2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：卷烟工业 强弩之末

　　2015考研英语复习正是强化复习阶段，考研英语阅读在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。新东方名师范猛老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。

　　The cigarette industry

　　卷烟工业

　　Running out of puff

　　强弩之末

　　Big tobacco firms are maintaining their poise, butquietly wheezing

　　烟草巨头们都保持姿态，蓄势待发。

　　CIGARETTE smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States towarrant appropriate remedial action.

　　吸烟在美国是一项引起足够重视的健康危害，以保障适当的补救措施。

　　It was 50 years ago this month thatAmerica's surgeon-general sounded that warning, marking the beginning of the end ofcigarette manufacturing—and of smoking itself—as a respectable activity.

　　这是50年前的这个月美国卫生部部长发出的警告。这一警告的发出标志着卷烟制造业以及吸烟这一行为本身不再是一项让人尊敬的行为。

　　Some 20m Americans have died from the habit since then.

　　从那时起，大约有2千万美国人死于吸烟。

　　But advertising restrictions, smoking bans and stigma have had their effect: the proportionof American adults who smoke has dropped from 43% to 18%; smoking rates amongteenagers are at a record low.

　　但是不论是广告限制或是严禁吸烟的标志都还是起到了作用：吸烟的美国成年人比例已经从43%下降到了18%，青少年的吸烟率也处于历史新低，

　　In many other countries the trends are similar.

　　这种趋势在其他国家也是相似的。

　　The current surgeon-general, Boris Lushniak, marked the half-century with a report onJanuary 17th, declaring smoking even deadlier than previously thought.

　　现任卫生部部长，鲍里斯在1月17日发布的报道对过去的50年作了总结，指出吸烟比预期的更加致命。

　　He added diabetes, colorectal cancer and other ailments to the list of ills it causes, andpromised end-game strategies to stamp out cigarettes altogether.

　　在吸烟导致的疾病里，他加入了糖尿病，直肠癌和其它病症，并且提出了终结策略来完全杜绝香烟。

　　Were that to happen America's three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, couldbe snuffed out, too.

　　美国三大烟草公司，奥驰亚，雷诺和罗瑞拉德烟草公司会因此而被扼杀吗?

　　Public-health officials plot the same fate for multinationals that supply other markets.

　　卫生部的官员们为供应其它市场的跨国公司也安排了相同的命运。

　　The hit list includes Philip Morris International, which along with Altria makes Marlboro, thetop-selling global brand; Japan Tobacco; and British American Tobacco and ImperialTobacco of Britain.

　　这其中包括菲利普莫里斯国际公司，它和奥驰亚一起打造了万宝路这一全球最畅销的品牌，除此之外还有日本烟草公司、英美烟草公司和英国的帝国烟草公司。

　　They are a hardy bunch, unlikely to be spooked.

　　这些公司都是硬骨头，不太容易被震慑到。

　　But the methods they have used to withstand a half-century of battering by regulators maybe losing potency.

　　但是他们采取的与监管部门周旋了半个世纪的方法可能会失去效力。

　　In the rich world, where the economy is sluggish, smokers are trading down to cheaperpuffs.

　　在经济低迷的富裕国家，吸烟者开始选择便宜的产品进行交易，

　　The regulatory climate in developing countries is becoming more hostile.

　　发展中国家的监管环境也变得更加严苛。

　　New technologies such as e-cigarettes promise to deliver nicotine less riskily.

　　一些新的技术，比如电子香烟承诺提供危害风险更小的尼古丁。

　　Big tobacco firms may master them, but it would be a radical shift, akin to converting thecar industry from internal-combustion engines to battery power.

　　大的烟草公司可能掌握这项技术，但是这将是一个根本性的转变。类似于汽车产业中从内燃机到电池电源的转变。

　　David Adelman of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, does not see anything that'supending the conventional tobacco business model.

　　摩根士丹利投资银行的大卫阿德尔曼表示，并没有看到任何的颠覆了传统的烟草商业模式，

　　But the model needs tweaking.

　　但模型需要调整。

　　Some reasons for Mr Adelman's confidence are sound. Advertising bans and the industry'spariah status deter would-be competitors.

　　阿德尔曼先生有这样的信心是有理有据的，广告禁令以及烟草业所处的低贱地位都将阻止潜在竞争者的出现。

　　When cigarette-makers raise prices, smokers cough up.

　　当卷烟制造商提高价格的时候，烟民们就咳嗽起来。

　　Global consumption keeps rising, thanks largely to population growth in poorer countries.

　　由于贫困国家人口的快速增长，全球消费量不断上升。

　　The cigarette giants pamper investors with big dividends and share buy-backs; they haveflocked to tobacco shares.

　　烟草巨头们放任投资者获得丰厚的分红以及股票回购，使得投资者纷纷涌向烟草股。

　　But the going is getting tougher.

　　但是这种发展趋势已是举步维艰。

　　This month health officials in China, home to more smokers than any other country, called fora ban on smoking in public places.

　　中国作为拥有比其他任何国家更多烟民的国家于本月由卫生部的官员发布了禁止公共场所吸烟的禁令。