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1.2 percentage points from a year earlier and the lowest rate since the survey started in 1965.
The number of smokers in Japan stands at about 20.6 million, according to the study, which is conducted by
cigarette monopoly Japan Tobacco (JT). About 30.3 percent of adult men and 9.8 percent of adult women were
smokers, it said. The overall figures put Japan roughly on par with the United States, where the Centers for Disease
Control estimates that some 18.1 percent of the adult population smokes.
The survey was conducted a month after Tokyo raised sales taxes for the first time in 17 years, pushing up the
price of cigarettes, alcohol and other consumer goods. JT said Japan’s rapidly aging population may also be playing a
role in lowering smoking rates, along with public health campaigns and tighter rules on where people can light up.
Many restaurants still allow smoking, although the number of non-smoking areas or outright bans is growing.
Japan’s smoking rate peaked at 49.4 percent in 1966, when a record 83.7 percent of adult men and 18.0 percent
of women smoked, the company said. The rate declined in the ensuing decades, slipping below 30 percent in 2004.
31. From which section of the ne wspaper is the passage most likely taken?
(A) Sports. (B) Politics. (C) Lifestyle. (D) Entertainment. (E) Travel.
32. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the phrase “on par with” in the second paragraph?
(A) equal to (B) apart from (C) better than (D) lower than (E) superior to
33. In which year did Japan ha ve the highest smoking rate?
(A) 1965. (B) 1966. (C) 1997. (D) 2004. (E) 2015.
34. W hich of the following are likely to c ontribute to the drop of Japan’s smoking rate?
(A) The decline of death rate.
(B) A recent rise in cigarette prices.
(C) Japan’s rapidly aging population.
(D) Tighter rules on where people can smoke.
(E) The allowance of smoking in many restaurants.
35. W hich of the following statements are true?
(A) There are about 20.6 million smokers in Japan.
(B) The long-term survey started about fifty years ago.
(C) The survey was conducted by the Japanese government.
(D) The raise of sales taxes pushed up the prices of consumer goods.
(E) In Japan, the proportion of male adult sm okers is higher than that of female adult smokers.
(B) One in five American adults read an electronic book in the last year, as gift-giving sped the shift away from the
printed page, a Pew Research Center survey showed on Wednesday.
In a sweeping survey of e-books’ impact on reading habits, the Pew report said that four times more U.S. readers,
or 15 percent, were reading e-books on a typical day now compared with less than two years ago.
But when it comes to reading in bed, the verdict is split. 45 percent of those surveyed preferred e-books and
43 percent gave the nod to old-fashioned print. Researcher Lee Rainie said the results underscored huge cultural and
publishing changes as people do more of their book reading online. “People’s relationship to books is a central part of
culture. So when that relationship is in transition like it is now, it’s an interesting thing to mark,” he said.
Forrester, a consultancy, has forecast that nearly a quarter of Americans will own an e-book reader by 2016. With
prices for top models below US$100, the readers “are a no-brainer for more and more consumers,” it said in a report.
The Pew poll found in February that 21 percent of Americans 18 and older had read an e-book in the previous 12
months, up from 17 percent in December 2011. The jump was attributed to gifts of digital book readers and tablet
computers over the holidays.
People who use e-books are more eager readers of books of all kinds, with 88 percent of those reading e-books
in the previous 12 months also consuming printed books. They also are more likely to be under the age of 50, have
some college education and live in households that make more than US$50,000 a year. The most popular formats for