhabit     D．get muchsupport

3.Why is it easier to stop smoking when other peopleare doing the same?

A．Becausepeople usually respect each other.

B．Because they’re faced with the same pressure.

C．Becausepeople are influenced by each other.

D．Because theykeep the same animals as pets.

4.What’s Cazz’ s attitude in the last paragraph?

A．Distant．          B．Doubtful．        C．Surprised．        D．Approving

试题答案

【答案】

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题