Marissa 和同事 Hank 正在讨论吸烟的问题。Hank 说，有不少研究都发现，涨价确实能起到一定的抑制作用，促使一部分人戒烟。Marissa 说，
M: I see. The high prices act as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Smokers 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 roughly 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: Definitely. I think the best way forward is to push education efforts for young people. If we can convince the next generation that smoking isn’t “cool”, eventually we might be able to eradicate 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 alcohol 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 counterfeit 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。