Until the twentieth century cigarettes were not an important threat to public health. Men used tobacco mainly in the form of cigars. They chewed tobacco, piped tobacco, and snuffed. Most women did not use tobacco at all.
The cigarette industry began in 1870s with the development of the cigarette manufacturing machine. This made it possible to produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly, and it reduced the price.
Today cigarette smoking is a widespread habit. About forty-three percent of the adult men and thirty-one percent of the adult women in the United States smoke cigarettes regularly. It is encouraging to note, however, that millions of people have quit smoking. Seventy-five percent of the male population and forty-six percent of the female population have smoked cigarettes for some time during their lives, but twenty-six percent of these men and eleven percent of the women have stopped smoking. The number of persons who have given up smoking is increasing. Men as a group smoke more than women. Among both men and women the age group with the highest proportion of smokers is the age group 24—44.
Income, education, and occupation all play a part in determining a person’s smoking habit. City people smoke more than people living on farms. Well-educated men with high incomes are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men with fewer years of schooling and lower incomes. On the other hand, if a well-educated man with a higher income smokes, he’s likely to smoke more packs of cigarettes per day.
The situation is somewhat different for women. There are slightly more smokers among women with higher family incomes and higher education than among the lower income and lower educational groups. These more highly educated women tend to smoke more heavily.
Among teenagers the picture is similar. There are fewer teenager smokers from upper-income, well-educated families, and also fewer from families living in farm areas. High school students who are preparing for college are less likely to smoke than those who don’t plan to continue their education after high school. Children are most likely to start smoking if one or both of their parents smoke.
小题1:The underlined word “picture” in the last paragraph probably means _____________.
A．situation
B．photo
C．painting
D．teenager小题2:Which group of people smoked more according to the passage?
A．The group of women.
B．The group of teenagers.
C．The group of men.
D．The group of old people.小题3:Which of the following factors will be likely to decide whether a person smokes or not?
A．Income and sex.
B．Education and occupation
C．Sex and age.
D．All the above.小题4:According to the passage, if a teenager doesn’t plan to go to college, and if his parents both smoke, he will ________________.
A．probably not smoke in the future.
B．probably start to smoke in the future.
C．persuade his parents to give up smoking.
D．hate his parents as well as other smokers.小题5:Which of the following isn’t true?
A．It wasn’t until the twentieth century that cigarettes became an important threat to public.
B．More and more people are giving up smoking.
C．A poorly-educated woman with lower income is more likely to smoke than a well-educated woman with high income.
D．There are the most smokers in the age group of 24-44.
