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  3. Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action. It wa

Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action. It wa

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问题     Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action. It was 50 years ago this month that America’s surgeon-general sounded that warning, marking the beginning of the end of cigarette manufacturing—and of smoking itself—as a respectable activity. Some 20m Americans have died from the habit since then. But advertising restrictions, smoking bans and stigma have had their effect: the proportion of American adults who smoke has dropped from 43% to 18%; smoking rates among teenagers are at a record low. In many other countries the trends are similar.
    The current surgeon-general, Boris Lushniak, marked the half-century with a report on January 17th, declaring smoking even deadlier than previously thought. He added diabetes, colorectal cancer and other ailments to the list of ills it causes, and promised "end-game strategies" to stamp out cigarettes altogether.
    Were that to happen America’s three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, could be snuffed out, too. Public health officials plot the same fate for multinationals that supply other markets. The hit list includes Philip Morris International (PMI), which along with Altria makes Marlboro, the top-selling global brand; Japan Tobacco; and British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco of Britain.
    They are a hardy group, unlikely to be frightened. But the methods they have used to withstand a half-century of battering by regulators may be losing power. In the rich world, where the economy is stagnant, smokers are trading down to cheaper puffs. The regulatory climate in developing countries is becoming more hostile. New technologies such as e-cigarettes promise to deliver nicotine less riskily. Big tobacco firms may master them, but it would be a radical shift, similar to converting the car industry from internal-combustion engines to battery power. David Adelman of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, does not "see anything that’s reversing the conventional tobacco business model." But the model needs adjustment.
    Some reasons for Mr. Adelman’s confidence are sound. Advertising bans and the industry’s status prevent would-be competitors. When cigarette-makers raise prices, smokers cough up. Global consumption keeps rising, thanks largely to population growth in poorer countries. The cigarette giants indulge investors with big dividends and share buy-backs; they have flocked to tobacco share.
The underlined phrase "snuffed out" (Para. 3, Line 2) means ______.
选项 A、called out
B、wiped out
C、found out
D、fallen out
答案B
解析 原文：Were that to happen America’s three big tobacco firms, Altria, Reynolds and Lorillard, could be—snuffed out, too. 大意为：如果这件事情发生了，美国三大烟草公司也会被snuffed out。too一词说明上文提到了与“snuffed out”意思相同的词，我们找到上一段最后一句：...and promised“end-game strategies”to stamp out cigarettes altogether. 上文说把香烟stamp out，下文又说烟草公司被snuff out，说明“snuff out”=“stamp out”。即使两个短语都看不懂，至少我们知道out表示“向外”，把烟草和烟草公司“向外”，自然是表达一个否定的意思。我们来看四个选项：“call out(召集，叫喊)”；“wipe out(擦掉，彻底摧毁)”；“find out(发现)”；“fall out(争吵，掉队)”。A和C两项明显是中性，没有否定、贬义的意思，肯定不与snuff out相等，故排除。而D项“fall out(争吵，掉队)”也不符合文章要求，故答案是B。
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