23年高考英语外刊阅读理解训练——你知道“香蕉指数”吗？

23年高考英语外刊阅读理解训练——你知道“香蕉指数”吗？ ——改编自Banana index, a different way to measure the climate impact of food The impact of our food choices on the environment is a growing concern. While it's well-known that going vegan or reducing our meat consumption can lower our carbon footprint, it can be challenging to compare the environmental impact of different foods with varying nutritional content. To simplify this comparison, The Economist has proposed a banana index, which ranks common food items based on their weight, calories, and protein content compared to the humble banana. When it comes to beef, it's bad news for the environment no matter how you slice it. Producing one kilogram of mince emits as much as 109 kilograms of bananas, giving it a banana score of 109. Adjusting for nutritional value, its banana score drops to 54, meaning one calorie of beef mince causes 54 times as much carbon emissions as one calorie of banana. By protein content, beef scores seven on the banana index. Poultry fares slightly better, scoring 11 bananas by weight and four by calorie. Additionally, as a source of protein, poultry is more environmentally friendly than bananas, emitting only three-fifths of the same amount of carbon per unit of protein. Salmon follows a similar pattern. But plant-based alternatives to meat come out on top, with a meat-free burger scoring just one-fifth of the emissions of bananas per gram of protein. Overall, the banana index provides an easy-to-understand way to compare the relative carbon footprints of different foods. While there's still a long way to go in terms of making our diets more sustainable, being aware of the environmental impact of what we eat is an important first step. 【重点词汇】 1. impact [ˈɪmpækt] n. 影响 2. food [fu:d] n. 食品 3. choice [tʃɔɪs] n. 选择 4. environment [ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt] n. 环境 5. concern [kənˈsɜ:n] n. 关心 6. vegan [ˈvi:gən] adj. 纯素的 7. reduce [rɪˈdju:s] v. 减少 8. meat [mi:t] n. 肉 9. consumption [kənˈsʌmpʃn] n. 消费 10. c