Passage Five
Health care experts have long drawn attention to the problems of eating too much salt. There is strong evidence that a diet high in salt can lead to raised blood pressure. Since high blood pressure is a major factor in heart disease, it makes sense to cut down on the salt people eat.
In the past, food contained very little salt, and people added it to their food at the table. Very few people add salt this way nowadays. However, the salt content of processed foods has gone up dramatically. It' s now estimated that over three-quarters of the salt in the average diet comes from processed foods, eaten without our being aware of it.
Salt is added to food partly to extend shelf-life, but more often it' s dropped in to make up for the flavor lost in the manufacturing process. This is especially true of ready meals and highly processed foods, but it's also true of such basic food as biscuits, soups, and even bread. Much mass-produced bread, for instance, contains so much salt-half a gram for every hundred grams of bread—that it' s officially classified by the UK government as high—salt food. Salt has to be added to the bread because fast production cuts down the time for the flavor to develop. Without added salt, the bread would taste like paper.
In the UK, the government has launched a campaign to cut down on the salt people eat. The UK Food Standards Agency argues that nearly half of the UK's population eat too much salt―9. 5g a day on average. Its aim is to bring down the average to 6g a day. The idea is to cut the salt content in 85 key food categories such as bread, meat, and cakes.
55.What is the passage mainly about?
A、Salt and food flavor.
B、Salt and people's lifestyle.
C、Salt and food processing.
D、Salt and people's health.
【正确答案】：D
【题目解析】：【考情点拨】主旨大意题。
【应试指导】文章第一段提到摄入过多的盐可能会导致高血压、心脏病。第二段提到现在人们盐的摄入量比过去多。第三段提到在食品中添加盐，部分是为了延长保质期，但更多时候是为了弥补在制造过程中失去的味道。第四段提到英国政府发起了一项减少人们盐的摄入量的运动。由此可知，文章主要讨论了盐的摄入量与人们的健康相关。故选D。
