Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. influence                 B. majority                 C. moderate               D. rushing          E. rose          F. average     G. consumed               H. preferring                 I. consumption             J. portions            K. decreased

As for what is driving America’s chronic weight problem, there are no definite answers. But a lot of evidence points to the two causes most people already suspect: too much food and too little exercise.

Bigger【小题1】

The US Department of Agriculture(USDA)reports that the average American ate almost 20% more calories in the year 2000 than they did in 1983, thanks, in part, to a boom in meat 【小题2】. Today, each American puts away an 【小题3】of 195 Ibs of meat every year, compared to just 138 Ibs in the 1950s. Consumption of added fats also shot up by around two-thirds over the same period, and grain consumption 【小题4】by 45% since1970.

Inactivity is the new normal

Lack of exercise is also a major culprit in the obesity epidemic. It’s been decades since most Americans worked in fields and on factory floors. A far greater 【小题5】of us are sitting throughout our working day. This means less exercise each day. According to one study, only 20% of today’s jobs require at least 【小题6】physical activity, as opposed to 50% of jobs in 1960. Other research suggests Americans burn 120 to 140 fewer calories a day than they did 50 years ago. Add this to the higher amount of calories we are packing in, and we get a perfect recipe for weight gain.

But lethargy goes well beyond the workplace. It is also how we get to work and what we do after. Americans walk less than people in any other industrialized country, 【小题7】to sit in cars to get around. And at the end of the day, 80% of Americans don’t get enough exercise, according to the CDC.

In the end, though, we can’t lose sight of the big picture. Over the past years, diet fads have come and gone, with people 【小题8】to blame red meat, dairy, wheat, fat, sugar, etc. for making them fat, but in reality, the problem is much simpler. Genetics and age do strongly 【小题9】metabolism, but as the CDC points out, weight gain and loss is primarily a formula of total calories 【小题10】versus total calories used.