全国职称英语等级考试样题--卫生类第一部分 阅读理解 (75 分)Passage 1Until the twentieth century cigarettes were not an important threat (威胁) to public health
Men used tobacco mainly in the form of cigars ( 雪 茄 烟 ), chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco(烟草), and snuff (鼻烟)
Most women did not use tobacco at all
The cigarette industry began in the 1870s with the development of the cigarette manufacturing machines
This made it possible to produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly, and it reduced the price
Today cigarettes smoking is a widespread habit
About forty-three percent of the adult men and thirty-one percent of the adult women in the United States smoke cigarettes regularly
It is encouraging to note, however, that millions of people have given up the smoking habit
Seventy-five percent of the male populatio