Chinese students begin to smoke at a younger age

 　　BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Almost one in four Chinese students aged¹ between 12 and 14 have tried smoking, according to the results of a survey released by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC).

　　The survey, carried out among 38,839 students and 6,503 teachers from middle and high schools in 11 provinces across the country between May and June, showed that 22.5 percent of students aged between 12 and 14 had tried smoking and that 15.8 percent of middle and high school students smoke regularly.

　　"There are definitely quite a number of boy students in my class who smoke regularly as some have been found smoking outside campus during lunch break," said Li Xiaolan, an English teacher from a high school in Shanghai.

　　The survey also found that 39 percent of students took their first cigarette from their classmates.

　　"It was quite common to smoke with my classmates at school and we usually smoked in toilets or in corners of the playground after lunch," said Zhou Guangrong, a 22-year-old university student from Guiyang, Guizhou province, who started smoking when he was 12.

　　The majority of student smokers² buy cigarettes themselves and about 76 percent of the adolescent smokers said that there is at least one cigarette shop within 200 meters from their school.

　　"When I was a student at middle and high schools, they were surrounded by cigarette shops," said Zhou who used to smoke two cigarettes per day in primary school and two packs per week in middle and high school.

　　"We're keen to show that more adolescents are starting smoking much younger than before, and that we need to minimize the number of young smokers," said Duan Jiali, secretary-general of the youth tobacco control commission under CATC.

　　Duan added that teachers and parents should set a good example for teenagers by not smoking in front of them at school or at home, which is the most influential³ way of stopping adolescents from smoking.

　　China banned smoking in 16 types of public indoor venues⁴ - including hospitals, schools, bars, restaurants and hotels - on May 1 in an attempt to curb⁶ tobacco use in the country with the world's largest number of smokers.

　　Currently, there are more than 300 million smokers in China, and about 1.2 million people die from smoking-related diseases every year, accounting⁷ for one-fifth of the world's total, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.

　　"Meanwhile, about 540 million people are exposed to secondhand smoke, 48.9 percent of which are adolescents (from 15 to 19 years old)," said Xu Guihua, deputy director of the CATC.

　　"It's essential and urgent for us to control the number of adult smokers who potentially tempt⁵ adolescents to smoke."

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

5 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

7 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。