第二十九篇 "Don't Drink Alone" Gets New Meaning

In what may be bad news for bars and pubs，a European research group has found that people drinking alcohol outside of meals have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck than do those taking their libations with food. Luigino Dal Maso and his colleagues studied the drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies2 and another 3，500 adults who had never had cancer.

After the researchers accounted for the amount of alcohol consumed, they found that individuals who downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals3 faced at least a 50 to 80 percent risk of cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus, when compared with people who drank only at meals. Consuming alcohol without food also increased by at least 20 percent the likelihood of laryngeal4 cancer. " Roughly 95 percent of cancers at these four sites5 traced to smoking or drinking6 by the study volunteers，" Dal Maso says. The discouraging news, his team reports, is that drinking with meals didn't eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.

For their new analysis，the European scientists divided people in the study into four groups， based on how many drinks they reported having in an average week7. The lowest-intake group included people who averaged up to8 20 drinks 狂 week. The highest group reported downing at least 56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day.9 Cancer risks for the mouth and neck sites rose steadily with consumption even for people who reported drinking only with

meals. For instance, compared with people in the lowest-consumption group, participants who drank 21 to 34 alcohol servings a week at least doubled their cancer risk for all sites other than the larynx10. If people in these consumption groups took some of those drinks outside meals, those in the higher consumption group at least quadrupled their risk for oral cavity and esophageal cancers.

People in the highest-consumption group who drank only with meals had 10 times the risk of oral cancer, 7 times the risk of pharyngeal cancer, and 16 times the risk of esophageal cancer compared with those who averaged 20 or fewer drinks a week with meals. In contrast, laryngeal cancer risk in the high-intake, with-meals-only group11 was only triple that12 in the low-intake consumers who drank with meals.

"Alcohol can inflame tissues. Over time, that inflammation can trigger cancer. " Dal Maso says. He suspects that food reduced cancer risk either by partially coating digestive-tract tissues or by scrubbing alcohol off those tissues. He speculates that the reason laryngeal risks were dramatically lower for all study participants traces to the tissue's lower exposure to alcohol.

詞匯：

cavity n.腔

pharynx n.咽

pharyngeal adj.咽的

esophagus n.食管

esophageal adj.食管的

larynx n.喉

scrub v.擦凈，擦掉

注釋：

1.…than do those taking their libations with food：這是一個倒裝句，其正常語序為 than those taking their libations with food do。這里的do是一個代詞，代替上半句中的have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck。

2.drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies ：取自四項癌癥研究的 1，500 個病例的飲酒習慣模式

3.downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals：在就餐時間以外灌下大量烈酒。 down：在此作動詞用，意為："喝下，灌下"；significant：意為"large in amount"（大量的）。

4.laryngeal：larynx (喉）的形容詞形式。

5.these four sites：指該段前兩句提到的 oral cavity，pharynx, esophagus, larynx。

6.traced to smoking or drinking：根源就是抽煙或喝酒。trace to:回溯到……

7.in an average week：平均每星期

8.up to：高達

9.56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day：每周56 杯，平均每天8杯以上。eight后省略了servings意為"(食物或飲料的）一份"。

10.for all sites other than the larynx：除喉以外的全部部位。other than：除了。

11.high-intake, with-meals-only group：(酒精）高攝入、僅在就餐時飲酒的（實驗）組。 high-intake和with-meals-only在此都是合成形容詞，修飾group。

12.was only triple that：是它的三倍。that 指該句前半句中的 laryngeal cancer risk。

練習：

1.Researchers have found that the risk of cancer in the mouth and neck is higher with people

A who drink alcohol outside of mealsur

B who drink alcohol at meals.

C who never drink alcohol.

D who drink alcohol at bars and pubs.

2.Which of the following is NOT the conclusion made by the researchers about "drinking with meals"?

A It has a lower risk of cancer than drinking without food.

B It may also be a cause of cancer.

C It increases by 20 percent the possibility of cancer in all sites.

