A、It is not as healthy as once thought. B、It is not easy to stay fresh for long. C、It benefits the elderly more. D、It tends to m

An average person consumes 144 pints of milk a year, but 40% of that is poured onto cereal. And 60% of those people are children. But what was once advertised as nutritious is becoming unpopular. Americans drink 37% less milk than they did in the 1970s. And in the UK, dairy consumption overall has fallen by a third in the past 20 years. Milk is increasingly being described in a negative light. A recent blog suggested maybe people are drinking less milk because it is poisonous to many of us. Lactose is the sugar found in milk and dairy products. It needs a series of complex proteins to break it down. Without enough of these proteins, the lactose is broken down by bacteria in the human body. This can cause physical pain and produce gas in the stomach. However, after we have finished breast or formula feeding, most of us don’t continue producing the complex proteins in our body, which are necessary to break down the lactose. Despite the problems in digesting milk, it does provide many benefits. Milk is nutritious. It contains vitamins A and D, as well as protein and isn’t full of calories. You can test yourself by drinking a large glass of milk. If you get sick in your stomach within the next 24 hours, you are lacking in the proteins to digest milk.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. What does the passage say about Americans?
23. How do Americans and British people think of milk nowadays?
24. Why does drinking milk cause pain in some people?
25. What does the passage say is a benefit of milk?