英语新闻一起读24

这篇报道来自经济学人网站，讨论了中国的禁烟现状。值得精读！

The capital leads the way in banning smoking in public places

★ lead the way in doing sth.率先做某事

AT LAST year’s ten-day annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s rubber-stamp(这个词不是什么好意思，但是形容的听恰当) parliament, the prime minister, Li Keqiang, declared “war” on pollution. On March 15th, at the end of this year’s meeting, he admitted that government efforts were falling far short of public expectations. He failed to mention that on controlling one source of foul air—smoking—the government’s record has been worse.

About 300m Chinese, or one in four, smoke every day. This proportion(比例) has remained steady in recent years; efforts to publicise(宣传) the dangers have been half-hearted(敷衍的). This year, however, may see improvements. On June 1st stricter rules will be enforced on smoking in public places in Beijing, including bars, offices, stadiums and some outdoor areas such as those of hospitals and schools. Fines(罚款) for failing to keep such places smoke-free could be as high as 10,000 yuan ($1,600); for smokers who break the rules, they could be up to 200 yuan. Cigarette advertising and tobacco-company sponsorships (赞助商)of events will also be banned. Similar measures are included in a draft, published in November, of new national regulations on smoking.

★写作素材 建议写法 stricter rules should be enforced on sth.

★smoke-free如果理解成吸烟自由你就可以去死了。 A-free 是禁止A；没有A的意思。

★draft：草案

The new rules in Beijing are more wide-ranging than those already in place in many big cities (almost all of which lack a complete ban on smoking in offices). They are also tougher than the capital’s existing widely ignored rules, which specify much lighter penalties(处罚) (eg, ten yuan for smoking in the wrong place).

Chinese leaders are becoming more focused on the problem. In 2013 officials were banned from smoking in public places. President Xi Jinping’s wife is a “tobacco-control ambassador” for a government-affiliated (这个词挺重要，但之前讲过)campaign group. In February Li Keming, the prime minister’s brother, was removed from a senior position in the state tobacco monopoly (重点词)and assigned to another job, a move cheered by those who worried about conflicting