D It does not eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.

3.Approximately how many drinks do the lowest-intake group average per day?

A 3 drinks.B 8 drinks.C 20 drinks.D 56 drinks.

4.Which cancer risk is the lowest among all the four kinds of cancer mentioned in the passage?

A Oral cancer.B Laryngeal cancer.

C Pharyngeal cancer.D Esophageal cancer.

5.According to the last paragraph, tissue's lower exposure to alcohol

A explains why inflammation triggers cancer.

B accounts for why food can coat digestive-tract tissues.

C is the reason why food can scrub alcohol off tissues.

D reduces the risk of laryngeal cancer.

答案與題解.

1.A文章第一個句子就是答案。

2.C第二段的第二句說的是餐外飲酒使得喉癌幾率增加了20%，而不是就餐飲酒的情況。所以C是正確答案。其他三項均在文中直接或間接提到。

3.A第三段第二句告訴我們，酒精攝人量最低的一組每星期飲酒量達20杯，因此，大約每天在三杯左右。

4.B文章第四段的第一句和第二句是由連接詞in contrast連接的兩個句子。in contrast表達的是句間的反比關系。第一句說明酒精消費量最大的一組，患其他三種癌癥的幾率與低酒精攝入量組相比，分別是他們的10倍、7倍和16倍，而第二句告訴我們，相比之下，其患喉癌的機率只是另一組的3倍。因此，B是正確選項。

5.D文章最后一句提供了答案。

參考譯文：

第二十九篇"不要在就餐時間以外飲酒"有了新含義

一定程度上，這對酒吧可能是一個壞消息，歐洲的一個研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)人們在就餐時間以外飲酒會使患口腔和頸部癌癥的幾率比就餐時飲酒更高。Luigino Dal Maso和他的同事們研究了取自四項癌癥研究的1，500個病例的飲酒習慣模式和另外3，500個從沒患癌癥的成年人的飲酒習慣模式。

在研究者分析了飲酒的總量后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)和只在就餐時飲酒的人相比，在就餐時間以外灌下大量烈酒的人面臨至少50%?80%的患口腔癌、咽癌和食道癌的危險。在就餐時間外飲酒也會使患喉癌的可能性增加至少20%。"被研究者的情況說明大約95%患以上四種癌癥的原因就是抽煙或飲酒。" Dal Maso說。他的研究小組提供的報告中令人沮喪的消息是就餐時飲酒不會消除患以上任何一種癌癥的危險。

為了進行新的分析，歐洲科學家根據(jù)每星期平均飲酒量將被研究者分為4組。飲酒量最少的一組包括每周平均飲酒量達20杯的人，飲酒量最高的一組每周飲酒至少56杯，平均每天8杯以上?；伎谇话┖皖i部癌的危險隨著飲酒量而穩(wěn)定上升，即使是那些只在就餐時飲酒的人。例如，和低飲酒量的人相比，每周飲酒21?34杯的人患除喉癌以外其他部位的癌癥的危險增加了一倍。 如果這幾組中的人在就餐時間以外飲酒，那些屬于高飲酒量組的人會使他們患口腔癌和食道癌的危險至少增加3倍。

和每周只在就餐時平均飲酒至多20杯的人相比，高飲酒量組的人在就餐時間飲酒患口腔癌的危險是低飲酒量組的10倍，咽癌是其7倍，食道癌是16倍。相反，酒精高攝入且僅在就餐時飲酒的人患喉癌的危險是酒精低攝入且僅在就餐時飲酒的人的3倍。

"酒精能使組織發(fā)炎，一段時間后，炎癥可引發(fā)癌癥。" Dal Maso說。他認為食物降低了患癌癥的危險，或是通過覆蓋在消化道組織上或是通過將酒精從那些組織上擦掉。他推測所有被研究 者患喉癌的幾率比其他癌癥低很多的原因是喉部組織被酒精侵害到的部分少得多。

編輯推薦：

2013年職稱英語考試報名專題

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（責任編輯：vstara）

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