高中英语北师大版（2019）必修一Unit 2 Sports and Fitness Grammar 课后一练

Fast food has become indicative of our thoughtless, throwaway society. Yes, it may taste good to some people, but the truth is, it is terrible for health. For those who live in a fast food fantasy world, eating it every day, believing that it is fast, convenient and inexpensive, it can be catastrophic (灾难性的).

Contrary to being cheap, fast food is very expensive on many levels. To start with, a home­cooked nutritious meal will cost a lot less than any fast food meal and you will know exactly what ingredients are in your food.

However, the expense is not only in terms of the money you spend at the restaurant. There are hidden costs. Not only does it cost money to pay for the petrol to go and get this nutritionally poor food, but also it is very wasteful of paper, plastic and styrene (苯乙烯), all of which do serious damage to the environment: plastic and styrene cannot be got rid of, but break up into small particles (颗粒) and end up in our water supply or our air, and therefore in our food chain. It is a very serious circle.

Besides not being good for you, fast food is also addictive (上瘾的). The more you eat, the more you want, and so, more and more kids are suffering from fatness. Fast food restaurants have become a favorite hangout for teens, and not just for something to eat. If fast food was designed to be quick and easy, why do many of them have cafes, a Wi－Fi zone and an eat­in restaurant? Those are not things a person in a hurry would use. The goal now is trying to attract customers to stay longer and thus spend more money. Their marketing is aimed at attracting kids because they are the ones who have money to spend and are customers of the future.

Fast food is dangerous to your health, hard on your wallet, addictive and harmful to the environment. Through the power of the media (媒体), children, teens and adults are attracted to "fit in and be cool", be part of the fast throwaway lifestyle it promotes. How to resist the hype (促销广告)? Just take a good look at the results on those who eat it. Then look at yourself.

Do you think the United Kingdom and the United States are alike? Winston Churchill once joked that the people of Britain and the people of America are separated only by their language. Do you think that is true? The British and the Americans both speak English as the official language. However, each uses some different words. We Americans are similar to the British. After all, our country was once owned by the UK, so we have a lot in common. But there are many differences between us.

The UK has a king or queen, and the leader of the government is the Prime Minister. The US has no kings or queens. Our leader is the President.

Both the British and Americans use pounds and ounces, pints, quarts, and gallons. Both use miles, yards, and feet. Our money is different, though. The British use pounds and pence. Americans use dollars and cents.

Driving in a car is very different in the UK. They drive on the left side of the road. We drive on the right. What we call the hood of the car, the British call the "bonnet". British cars run on "petrol", which we call gasoline.

In our everyday life, we do many of the same things as the British. But we describe them differently. A young mother here might push a baby in a baby carriage. A British mum pushes a "pram". The British watch "telly", while we watch TV. We like to eat French fries, but the British call them "chips". Millions of Americans drink coffee, but most British prefer tea.

So we are different in many ways. But we stay friendly anyway.