09雅思阅读实战训练(七)

　　Food agency takes on industry over junk labels

　　Felicity Lawrence

　　Thursday December 28， 2006

　　The Guardian

　　1. Consumers are to be presented with two rival new year advertising campaigns as the Food Standards Agency goes public in its battle with the industry over the labelling of unhealthy foods.

　　2. The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red， amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs， which is designed to tackle Britain‘s obesity epidemic.

　　3. The campaign is a direct response to a concerted attempt by leading food manufacturers and retailers， including Kellogg‘s and Tesco， to derail the system. The industry fears that traffic lights would demonise entire categories of foods and could seriously damage the market for those that are fatty， salty or high in sugar.

　　4. The UK market for breakfast cereals is worth £1.27bn a year and the manufacturers fear it will be severely dented if red light labels are put on packaging drawing attention to the fact that the majority are high in salt and/or sugar.

　　5. The industry is planning a major marketing campaign for a competing labelling system which avoids colour-coding in favour of information about the percentage of guideline daily amounts of fat， salt and sugar contained in their products.

　　6. The battle for the nation‘s diet comes as new rules on television advertising come into force in January which will bar adverts for unhealthy foods from commercial breaks during programmes aimed at children. Sources at the TV regulators are braced for a legal challenge from the industry and have described the lobbying efforts to block any new ad ban or colour-coded labelling as the most ferocious we‘ve ever experienced.

　　7. Ofcom‘s chief executive， Ed Richards， said: We are prepared to face up to any legal action from the industry， but we very much hope it will not be necessary. The FSA said it was expecting an onslaught from the industry in January. Senior FSA officials said the manufacturers‘ efforts to undermine its proposals on labelling could threaten the agency‘s credibility.

　　8. Terrence Collis， FSA director of communications， dismissed claims that the proposals were not based on science. We have some of the most respected scientists in Europe， both within the FSA and in our independent advisory committees. It is unjustified and nonsensical to attack the FSA‘s scientific reputation and to try to undermine its credibility.

　　9. The FSA is understood to have briefed its ad agency， United， before Christmas， and will aim to air ads that are non-confrontational， humorous and factual as a counterweight to industry‘s efforts about the same time. The agency， however， will have a tiny fraction of the budget available to the industry.

　　10. Gavin Neath， chairman of Unilever UK and president of the Food and Drink Federation， has said that the industry has made enormous progress but could not accept red stop signs on its food.

　　11. Alastair Sykes， chief executive of Nestlé UK， said that under the FSA proposals all his company‘s confectionery and most of its cereals would score a red. Are we saying people shouldn‘t eat confectionery? We‘re driven by consumers and what they want， and much of what we do has been to make our products healthier， he said.

　　12. Chris Wermann， director of communications at Kellogg‘s， said: In principle we could never accept traffic light labelling.

　　13. The rival labelling scheme introduced by Kellogg‘s， Danone， Unilever， Nestlé， Kraft and Tesco and now favoured by 21 manufacturers， uses an industry-devised system based on identifying GDAs of key nutrients. Tesco says it has tested both traffic lights and GDA labels in its stores and that the latter increased sales of healthier foods.

　　14. But the FSA said it could not live with this GDA system alone because it was not scientific or easy for shoppers to understand at a glance.

　　Questions 1-6

　　Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　1. When will instructions be given on reading the color-coded labels?

　　2. Where can customers find the red light labels?

　　3. What problem is the FSA trying to handle with the labeling system?

　　4. Which product sells well but may not be healthy?

　　5. What information， according to the manufacturers， can be labeled on products?

　　6. What can not be advertised during children’s programmes?

　　Questions 7-13

　　Use the information in the text to match the people with the opinions below. Write the appropriate letter for questions 1-7.

　　NB You may use any letter more than once.

　　A Ed Richard

　　B Terrence Collis

　　C Gavin Neath

　　D Alastair Sykes

　　E Chris Wermann

　　7. Generally we will not agree to use the red light labels.

　　8. It is unreasonable to doubt if FSA is trustworthy.

　　9. We are trying to meet our consumers’ needs.

　　10. The food industry has been improving greatly.

　　11. The color-coded labeling system is scientific.

　　12. Our products will be labeled unhealthy by the FSA.

　　13. We are ready to confront the manufacturers.

　　Answer keys:

　　1. 答案： January (见第2段：The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red， amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs， which is designed to tackle Britain‘s obesity epidemic.)

