Within a few short years, girls in Europe have become heavier smokers than boys, for reasons experts still fail to understand, according to a British study presented last week to an international conference on smoking.
Anti-smoking activists at the second “Tobacco or Health” conference in the Canary Islands pointed out that while adults were giving up smoking in ever growing numbers, more and more young people were taking up the habit, particularly girls. One 15-year-old in four is a regular smoker, according to a study made in 27 countries in Europe and the United States, Canada and Israel—by Edinburgh University together with the World Health Organization.
In Western Europe, girls were more likely than boys to smoke. In Germany or in England, one third of the girls were smokers compared to one in four boys. In Eastern Europe, the girls “still fall behind” those in the Western Europe but were “catching up” quickly, said the study.
The study dealt with the behaviour of 15-year-olds in seven European countries over four year periods between 1986 and 1998.
The percentage of young women smoking went from 17 percent to 36 percent in Austria, from 17 percent to 28 percent in Norway, from 21 percent to 28 percent in Hungary.
In the seven countries and regions studied—Austria, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales—more girls smoked than boys in 1998, with the exception of Hungary.
(238 words)
Choose the best answer:
1. According to the article, more and more __________ in Europe were giving up smoking.
A. adults B. boys C. girls D. old men
2. The study was made by __________ .
A. Edinburgh University
B. The World Health Organization
C. Oxford University
D. Edinburgh University and the World Health Organization
3. The country where the number of young women smokers increases fastest is __________ .
A. Norway B. Austria C. Hungary D. Sweden
4. The main idea of the passage is __________ .
A. to introduce something about girl smokers in Europe
B. to report that something interesting happened in England
C. to describe the present condition of European smokers
D. to warn young people around the world against smoking
参考答案：1.A 2.D 3.B 4.A
