英语听力精选进阶版 6402（在线收听）

Public trust in the food industry has been shaken recently after it came to light that some processed meat sold in British and Irish supermarkets as beef was actually horsemeat.

The Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: "At the moment this appears to be an issue of fraud and mislabelling." He's promised an investigation.

Food fraud is nothing new. Once upon a time, it might have been watered down beer or bread adulterated with sawdust.

Today, rising food prices, long supply chains and high mark ups on some foods have made deception easier and more profitable, according to BBC reporters Tom de Castella and Brian Wheeler, who've been covering the scandal.

Hundreds of tonnes of fraudulent food were seized in raids across Europe in December 2011. Operation Opson targeted ports, airports and businesses in 10 countries, including the UK.

Among the products seized were 13,000 bottles of substandard olive oil, 30 tonnes of fake tomato sauce and about 77,000 kg of counterfeit cheese.

More recently, a rise in fraud has made high value products like organic and free range particularly vulnerable. In one case, an Italian gang were jailed for selling organic soya beans which were found to have been treated with pesticides.

Stuart Shotton, of Food Chain Europe, which advises food manufacturers in compliance with safety laws, says: "As long as there are premium prices to pay for certain products, there will always be people out there looking to make a fast buck."

DNA testing has been useful in confirming if a product is authentic. But experts suggest that there might always be some doubt if a product is really what it claims to be.

Quiz 测验

1. What is making people in Britain and the Republic of Ireland suspicious of food?

Some beef products found in supermarkets were actually made of horsemeat.

2. What was done to beer and bread in the past?

Beer had extra water added in and sawdust was mixed into bread.

3. Is this statement true, false or non-applicable? Organic products can't be the object of fraud.

False. It is mentioned in the text that a gang in Italy sold organic soya beans that had actually been treated with pesticides.

4. Which expression means that something was revealed?

To come to light.

5. Which expression means to sell something for a higher price?

A mark up.

Glossary 词汇表

trust 信任，信赖

to come to light 显露出来fraud欺骗

the mislabelling 错贴标签

to water down 掺水，冲淡

to adulterate （在食物中）掺入杂质，掺假

a mark up 加价，抬价

deception 骗局，欺诈

fraudulent 欺诈的

to seize 没收

a raid 突击搜捕，搜查

substandard 不合格的，劣质的

fake 假的，冒充的

counterfeit 假冒的

organic 有机的

free range 自由放养的

compliance 遵守，服从

to make a fast buck （不择手段，弄虚作假）挣快钱，快速致富

authentic 真的

to claim 声称