Weight gain is a complex issue. But there is little doubt that the current food environment in Western countries – heavy in highly processed salty, sugary, and fatty food – has a big role to play. Most of the salt eaten in our diet has been added to food in the manufacturing process. This is in contrast to the small amount of salt naturally present in most foods or what is added at the table or at home in cooking. Salt can be a desirable taste, increasing the palatability of foods in addition to helping preserve it; that’s why it is commonly added in processed foods. Combining salt and fat together is thought to be a potent combination in helping to promote passive over-consumption foods. Just think of how moreish salty chips can be. Having a greater liking for salty and fatty foods is associated with eating more kilojoules overall, uncontrolled eating, and overweight in children. This link between overconsumption of food and its degree of saltiness is considered stronger than having a liking for sweet and fatty foods. Teasing out further how salt may influence the over-consumption of fatty foods, sensory researchers from Deakin University recruited 48 healthy adults to take part in a tasting panel. Over four lunchtime sessions (following on from a standardised breakfast that morning), each person ate a meal of macaroni and cheese where the fat and salt content had been manipulated. The four meal combinations were low-fat/low-salt, low-fat/high-salt, high-fat/low-salt and high-fat/high-salt. Participants were encouraged to eat as much as they wished until feeling full. Eating rate, meal agreeability, and subjective ratings of hunger and fullness were also taken. Salt promotes over-eating Eleven percent more kilojoules were consumed when the meals eaten were high in salt. And this was irrespective of if the fat content was high or low. The fat content of the meal didn’t result in people eating more food by weight, but because of its greater energy density, that meant more kilojoules were eaten. According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: How often do people who are conditioned to prefer a calorie-dense diet probably eat high salt foods? Options: - More than once a week. - Most times that macaroni and cheese is served. - not enough information - Usually at lunch time.
More than once a week.
------
The black-and-white aerial footage shows a line of purported Taliban insurgents slowly walking along a path in a lightly forested desert in Afghanistan's western Farah province. Suddenly, the screen flashes to white as the men disappear in a fireball — the result of a bomb dropped from a U.S. MQ-9 "Reaper" drone. "Taliban fighters on the run following Afghan-led offensive in #Farah province, #Afghanistan. Video shows U.S. airpower (MQ-9s) in support," declared a short message accompanying the video, which was posted on the official account of the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Subsequent footage showed more Taliban scrambling, in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the airstrikes. The Pentagon footage was released Wednesday, as U.S., NATO and Afghan government forces were locked in a fierce battle with the Taliban for control of the capital of Farah, which borders Iran. The tweet was unusually graphic. While the U.S. military often releases footage of buildings or vehicles being destroyed, it does not as frequently distribute videos that show individuals being bombed. Less than 24 hours later, the U.S. Air Force posted its own Afghanistan-related tweet that raised eyebrows — this one referencing a viral audio clip that has sparked a lighthearted online debate among those who hear the word "Laurel" and others who hear "Yanny." "The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10," read the Air Force tweet. The Air Force has since apologized and deleted the tweet, saying it was sent in "poor taste." The USFOR-A tweet remains. In a statement to VOA, a Pentagon spokesperson said the tweets do not represent a new social media strategy. "As with any other organization, the post was an attempt to bring awareness to a major/ongoing organizational activity by tying it to references or conversations already trending with their established audiences," said Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner. According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: What did the spokesman think of the strike Options: - He hated it - He thought it was just - not enough information - He was saddened by it
not enough information
------
"Congratulations, jackass, you just got us sued." My editor, Sharon, was standing in front of my desk. She was apparently not happy. I shrugged, slouching further down in my chair, trying to hide from her gigantic crazy eyes behind my computer. It was a white laptop with a sticker that said "This Machine Kills Yuppies" slapped over the corporate logo on back. She reached out with one of her freakish man-hands and slammed the screen shut. "Let me try this again. You just got us sued six times over." Sharon Sinclair was a six-foot-tall beast of a woman with a huge mane of wiry black and gray hair pulled back in a pony tail. I had every confidence that she could tear me in two and use my bloody carcass in some kinky hedonistic lesbian cult ritual or something. So I usually tried to choose my words with the appropriate care around her. "Jesus-fucking-Christ, I haven't even had my morning coffee yet, and my head's still reeling from the Louisville Slugger that pummeled it last night. So I really don't feel like dealing with whatever annoying hormonal episode you have going on here." She glared at me silently, watching me squirm a little before asking, "Are you done?" "Probably." "Good," she said with a suppressed grin as she took a seat next to me. "Because I just let you publicly accuse the mayor and the valley's most powerful corporations of conspiring to defraud the taxpayers. So what's your plan for keeping my ass off the firing line?" I tilted back in my chair and met Sharon's gaze. "Look, we knew we'd get a strong reaction. Let them sue. We have e-mails to back us up." "These legal briefings say your e-mails were forged," she responded, waving a thick stack of papers in my face. "Of course they're gonna say that. That's why I made sure to get corroboration. Abrasax confirmed that the e-mails between Dylan Maxwell and City Hall are legit. But you know all this, so I don't know why we're wasting time going over it again." According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: Who had freakish man-hands? Options: - not enough information - Sharon - the mayor - The narrator

Sharon
------