Changing our diet can benefit the planet

陕西 孙竹芳

主题语境：人与社会 篇幅：349词 建议用时：6分钟

1The food we eat every day keeps us alive,but it can also bring big health and environmental costs.A recent study finds that small shifts in the food choices could have great benefits to both health and the planet.

2Because many foods with a high health burden,including processed meats or red meats,have high environmental costs,giving up just a few of them can cut a person's food-based environmental footprint.Between growing it,packaging it,moving it around,cooking it,and often wasting it,food production makes up about one-fifth to one-third of all annual greenhouse gas emissions globally.For an average household,food makes up about as much of the greenhouse gas footprint as the electricity.

3To learn how to reduce negative impacts of food production and consumption on the planet and the body,researchers first assessed damage related to food.Over the past few decades,scientists have developed ways of doing“life cycle analyses”for specific items and assigned them a hard number to show its environmental impact.Meanwhile,public health scientists were doing similar analyses for human bodies.They carefully examined the links between food and health.They concluded that agriculture is a huge piece of the climate puzzle,and agriculture,food,and diet are all linked.

4We can't stop eating,so what should we do? For some climate challenges,there are relatively straightforward ways.For example,renewable energy sources can already replace much of the energy needed to power buildings,cars,and more.

5There's no substitute for food,but shifting what we eat is possible.If all people on the planet are vegans,greenhouse gas emissions from the food system could be cut by more than half;a planet of vegetarians would trim food emissions by 44 percent.

6Food choices are personal,deeply connected to culture,emotion,economic concerns,and so much more.Rather than dictate,it's much better to try to give choices.This approach aims to inform people so that they can make choices that are linked with their needs and values.In general,those choices can benefit both human health and the planet.Remember that we don't all have to become vegans overnight,but small changes can make a big difference.

Reading Check

Inference 1.What does the author intend to tell us about food in paragraph 2?

A.It is essential to keep us alive every day.

B.It can affect our life as much as electricity.

C.It can have a high health burden on people.

D.It makes up a large part of the carbon footprint.

Detail 2.What did researchers initially do to reduce food's impact on the earth?

A.They developed ways to analyze specific items.

B.They evaluated the damage connected with food.

C.They examined people's health problems related to food.

D.They did research on the links between food and diet.

Vocabulary 3.What does the underlined word“trim”in the last but one paragraph mean?

A.Reduce. B.Change.

C.Weaken. D.Increase.

Detail 4.What does the author appeal to us to do?

A.Eat food with high value.

B.Become a vegan quickly.

C.Say no to the processed food.

D.Make small changes to our diet.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

Because many foods with a high health burden,including processed meats or red meats,have high environmental costs,giving up just a few of them can cut a person's foodbased environmental footprint.由于包括加工肉类和红肉在内的许多健康负担高的食物都有很高的环境成本，因此只要放弃其中的一些食物，就可以减少一个人基于食物的环境足迹。

【点石成金】本句中的Because 引导原因状语从句；including processed meats or red meats 为介词短语作状语；主句中，giving up just a few of them 为动名词作主语的结构。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

make up 构成；组成

reduce negative impacts of 减少……的消极影响

over the past few decades 在过去的几十年里

a substitute for……的替代品

rather than 而不是

in general 从总体上看；通常

make a big difference 有很大的影响