Question

D

What's driving the rise of obesity in the United States? A group of economists argued in a recent study that big-box grocers, warehouse clubs and fast-food restaurants are key contributors to the county's obesity epidemic(流行病).

General economic factors, ranging from unemployment to income, as well as the financial

or time costs of eating and physical activity account for 43 percent of the rise in obesity, according to a recent study published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, as the adult obesity rate in the United States has surged from 13 percent in 1960 to 35 percent in 2012.

"Supercenter/warehouse club expansion and increasing numbers of restaurants are the leading drivers of the results," the study concluded. "We show that supercenter/warehouse club density increases the probability of weight loss attempts, raising the possibility that cheap food from these retailers triggers self- control problems."

The study suggests that the rise of supercenters and warehouse clubs, like Walmart and Costco, may impact Americans' eating habits as they make calorie-rich food cheaper and more accessible, and save customers a lot of time.

"Food's gotten cheaper and more readily available, so we eat more of it. It's really simple," said Charles Courtemanche, co- author of the study and a health economist at Georgia State University, in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR). "At least a sizable portion of the rise in obesity can be characterized as response to economic incentives."

Obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30, leads to adverse health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressures and stroke.

Obesity has become a major public health concern in the United States as the nation has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

1.What does the underlined word “trigger”mean?

A. Cause. B. Raise.

C. Solve. D. Explain.

2.From the passage we can infer _____.

A. the writer are opposed to fast-food restaurants .

B. 43 percent of the Americans are overweight.

C. America people begin to be concerned about obesity problem.

D. calorie-rich food are becoming much more expensive.

3.As reasons for obesity , which of the following hasn’t been mentioned in the passage?

A. Unemployment. B. Physical activity.

C. Eating time. D. Genes.

4.What is the writer’s purpose to write this passage?

A. To do research into people’s eating habit.

B. To analyze the reasons for people’s becoming fat.

C. To tell people calorie-rich food is bad for health.

D. To introduce the boom of big-box grocers.

5.In which column of a newspaper can you find this passage?

A. Anecdote. B. Life.

C. Business. D. Science.

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.B

5.B

【解析】

文章大意：本文介绍了一项研究，研究表明美国人肥胖的原因是由于大型零售商，仓库俱乐部和快餐店的兴起。因为这使得高热量食物更加便宜，也更方便，而且也使人们的吃饭时间缩短，这些都是造成肥胖问题的原因。

1.A 词义猜测题。根据上下文内容可知快餐店，大型杂货商店等的出现使很多食品变得更便宜，更便捷，由此判断这些都会让人们不自觉的食量增加，也就是造成人们自我控制问题，选A。

2.C 细节理解题。根据末段Obesity has become a major public health concern in the United States可知美国人现在比较关注肥胖问题，选C。根据第二段General economic factors, and physical activity account for 43 percent of the rise in obesity,排除B；由第四段内容they make calorie-rich food cheaper可知D错误；而A选项文章没有涉及，故排除A。

3.D 细节理解题。根据第二段General economic factors, ranging from unemployment to income, as well as the financial or time costs of eating and physical activity account for 43 percent of the rise in obesity,可知A、B、C选项都有涉及，而D选项没有提到，选D。

4.B 推理判断题。作者在文章开头提出What's driving the rise of obesity in the United States?然后在下文对此进行分析，由此判断作者的写作目的是为了分析造成美国人肥胖问题的原因，选B。

5.

考点：考查健康类短文阅读