英语听力精选进阶版 6186

Killer¹ Biscuits Warning in the UK 英国警告公众饼干的杀伤力

When we are warned about the dangers of food, it usually relates to food allergies² or food poisoning. The image of killer biscuits has never quite come in to people's minds.

Millions of people reach for a 'biccy' whenever they pour a cup of tea and it seems that this simple action is an activity packed with hidden danger. Almost half of all Britons have been injured while eating a crunchy biscuit with their tea or coffee, according to figures released by a new survey.

The research conducted by Mindlab International shows a staggering 500 people each year need hospital treatment after a biscuit-related injury. And it’s estimated that millions of Brits have become cookie casualties at some point.

It also found that almost a third of adults said they had been splashed or scalded by hot drinks while dunking or trying to fish out the remnants of a collapsed³ digestive.

It also revealed that 28 percent had choked on crumbs⁵, while one in ten had broken a tooth or filling biting a biscuit.

More unusually, three percent had poked⁶ themselves in the eye with a biscuit and seven percent bitten by a pet or other wild animal trying to get their biscuit. One man even ended up stuck in wet concrete after wading⁷ in to pick up a stray biscuit.

Mindlab International director David Lewis said: "We tested the physical properties of 15 most popular types of biscuits, along with aspects of their consumption such as 'dunkability' and crumb⁴ dispersal."

And the title of the most dangerous biscuit belongs to the humble⁸ custard cream. It poses the most risk to innocent dunkers with a Biscuit Injury Threat Evaluation⁹, or B.I.T.E rating of 5.63. This compares to just 1.16 for soft and safe Jaffa Cakes.

Mike Driver, Marketing¹⁰ Director for biscuit makers¹¹ Rocky, who commissioned the study, said: "Working with biscuits every day, we'd long suspected they're not as innocent as they look, and we were right."

GLOSSARY 词汇表

food allergies 食品过敏 

food poisoning 食物中毒 

biccy (俚语)饼干 

crunchy 脆脆的 

staggering 令人吃惊的，难以置信的 

biscuit-related injury 由饼干引起的伤病 

cookie casualties 曲奇饼伤员们 

splashed 被水溅到 

scalded 被开水烫了 

dunking 泡，浸 

fish out 吊出来，钩起来 

remnants 剩余的部分 

collapsed digestive 已经瓦解，散开了的饼干 

choked 呛着了，哽着了 

crumbs 饼干渣 

filling 补牙用的填充物 

poked 戳，捅 

wading in(形容在泥浆里或者沼泽地)费力的行走 

dispersal 散布，传播 

poses the most risk 最有危险

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 crumb   

n.饼屑，面包屑，小量

参考例句：

• It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
• Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。

5 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

6 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

8 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

9 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》