　　2. 答案：food packs/packaging (见第2段：The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red， amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs， which is designed to tackle Britain‘s obesity epidemic. 或者在第4段中也提到另一个答案：The UK market for breakfast cereals is worth £1.27bn a year and the manufacturers fear it will be severely dented if red light labels are put on packaging drawing attention to the fact that the majority are high in salt and/or sugar.)

　　3. 答案： obesity epidemic (见第2段：The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red， amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs， which is designed to tackle Britain‘s obesity epidemic.)

　　4. 答案： cereals (见第4段：The UK market for breakfast cereals is worth £1.27bn a year and the manufacturers fear it will be severely dented if red light labels are put on packaging drawing attention to the fact that the majority are high in salt and/or sugar.)

　　5. 答案：guieline daily amounts/GDAs (见第5段：The industry is planning a major marketing campaign for a competing labelling system which avoids colour-coding in favour of information about the percentage of guideline daily amounts of fat， salt and sugar contained in their products.)

　　6. 答案：unhealthy foods (见第6段第1句：The battle for the nation‘s diet comes as new rules on television advertising come into force in January which will bar adverts for unhealthy foods from commercial breaks during programmes aimed at children.)

　　7. 答案：E

　　8. 答案：B (见第8段最后一句：It is unjustified and nonsensical to attack the FSA‘s scientific reputation and to try to undermine its credibility.)

　　9. 答案：D (见第11段最后1句：We‘re driven by consumers and what they want， and much of what we do has been to make our products healthier.)

　　10. 答案：C (见第10段:Gavin Neath， chairman of Unilever UK and president of the Food and Drink Federation， has said that the industry has made enormous progress but could not accept red stop signs on its food.)

　　11. 答案：B (见第8段：Terrence Collis， FSA director of communications， dismissed claims that the proposals were not based on science. We have some of the most respected scientists in Europe， both within the FSA and in our independent advisory committees. It is unjustified and nonsensical to attack the FSA‘s scientific reputation and to try to undermine its credibility.)

　　12. 答案：D (见第11段第1句：Alastair Sykes， chief executive of Nestlé UK， said that under the FSA proposals all his company‘s confectionery and most of its cereals would score a red.)

　　13. 答案：A (见第7段第1句：Ofcom‘s chief executive， Ed Richards， said: We are prepared to face up to any legal action from the industry， but we very much hope it will not be necessary.)

　　雅思阅读的题型一直是考生比较关注的问题，分析认为主要有以下两个原因：

　　1. 有相对简单和相对费时的题型;

　　2.每个考生都有自己擅长的和较害怕的题型。具体来说：对于词汇不足的考生可能最害怕段落标题匹配题及摘要归纳填空题;对于词汇量较大的考生来说，是非无判断题，段落标题匹配题和摘要归纳填空题可能是比较简单的。选择题和其它匹配题是相对来说比较费时的，所以大部分考生都很害怕这类题型。

　　那么，面对上面所提到的这些情况，考生应该在题型方面怎样备考呢?

　　首先，专家认为考生必须从心理上准备迎接所有的题型，在备考中要尽可能喜欢所有题型。有的考生会一次次地祈祷：“希望这次考试不要有选择题或段落细节信息定位题!”这样做，其实是无形中给自己制造了负面的影响。考试题型不是我们所能预料和控制的，一旦有了上述心理，很有可能一看到题型就慌了，一开始就没有一个好的状态。还有一部份考生喜欢跟着考题回忆和机经走，看到上次考了什么题就在备考中只关注那些题型。考题回忆和机经可以看看，但只能做参考，考生千万不要被它们所左右。否则就是自己给自己制造障碍。

　　其次，考生必须对各类题型的题型特点和答题注意事项了如指掌。雅思阅读考试时间之短，文章之学术性，题量之大，题型之多等特点决定了考生势必会感觉时间不够。考生要在有限的时间内答完所有的题并尽可能地保证较高的正确率确实不是一件容易的事情。考生除了要有一定的词汇量和阅读速度之外，常见的雅思阅读技巧和解题策略是必须的。而解题策略很多时候是建立在考生熟悉题型特点的基础之上的。比如说，考生拿到一篇文章绝不是从第1题接到13题，而是应该分析各组题型的特点和难易，由易到难。同样，考生也可以根据3篇各自的题型来初步判断哪一篇的题型可能对自己比较有利，那篇可能较难，以便能灵活地采取合适的策略。

　　最后，专家建议考生在考前进行练习时，不要光做套题，而应该偶尔穿插一些专题的练习，重点练习自己没什么把握的题型。注意练习时时间的掌控是很重要的，不要给自己30分钟完成6道是非无，那样不能达到训练的目的，不能保证良好的效果。