VOA标准英语2010年-When it's Good to be a Quitter

If you are a smoker¹ who has tried and failed to stop smoking, you are not alone.

Like millions of American tobacco smokers², President Barack Obama is trying to kick the habit.

After his first routine medical checkup since taking office, the president's doctors reported that the commander in chief is in excellent health. Yet, they stressed the importance of Mr. Obama continuing his efforts to quit smoking.

Keep on quitting

Though kicking the habit is not an easy endeavor, there are a number of strategies available to help the president, and other smokers, quit.

"About 25 percent of American adults are smoking today," says Mary Ella Douglas of the American Lung Association. "And six out of 10 of them want to quit, but they can't quit on their first try. We find that that's really necessary and normal, because they are on their path to quitting for good."

Douglas is spokeswoman for the American Lung Association's latest stop-smoking campaign.

"The 'Quitter in You' is designed to change the way Americans look at quitting because we know that it takes multiple times to try and quit," she says. "So what we're trying to do is encourage people to try it again, to never quit quitting."

Fifty-one year old Paula Mathis has four children. She stopped smoking for each pregnancy³ but always went back to cigarettes. What helped her to finally quit, she says, is her love of singing every Sunday in her church.

"I think I tried to stop smoking at least six times," says Mathis. "When I went back to the choir⁴ and started singing, my range wasn't that good as it could be because of the cigarettes. That's when I found the desire to quit and make it the last time. The desire had to come from inside of me to stop."

Quitter in you

Mathis' story is one of many quitters' experiences available on the 'Quitter in You' campaign website. It gives smokers the inspiration and support they need to quit. Thirty-two year-old Alex Porter, who started smoking at 13, also shares his story on the website.

"The first three days are the toughest," says Porter. "The major key right then is not to be in any situations that cause you to be tempted⁵ to go back to smoking cigarettes. You really have to be smart about the people you're going to be around and the situations you're going to be in."

"I think an important part of the campaign is really to let people know that there are effective ways to help people quit smoking, now more than ever," says Anne Malarcher, who is with the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Malarcher says restricting smoking in public places and raising taxes on tobacco products has forced many smokers to quit. And for those who still need help, there are a variety of options - from medicine to support groups.

"The Food and Drug Administration has approved seven different medications that are effective in helping⁶ smokers quit," says Malarcher. "Some of them contain nicotine⁷ replacement⁸ therapy, such as the gum, the patch, the nasal spray inhaler and lozenge. Then there are two non-nicotine medications."

Malarcher suggests people talk to their health professionals for advice. "Also, counseling is available. What would be best suited for your needs? For example, some people prefer to meet with a group of smokers who are all trying to quit, other people like the convenience of talking to someone over telephone because many of the quit lines in the United States are available 24 hours [a day]."

While more than three million Americans quit smoking each year, hundreds of thousands of others start.

Youthful focus

"Each year about 400,000 new young people become regular smokers,"  says April Schweitzer, associate director for The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a youth advocacy group that fights smoking among teenagers.

Schweitzer says the tobacco industry spends about $30 billion a year to market cigarettes to young people. For the past 15 years, her group has run the 'Kick Butts⁹ Campaign.' Along with teaching kids about the health risks of smoking, it highlights the tobacco industry's marketing¹⁰ strategies.

"When we talk to youth, we really take on a kind of anti-marketing [approach] and doing media literacy and [making them] aware of the types of deceptive¹¹ advertising¹² and the tactics that the tobacco industry uses in order to convince a youth to smoke," says Schweitzer. "Because the same way that teenagers like to rebel against their parents, they will also rebel against an industry, if they think that that industry is trying to take advantage of them or dupe them in some way."

Giving young people the facts about smoking, she says, proved to be an effective way to keep them from trying that first cigarette. One approach that some college networks use is called 'social norming,' which is to point out that most people are not smoking.

"Only 20 percent of high school students are smoking," says Schweitzer. "That means 80 percent aren't, and so it doesn't really make you cool or glamorous¹³ to smoke. In fact, most people are making good decisions and are choosing a healthy lifestyle."

Heath experts say smokers should never quit trying to quit. They say knowing the facts about the quitting process, especially how hard the first few weeks can be, can help many smokers finally kick the habit for good.
 

1 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

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 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

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。
• 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。

8 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

9 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

12 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

13 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。