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  3. Cigarette Labels, Will They Work? A)The Food and Drug Administration(FDA

Cigarette Labels, Will They Work? A)The Food and Drug Administration(FDA

游客2024-01-31  3
问题     Cigarette Labels, Will They Work?
    A)The Food and Drug Administration(FDA)—which has chosen nine images to be placed prominently on cigarette packs sold in the USA after Sep. 2010—hopes they’ll provide enough shock value. In the most sweeping anti-tobacco effort since the Surgeon General’s warning became forced on cigarette packaging in 1965, the FDA said Tuesday it will begin requiring tobacco marketers to cover the top half of cigarette boxes and 20% of tobacco advertisements with nine bluntly graphic anti-smoking images.
    B)The goal: reduce consumption among the nation’s 43 million smokers and prevent millions more, especially teens, from ever starting. The FDA selected the terrible images, which include pictures of rotting teeth and gums, from 36 proposed last year. Cigarette marketers also will be required to place 1-800-QUIT-NOW numbers on new packaging. "These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "With these warnings, every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes is going to know exactly what risk they’re taking." The images are the biggest change to cigarette warning labels since 1984, when the government began requiring cigarette packs and tobacco ads carry several health warnings.
    C)Cigarette consumption has dropped from about 42% of the population since the mid-1960s, but has remained at about 21% since 2003, or about one in five adults, despite federal and state excise tax(特许权税)increases that have boosted prices to more than $ 5 a pack.
    D)The FDA’s move—which faces a challenge by tobacco marketers in federal appeals court next month after a lower court ruling upheld the government’s regulatory power over new packaging, imaging and warning labels—is a major advance for the anti-tobacco movement.
    E)"With 10 million cigarettes being sold every minute and more than 2 000 children under the age of 18 starting to smoke each day, we don’t have a moment to lose in protecting the American public, especially children, from the harm caused by these dangerous products," says Marion, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics(美国儿科协会). "This is a huge step forward in encouraging kids not to smoke and adults to quit," says Paul, vice president of policy for the American Lung Association. About 40 countries, including Canada and Mexico, already require similar warnings, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
    F)Gregory, professor at Harvard University’s School of Public Health and director of its Center for Global Tobacco Control, says the images aren’t as scary and over the top as Canada’s images, which he notes have not lowered that nation’s smoking rates. "These messages are better," he says. "They show respect for smokers and adverse health consequences." A recent international study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that generally, such images are effective. About 25% to more than 50% of smokers say they make them more likely to quit.
    G)Smokers and non-smokers were split on the potential impact. "It’s discrimination," says Davis, a 46-year-old Washington D. C. resident who says she has been smoking for 20 years. "They already hit us with all these taxes on cigarettes," Davis says. "Now they are making us put up with this. I know the risks of smoking. Why don’t they do something about alcohol addiction instead of always picking on us?" "I’ve seen before and it’s not pleasant to look at," a young man says. "But I’m used to people telling me not to smoke." Some health specialists say the warnings may offer only temporary warning effect and that smokers who repeatedly see such images may become insensitive to the message about the health risks of smoking.
    H)Anti-smoking efforts aimed at kids produce mixed results. The American Legacy Foundation’s 11-year "Truth Campaign", funded by the tobacco industry’s 1999 settlement with state governments, is considered among the most effective. The effort tells kids that tobacco marketers want to attract them to smoke to replace the thousands of older smokers who die each year. Teens aware of the campaign were twice as likely as others to say they had no plans to start smoking, according to a 2008 study by Health Education Research. By contrast, teens who saw Philip "Think Don’t Smoke" campaign had more positive attitudes toward tobacco companies. "The so-called youth prevention campaigns that the tobacco industry runs are a farce(闹剧)," says Sward of the American Lung Association.
    I)A Harvard School of Public Health survey of 1 000 US adults, being released today, finds that more than 70% of Americans favor reducing nicotine(尼古丁)to non-addictive levels, but only half want a ban on cigarettes.
    J)Major cigarette makers have opposed labeling plans since the FDA was given the power to regulate tobacco products in 2009 under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Brannon Cashion, president of branding consultants Addison Whitney, says tobacco marketers have done a good job dealing with growing anti-smoking efforts. What they need to do is stress innovation, such as developing low nicotine and electronic cigarettes, he says.
    K)On Wall Street, tobacco stocks were little changed. Philip parent Altria Group closed at $ 27. 31, down 1 cent, while Reynolds lost 8 cents to $ 38.17. Rival Lorillard gained 79 cents to $ 111. 89. "The cigarette companies are in an environment where their product is seen as dangerous," Cashion says. "In order to continue to manufacture the product, they have to continue to put innovations in place that can do everything possible to make as safe an environment as possible for those who smoke and the people most affected with their smoking."
    L)Convenience stores, which sell about 85% of the cigarettes sold in this country, could take a hit because of the new labels. "A future beyond cigarettes could be complicated. You’ll see stores selling more items like food to make sure they aren’t hurt," Says Jeff, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. [br] Sward doubts the youth prevention campaigns run by the tobacco industry.
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答案 H
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