纽约时报 美国的酗酒问题有多严重?(1)

 

    Even before the pandemic began, some Americans were drinking significantly more alcohol than they had in decades past — with damaging consequences.

    在新冠疫情爆发之前，有些美国人的饮酒量就明显超过了过去几十年的水平，而这引发了严重后果。 In 2020, researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (N.I.A.A.A.)2020年，美国国家防止酒精滥用与酒精中毒研究所（简称NIAAA）的研究人员发现， found that from 1999 through 2017, per capita consumption increased by 8 percent从1999年到2017年，美国人均饮酒量增长了8%， and the number of alcohol-related deaths doubled, many caused by liver disease.

    与酒精有关的死亡人数翻了一番，其中大多由肝病引起。 The trends are particularly concerning for women:

    这一趋势对女性来说尤其令人担忧： 

    Whereas the number of men who reported any drinking stayed mostly the same, the proportion of women who did so increased 10 percent,尽管报告饮酒的男性人数基本保持不变，但报告饮酒的女性比例增加了10%， and the number of women who reported binge drinking, or consuming roughly four or more drinks in about two hours, increased by 23 percent.

    报告酗酒或在大约两小时内喝了约四杯或更多酒的女性人数增加了23%。 (For men, binge drinking is about five or more drinks in that period.)（男性在约两小时内狂饮约五杯或更多的酒。） Current dietary guidelines consider moderate drinking to be at most one drink a day for women and two for men.

    最新版饮食指南认为，适度饮酒指女性每天最多喝一杯，男性最多喝两杯。 So researchers were understandably apprehensive¹ when, early in the pandemic, alcohol sales spiked².

    因此，酒精销量在疫情初期激增时，研究人员的担忧是可以理解的。 They were especially concerned about women, because similar quantities of alcohol affect them more adversely³ than men,他们尤为关注女性，因为与男性相比，同样数量的酒精对她们的影响更大， making them more likely to suffer injuries from accidents and to develop chronic⁴ illnesses like liver and heart disease and cancer.

    会使她们更容易因意外事故而受伤，患上肝病、心脏病和癌症等慢性疾病。 But it was unclear whether increased sales would translate into increased consumption.

    但目前尚不清楚销售增长是否会转化为消费增长。 Perhaps Americans were hoarding⁵ alcohol as they were toilet paper.

    也许美国人囤积酒精就像他们囤积卫生纸一样。 A growing body of research, however, has begun to confirm that Americans, and women in particular, are indeed drinking more in response to the pandemic.

    然而，越来越多的研究已开始证实，美国人，尤其是女性，确实在为应对疫情而增加饮酒量。 In December, researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County,去年12月，约翰霍普金斯大学彭博公共卫生学院和巴尔的摩郡马里兰大学的研究人员 published the results of a survey they conducted last May in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

    在国际环境研究与公共健康期刊》上发表了他们去年5月所进行调查的结果。 They found that of the more than 800 respondents — those who replied to the online questionnaire were mostly white women —他们发现，在800多名受访者中，填写在线问卷的大多是白人女性， 60 percent were drinking more compared with before Covid-19 (13 percent were drinking less).

    与新冠肺炎爆发之前相比，其中60%的人饮酒量增加（13%的人饮酒量减少）。 More than 45 percent of participants said their reasons for drinking included increased stress.

    超过45%的受访者称他们喝酒的原因包括压力增加。 And those who reported feeling "very much" or "extreme" stress from the pandemic reported drinking more on more days than those who were less affected⁶.

    相比受疫情影响较小的人，因疫情而感到“非常大”或“极大”压力者的饮酒时间和饮酒量都要更多。 Another survey conducted this February by the American Psychological Association美国心理协会今年2月进行的另一项调查发现， found that nearly one in four adults reported drinking more to manage pandemic stress.

    近四分之一的成年人报告称，为了应对疫情带来的压力，他们会增加饮酒量。 Though stress has long been a common reason people turn to alcohol, the extent to which it appeared to cause increased consumption during the past year was startling, says George Koob, director of the N.I.A.A.A.

    美国国家防止酒精滥用与酒精中毒研究所所长乔治·科布表示，尽管压力长期以来一直是人们开始酗酒的常见原因，但过去一年，压力导致饮酒量增加的程度依然令人震惊。 "It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it did surprise us, this drinking to cope."“用酒精应对压力的情况本不应该令人吃惊，但又确实让我们感到惊讶。” 

1 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

2 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

3 adversely   

ad.有害地

参考例句：

• We commented adversely upon the imbecility of that message of telegraphic style. 我们对着这条电报式的愚蠢的留言发泄了一通不满。
• Widely fluctuating exchange rates may adversely affect international trade. 浮动幅度很大的汇率可能会对国际贸易产生有害的影响。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。