Butter is bad for you—so is margarine(人造黃油).Coffee raises blood pressure, but may protect against cancer.Alcohol is okay, but only if it's wine.The confusing studies on what is safe to eat and drink are enough to make it impossible for anyone to understand what "good food" is.
Take the margarine-butter debate for example.Studies that linked fat—found mostly in animal products such as meat and butter—with cancer and heart disease sent millions rushing to buy margarine.But then another study found that people who ate a lot of margarine also had high levels of heart disease.For those who have a firm faith in science, this seems to be the end of the world.
But many doctors point out that their advice has never been conflicting.For years, and in various countries, they have recommended eating less fat.
People in western countries such as Britain and the United States get about 40 percent of their calories from fat.Doctors say this should be around 30 or even 25 percent,
"We must try to reduce total fat," said Dr.Robert Richardson of the University of Edinburgh, who has been studying the effects of fat on human health for years.
"We need to go to more such food as bread, in particular brown bread, and more fruit and vegetables."
Fresh produce may not be so safe, either.Last month the British Government advised consumers to peel their pears before eating, while many Americans briefly avoided apples because of fears over an insect killing chemical.
But Dr.Arnold, a British scientist, said any risk of such poisoning would be
outweighed by the costs of not eating plant foods.
"On balance, if you were to put both risks against each other, the advice has to be eating as much fruit and vegetable daily as possible," she said.
In general, doctors conclude, variety truly is the best policy."The general advice is pretty much the same advice that doctors have been talking about for a long time—a varied diet, a mixture of foods and not too much of any one," Arnold said.
小題1:In which section of the magazine are you most likely to find this passage?
A.Arts and Culture | B.Entertainment |
C.Nature | D.Health |
小題2:The British Government advised consumers to peel their pears before eating because ________.
A.it found that there were insects on the pears |
B.it wanted consumers to avoid insect, killing chemicals |
C.the skin of pears was found to be bad for people's health |
D.it was a bad habit not to peel them |
小題3:The underlined word "outweigh" (Para. 8) means " __________."
A.to be heavier than usual or allowed | B.to be more dangerous than |
C.to be greater in value or importance than | D.to be considered less important than |
小題4:What can we infer from the passage?
A.Many doctors say that their advice has never been conflicting. |
B.Science provides answers to all our questions. |
C.We should peel our pears before eating. |
D.We should eat plant foods despite the risk of poisoning. |