TEXT B If you smoke and you still
don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial
troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving
yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are
suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking. This needn’t make you too
uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking
and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no
evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures.
In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television.
The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff
its way to smoky, cancerous death. You don’t have to look very
far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so
lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax.
It’s almost like a tax on our daily bread. In tax revenue alone, the government
of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational
facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking
may, conceivable, be harmful, it doesn’t do to shout too loudly about
it. This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could
imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid
out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on
cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease.
Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that
everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.
Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the
governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their
peoples, you’d think they’d conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from
it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising. Its
advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of
real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do.
The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it
is manly to smoke, even positively healthy! Smoking is associated with the great
open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter
nonsense! For a start, governments could begin by banning all
cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking
advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public
places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to
inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit.
A horrific warning—say, a picture of a death’s head—should be included in every
packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are certainly weak, but if
governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from
ourselves. Which of the following is the best idea of this passage
A.World governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking. B.World governments take timid measures against smoking. C.Smoking is the most important source of income to many countries. D.Tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research.