礼节美语 Business Etiquette 264 Anti-smoking campaigns 2

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　　M: I see. The high prices act as "the straw that broke the camel's back." Smokers¹ that have been meaning to quit see the price increase and it gives them a little push.

　　H: Yeah. But on the other hand, prices are already quite high in many places. A pack of cigarettes in London costs about US$10... in New York a pack costs roughly² 8 dollars.... and in Norway it's already around $14....but I was in London not that long ago and I saw plenty of smokers!

　　M: Yeah. The last time I was in New York there also seem to be plenty of smokers. I guess there are some people who are wealthy enough to afford whatever price.

　　因此说，给香烟涨价就好像是 the straw that broke the camel's back 压倒骆驼的最后一根稻草，帮了那些本来就想戒烟的烟民一把，give them a little push. 但是高价格也只能对某些人发挥作用。现在伦敦一盒烟卖十美元，纽约卖8美元，挪威卖14美元，可抽烟的人还是很多，看来价格再高，也拦不住那些经济上能负担得起的烟民。

　　H: Definitely³. I think the best way forward is to push education efforts for young people. If we can convince⁴ the next generation that smoking isn't "cool", eventually we might be able to eradicate⁵ smoking.

　　M: I suppose you're right. You can pass all the laws you want but that doesn't mean people will follow them. People's attitudes need to change.

　　H: Exactly! In the 1920s they banned alcohol⁶ in America, but of course people didn't stop drinking. Instead, lots of people got sick and even died from drinking industrial alcohol.

　　Hank 觉得，要真想杜绝吸烟，the best way forward 接下来最好的办法还是要通过宣传和教育，让年轻一代觉得，抽烟不是一件很酷的事情。Marrissa 表示同意，不管你通过多少项法律，只要大家的观念没有发生变化，法律就无法得到有效执行，就好像美国20年代时的禁酒令，并没有让人们停止饮酒，反而有很多人因为没有酒喝，结果饮用工业酒精而死亡。

　　M: I would imagine that as cigarettes get more expensive, smokers looking for a cheaper option will turn to counterfeit⁷ ones.  I wonder if those would be even worse than the originals!

　　H: You're probably right. But I do think smoking will not be nearly as common a couple decades from now. That article about New Zealand said that country hopes to eradicate smoking by 2025.

　　M: That's not that long from now! Maybe I should start thinking about moving to New Zealand!

　　H: (Chuckles) Perhaps you should!

　　Marissa 觉得，如果香烟价格不断上涨，很多经济上负担不起的烟民，恐怕就会转向 cheaper option, 相对便宜的替代品，也就是 counterfeit ones, 假烟，counterfeit is spelled c-o-u-n-t-e-r-f-e-i-t, counterfeit 是假冒伪劣的意思。这些假烟的危害八成比正品的危害还要大。Hank 觉得，未来的前景还是很乐观的，新西兰就打算在2025年之前，彻底铲除烟草。也许，Marissa 真的可以考虑移民到新西兰去。

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