Even if families don’t sit down to eat together as frequently as before, millions of Britons will nonetheless have got a share this weekend of one of that nation’s great traditions: the Sunday roast. (1)_____ a cold winter’s day, few culinary pleasures can (2)_____  it. Yet as we report now, the food police are determined that this (3)_____ should be rendered yet another guilty pleasure (4)_____ to damage our health.

    The Food Standards Authority (FSA) has (5)_____ a public warning about the risks of a compound called acrylamide that forms in some foods cooked (6)_____ high temperatures. This means that people should (7)_____ crisping their roast potatoes, reject thin-crust pizzas and only (8)_____ toast their bread. But where is the evidence to support such alarmist advice? (9)_____ studies have shown that acrylamide can cause neurological damage in mice, there is no (10)_____ evidence that it causes cancer in humans.

    Scientists say the compound is (11)_____ to cause cancer but have no hard scientific proof. (12)_____ the precautionary principle, it could be argued that it is (13)_____ to follow the FSA advice. (14)_____, it was rumoured that smoking caused cancer for years before the evidence was found to prove a (15)_____.

    Doubtless a piece of boiled beef can always be  (16)_____ up on Sunday alongside some steamed vegetables, without the Yorkshire pudding and no wine. But would life be worth living? (17)_____, the FSA says it is not telling people to cut out roast foods (18)_____, but to reduce their lifetime intake. However, its (19)_____ risks coming across as being pushy and overprotective. Constant health scares just (20)_____ with no one listening.

答案精析：连词辨析题。空格所在句大意为：____已经有研究证明丙烯酰胺可能会导致老鼠的神经系统受损，还没有____证据证明该物质也会致使人类患癌。而紧接着在第三段的首句中提到，仍没有确凿的证据（cause cancer but have no hard scientific proof）证明该物质（the compound）致癌。由此可以推断出空格所在句的两个分句之间是转折关系。While在表示“尽管”时可以引导让步状语从句，表达转折关系，填入空格后语义通顺，故D项正确。

错项排除：Unless和If引导的都是条件状语从句，而原文中的前后两句话并不是“条件-结果”关系，故A、C两项错误。B项的Since引导原因状语从句，表示因果关系，也不符合原文的逻辑关系，故错误。