unit06 Why French Live Longer 为什么法国人会长寿

In 1965, a French lowyer, Andre Raffray, gambled on statistics and lost.

He acquired the flat of a 90-year-old woman, Jeanne Calment, agreeing to pay her a lifetime pension of 2500 francs a month in exchange. It seemed reasonable to think Calment would die before him. After all, he was only 47.

As the decades flew past, Raffray went into a sad decline. On Christmas Day, 1995, aged¹ 77, he died, having paid out three times the market value of the apartment.

At her nursing home in Arles that day, Calment aged 120, dined on chicken liver and roast duck. She would enjoy life for another two years before dying, the longest-lived human being whose age can be confirmed by reliable records. “I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I’m very lucky,” she said.

Was it mere² luck? Perhaps something else was at work. True, Calment was exceptional. But with a glass of red wine in one hand and a health insurance card in the other, the French appear to dance their way toward being the longest-lived nation on earth. The French have steadily³ competed with the Japanese in terms of average life expectancy⁴. French researchers have declared that, if recent trends in death rates continue, average life expectancy in France would reach 85 by 2033. If their predictions ring true, the French life expectancy will be two years ahead of Japan, well ahead of Britain, and leaving the US in the dust.

It was French cardiologist Serge Renaud, who coined the phrase “the French paradox”. His research showed that, despite eating a diet high in saturated⁵ fat, the French tended to live longer and had one of the lowest rates of coronary disease in the industrialized countries.

He put it down to wine. Two or three glasses a day, he said—with some heavy scientific data to back it up—combat not just heart disease, but cancer. It was a great boost to French pride, not to mention French wine exports.

However, it is French women who are living longer. In 1998, they had a life expectancy of 82.4, compared to 79.7 for women in England and Wales. Marjorie Mariais, who works in publishing in London, says that the difference in drinking culture between the two societies is very marked—as much to do with rhythm as quantities. “The French drink a lot more regularly, in smaller quantities” she said.

But it is not just about lifestyle choice. The French health care system, funded by compulsory⁶ insurance from individuals and employers, is better. Improvements in the French health service are also a reason for greater average longevity—such as better training and equipment to deal with cardiac emergencies.

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

5 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

6 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。