阅读与表达。
Each year, a half-million people die from smoking in China which in 1990 overtook the United States
in the number of such deaths. And by the year 2025, 2 million Chinese will die each year from smoking
and related diseases, Professor Wang said when he talked about a report from the World Health
Organization.
With westerners increasingly (日益)dropping the habit, the smoking population in China is on a
constant increase. "In 1964 the smoking population in America was 54 percent, which dropped to 26
percent by the year 1996," Wang said smoking has become a popular game, especially among young
people and women. Wang pointed out that women are more and more the targets (目标) of tobacco
selling. "As China sees repaid changes in women's role (角色), smoking among women is increasing,
with most new smokers being educated women."
Wang said that in countries such as the United States and Britain where female smoking was popular
long ago, there were more lung cancers caused by smoking than breast cancers (乳腺癌), becoming the
largest cancer-killer of women.
"At present only some 8 percent of Chinese women smoke, which has kept the total smoking
population below 40 percent. If women in China insist on demanding the same rights as men, the figure
will at least double in the present one." Wang said.
1. What does the underlined word "overtook" mean in the first paragraph?
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2. Why is smoking among women increasing?
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3. Why do more Americans give up smoking?
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4. What's the main idea of the last paragraph?
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