精美英文欣赏:食品与健康

Food and Health

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon¹. Different cultures are more prone² to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives³, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin⁴ to beef and poultry⁵, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten⁶ the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.

食品与健康

我们所吃的食物似乎对我们的健康有深远的影响。 尽管科学上已取得许多进展，使食物更适合我们食用，但与此同时它也使许多食物不宜食用了。 一些研究已经表明，人类大概有 80%的疾病与饮食有关，40%的癌症，特别是结肠癌，也与饮食有关。 不同的文化会使人们更易患某些疾病，这是由这些文化的人们喜好的食物所致。 食物与疾病有关并不是新发现。 1945 年，政府部门的科研工作者了解到，被广泛用于肉类以保持肉类色泽的硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐和其他的添加剂可诱发癌症。 可是这些致癌物质依然存在于我们的食物之中。 与此同时，要想知道加工食品标签上的哪些成分对健康有利，哪些成分对健康不利，变得更加困难了。 我们吃到的这些添加物并非都是如此直接的。 农民常给牛和家禽注射青霉素，因而在受过注射的牛所产牛奶里发现青霉素。 有时让家禽服用这类药物并非是为了治病，而是为了经济上的缘故。 农民们只是想使家畜长得更肥壮可以上市场上卖到好价钱。 虽然食物和药品管理局已一再设法控制这种情况的发生，但是这种行为仍在继续。

1 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

2 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

3 additives   

n.添加剂( additive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• chemical additives in petrol 汽油中的化学添加剂
• It'says on the packet that these crisps contain no additives. 包装上说这些炸薯片不含添加剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 penicillin   

n.青霉素，盘尼西林

参考例句：

• I should have asked him for a shot of penicillin.我应当让他给我打一针青霉素的。
• Penicillin was an extremely significant medical discovery.青霉素是极其重要的医学发现。

5 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

6 fatten   

v.使肥，变肥

参考例句：

• The new feed can fatten the chicken up quickly enough for market.新饲料能使鸡长得更快，以适应市场需求。
• We keep animals in pens to fatten them.我们把动物关在围栏里把它们养肥。