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and “Be a member of the clean—plate club!” Just about every kid in the US has heard this from a parent or grandparent。Often，it's accompanied by an appeal：“Just think about those starving orphans(孤儿)in Africa T”Sure，we should be grateful for。every bite of food．Unfortunately, many people in the US take too many bites．Instead of staying“clean the．plate”，perhaps we should save some food for tomorrow.
According to news reports，US restaurants are partly to blame for the growing bellies(肚子)．A waiter puts a plate of food in front of each customer，with two to four times the amount recommended by the government，according to a USA Today story．Americans traditionally associate quantity with value and most restaurants try to give them that．They prefer to have customers complain about too much food rather than too little.
Barbara Rolls，a nutrition(营养)professor at Pennsylvania State University, told USA Today that restaurant portion sizes began to grow in the 1 970s，the same time that the American waistline(腰围)began to expand．
Health experts have tried to get many restaurants to serve smaller portions. Now，apparently，some customers are cal¨n白for‘this“too．The restaurant industry trade magazine QSR reported last month that 57 percent of more than 4，000 people surveyed believed restaurants served portions that were too large；23 percent had no opinion；20percent disagreed．But a closer look at the survey indicates that many Americans who can’t afford fine dining still prefer large portions．Seventy percent of those earning at least $1 50，000 per year prefer smaller portions；but only 45 percent of those earning less than$25，000 want smaller．

It's not that working class Americans don’t want to eat healthy．It's just that，after long hours at low—paying jobs，getting less on their plate hardly seems like a good deal．They live from paycheck(薪金支票)to paycheck，happy to save a little money for next year’s Christmas presents．
36. Parents in the United States tend to ask their children
A. to save food for tomorrow． B. to wash the dishes，
C. not to eat too much. D. not to waste food．
37. Why do American restaurants serve large portions?
A Because Americans have big bellies.
B Because Americans associate quantity with value。
C Because Americans are good eaters.
D Because Americans are too weak.
38. What happened in the 1 970s?
A The US government called on its people to reduce their weight．
B Health experts persuaded restaurants to serve smaller portions．
C The American waistline started to expand．
D The United States produced more grain than needed．
39. What does the survey indicate?
A Twenty percent of Americans want smaller portions．
B Many low-income Americans want large portions．
C Fifty--seven percent of Americans want large portions．
D Forty--five percent of Americans want smaller portions.
40. Which of the following is NOT true 0f working class Americans?
A. They work long hours．
B. They live from paycheck to paycheck。
C. They want to save money for presents．
D. They don’t want to be healthy eaters.
第三篇 U.S. Life Expectancy Hits New High
Life expectancy rates in the United States are at an all—time high，with people born in 2005 projected to live for nearly 78 years，a new federal study finds．
The finding reflects a continuing trend of increasing life expectancy that began in1955．when the average American lived to be 59.6 years old．By 1995，life