飲酒的傳統(tǒng)在英國(guó)文化中源遠(yuǎn)流長(zhǎng),酒館遍布大街小巷,濃郁的酒文化也造就了不少大街小巷都躺著喝醉的人。盡管政府和媒體都采取行動(dòng)和號(hào)召對(duì)酒精適可而止,可是根據(jù)最新的國(guó)家統(tǒng)計(jì)局調(diào)查顯示,這一“老大難”的酗酒問題似乎并沒有緩解。
測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí):
binge 狂歡;放縱[b?n(d)?]
binge drinking 酗酒
fondness for 喜歡;喜愛
disparity 不同[d?'sp?r?t?]
ethnic 種族的['eθn?k]
teetotal 絕對(duì)戒酒的[ti?'t??t(?)l]
ONS 國(guó)家統(tǒng)計(jì)局(Office For National Statistics)
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By Max Seddon
* * *
Britain’s fondness for for binge drinking shows no sign of abating, with more than 2.5m people drinking more in one day than the 14 units recommended per week.
Young drinkers lead the way, with 17 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds exceeding the limit, equivalent to six pints of 4% alcohol beer. A further 45 per cent of all drinkers exceeded a third of the limit — two pints of beer or two glasses of wine — on their heaviest drinking day of the week.
The data were compiled by the Office of National Statistics in a survey that found 58 per cent of Britons admitted to drinking in the past week.
Less than half of young people reported drinking at all in the past week, compared with 66 per cent of those aged 45 to 64.
That may be because they are struggling to afford it. People with incomes over £40,000 a year were more than twice as likely to drink five times or more a week than those earning less than £10,000.
Disparities among genders are likely to play a part: women were less likely to drink overall, but made up 67 per cent of drinkers in the lowest income group, whereas men made up 77 per cent of the high-earning drinkers. Young people, who drink less as a whole, are also under-represented in the higher-income brackets.
Drinkers’ frequency also affected their choice of tipple. Heavy drinkers favoured six or more pints down the pub (or cans of ?ywiec on the street), whereas the more restrained were fonder of wine, making it the most popular drink overall.
The popularity of wine in the UK is in part due to its status as the world’s largest export market for champagne, which it has held since 1996. Imports to Britain went up 4.5 per cent year on year, according to the Champagne Bureau in separate statistics released on Tuesday, three times the global growth rate.
The Bacardi Breezer, however, looks to be well on its way out, with less than 1 per cent of respondents saying they drank alcopops.
Britain’s ethnic diversity may begin to snap the trend. London was the only area where more than a quarter of respondents said they were teetotal — a result probably due to its high population of Asian and Asian British people, 70 per cent of whom do not drink.
The capital also had the lowest rate of people reporting drinking in the past week — 51 per cent, against 62 per cent in both the south-west and south-east of England. Wales and Scotland led the way in drinking over the weekly limit in a day, with 14 and 13 per cent respectively.
The charity Alcohol Concern reiterated its call for mandatory health warnings in response to the ONS data.
“Alcohol continues to be the leading risk factor for deaths among both men and women aged 15 to 49 and is linked to over 60 medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure,” said Jackie Ballard, Alcohol Concern’s chief executive. “When it comes to alcohol, there are no safe limits of consumption.”
請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容,完成以下自測(cè)題目:
1. Who are more likely to exceed the limit on their heaviest drinking day of the week?
a. teenagers
b. children
c. middle-aged people
d. the aged
2. According to the article, why there are less than half of young people reported drinking at all in the past week?
a. lack of time
b. parents control
c. lack of money
d. low tolerance level for alcohol
3. Who are more likely be drinkers from the data?
a. women with low income
b. women with high income
c. men with low income
d. young people
4. What is the most popular drink in UK?
a. beer
b. wine
c. beer
d. Gin
[1] 答案a. teenagers
解釋:調(diào)查顯示在過量飲酒的問題上,16歲到24歲的年輕人是“領(lǐng)跑者”。
[2] 答案c. lack of money
解釋:作者認(rèn)為,喝酒的的頻次和經(jīng)濟(jì)也有關(guān)系。
[3] 答案a. women with low income
解釋:盡管總體來說女性可能更少喝酒,但在最低收入階層中女性飲酒者占了67%
[4] 答案b. wine
解釋:比較克制的人更喜歡紅酒,所以紅酒成為最廣泛流行的品種。