大学英语周记范文30篇

Passage 19
Food and Health
The food we eat seems to have a profound impact on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.

Passage 20
UK Urged to Update Copyright Laws
The UK is currently using copyright laws that are more than 300 years old.
Ministers in the United Kingdom are being urged to modify copyright laws to allow users to be able to legally rip CDs and DVDs for personal use. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) wants users to have a “private right to copy” digital content. The IPPR acknowledged that the music and film industries are justified in battling illegal file sharing. But the IPPR argues that making copies for personal use does not have significant impact on copyright holders.
Millions of Britons are violating current copyright laws by ripping CDs onto their MP3 players and /or PCs. Currently, Britons are violating an outdated 300-year-old law when copying CDs and DVDs. The British Phonographic Institute has already stated that it will not pursue its rights to bring private copying cases against users if the copying truly is for private purposes only.
An independent research study reports that around 59 percent of Britons believe copying CDs and DVDs to other devices is legal. The chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee inquiry admits that he and his children are in violation of the law. “My own view is that the current laws are unsatisfactory as it is difficult to say to consumers that this bit of the law matters and this bit doesn’t matter,” Conservative MP John Whittingdale said.

Passage 21
A Growing Number of American Men Get Alimony
Across the country, a growing number of divorced men are getting alimony from their former wives. While far more women receive alimony than men, divorce lawyers estimate that 5% to 10% of their male clients now get such payments, up from only 3% five years ago.
Men seeking financial support from the rich and famous ex-wives have made headlines in recent years. But the ranks of ex-husbands getting alimony from their former spouses now are as likely to include the guy around the corner who gets a monthly check from an ex-wife whose bank account is fatter than his.
“Women are getting better, higher-paying jobs at the same time that men’s wages are decreasing,” says Kathryn Rettig, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota, explaining why the number of men receiving alimony is increasing. She adds， “If women want equality under the law, they have to take the responsibility for supporting dependent spouses.”
Like women, men are being awarded alimony for a few years as compensation for putting their wives through college or graduate school or for following transferred spouses around the country. And, like women, men are persuading judges to award them alimony indefinitely if they are sick or disabled or have stayed home to raise children. In out-of-court settlements, high-income women are even agreeing to pay alimony to their ex-husbands instead of giving them some property because alimony is tax-deductible.