Dangerous aspartame危险的阿斯巴甜

据世界卫生组织官网消息：国际癌症研究机构援引对人类致癌性的“有限证据”，将阿斯巴甜归为可能对人类致癌的物质之列，食品添加剂联合专家委员会重申阿斯巴甜每日允许摄入量为每千克体重40毫克。

主题语境：饮食与健康 篇幅：332词 建议用时：6分钟

1 Assessments of the health impacts of the non‑sugar sweetener aspartame are releasedby the International Agency for Research on Cancer （IARC） and WHO and the Foodand Agriculture Organization （FAO） Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives（JECFA）. Citing“limited evidence”for carcinogenicity （致癌性） in humans， IARCclassified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans and JECFA reaffirmed （重申） the acceptable daily intake of 40 mg/kg body weight.

2 Aspartame is an artificial （chemical） sweetener widely used in various food and productssince the 1980s， including diet drinks， ice cream and so on.

3 “Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. Science is continuously expandingto assess the possible factors of cancer in the hope of reducing these numbersand the human deaths，”said Dr Francesco Branca， Director of the Department of Nutritionand Food Safety， WHO.“The assessments of aspartame have indicated that， whilesafety is not a major concern at the doses （剂量） which are commonly used， potentialeffects need to be investigated by more and better studies.”

4 The two bodies conducted independent reviews to assess the potential carcinogenic dangersand other health risks associated with aspartame consumption.

5 After reviewing the available scientific literature， both evaluations noted limitations inthe available evidence for cancer and other health effects.

6 “JECFA also considered the evidence on cancer risk， in animal and human studies，and concluded that the evidence of an association between aspartame consumption andcancer in humans is not convincing，”said Dr Moez Sanaa， WHO's Head of the Standardsand Scientific Advice on Food and Nutrition Unit.

7 The IARC and JECFA evaluations of the impact of aspartame were based on scientificdata collected from a range of sources. The studies have been reviewed by independentexperts， and both committees have taken steps to ensure the independence andreliability of their evaluations.

8 IARC and WHO will continue to monitor new evidence and encourage independent researchgroups to develop further studies.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What do we know about aspartame from the first two paragraphs？

A. Its assessments of the health impacts are released by three bodies.

B. Scientists have enough evidence for its carcinogenicity in humans.

C. JECFA reaffirmed its acceptable daily intake of 40 g/kg body weight.

D. It has been in use in various food and products for about forty years.

Detail

2. Which of the following statements would Dr Francesco Branca agree with？

A. Science hopes to find out the possible factors of cancer.

B. Aspartame's potential effects have been proved.

C. Cancer is the leading cause of death globally.

D. Aspartames safety is a major concern.

Inference

3. What's Dr Moez Sanaas attitude towards the link between aspartame consumption and cancer？

A. Unclear. B. Careful.

C. Doubtful. D. Approved.

Inference

4. How are the IARC and JECFA evaluations carried out？

A. By reminding people of risks.

B. By collecting scientific data.

C. By monitoring new evidence.

D. By promoting advanced strategies.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Citing“limited evidence”for carcinogenicity in humans， IARC classified aspartameas possibly carcinogenic to humans and JECFA reaffirmed the acceptable daily intake of40 mg/kg body weight. 国际癌症研究机构援引对人类致癌性的“有限证据”，将阿斯巴甜归为可能对人类致癌的物质之列，食品添加剂联合专家委员会重申其每日允许摄入量为每千克体重40毫克。

【点石成金】本句是一个并列句。Citing...in humans为现在分词短语作伴随状语；and连接两个并列分句。

Ⅱ. Text⁃centered chunks

in the hope of 怀着……的希望

between...and 两者之间；在两者之间

be based on 基于；以……为基础

a range of 一系列

take steps 采取措施

further study 进一步研究；深造；进修