The basis for overhauling the country’s tobacco regulations—and the opportunity to snag a huge windfall for the Treasury — (46)

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问题     The basis for overhauling the country’s tobacco regulations—and the opportunity to snag a huge windfall for the Treasury — (46) State attorneys general had ganged up on the industry, suing for reimbursement of Medicaid and other patient-care costs incurred, they say, because of the companies’ promotion of cigarette smoking. (47) The companies offered to pay a whopping $ 368.5 billion to the plaintiffs and various governments over 25 years, accept strict regulation of their products, and curb advertising. (48) The companies specifically asked Congress for a bar on class-action suits, protection from punitive damage awards for past deeds, and an annual limit of roughly $ 5 billion on damages awarded to individual plaintiffs. The proposal is stunning, but Congress didn’t leap at the offer. Just days after these terms were unveiled, two of the nation’s best known public health officials and antitobacco crusaders—former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, now dean of the Yale medical school—denounced the proposal. (49) Koop told the reporters he was concerned that the public might be "snookered" by the cash offer. Koop and Kessler were later joined by other public health advocacy groups, including the American Lung Association and American Medical Association, in urging Congress not to accept the proposal without revision. Kessler says he thinks it is "unlikely that there will be a deal granting the industry immunity (from litigation), "because no one will want to accept the risk of being perceived as a friend of tobacco. Yet at the same time, Kessler says, "I’m all in favor of an excise tax on cigarettes" that would raise the price and make it harder for teenagers to buy cigarettes. He adds, "I am strongly in favor of using that money for biomedical research." (50)
A. On 20 June, the two negotiating teams unveiled a deal that they said could end the litigation and aid public health, if Congress could approve it.
B. In return, they asked the federal government to shield them from certain legal bills
C. arose last year in talks between 5 major tobacco companies and 40 states
D. In short, cigarette smoking does nothing but harm to the people’s health
E. Kessler warns, however, that the federal government muse be careful not to get "hooked on tobacco money."
F. Both argued that the settlement provided too little in return for indemnity from class-action suits.

选项

答案B

解析 选项B的意思是“作为回报,烟草公司要求联邦政府在某些法案中给予庇护。”此空白处前面一句话和后面一句话的意思分别是“烟草公司愿意在25年间支付原告和各级政府3685亿美元的巨款,接受烟草产品的严格规定,并控制烟草广告,……他们尤其要求国会终止各类集体诉讼案件,避免对过去劣迹作出罚款裁决,免去每年支付个案原告约50亿美元的赔偿。这项提案极好,但是,国会反映冷淡。”
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