饮酒如何影响健康
How Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Your Health?
慢速 | 五级（CET-4）适中 | 598词 | 6min22s
刘立军供稿
Part I. QUESTIONS
Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.
Q1. What advice does Dr. Timothy Naimi give regarding alcohol consumption?
A. Drinking more alcohol is beneficial for health.
B. Drinking less alcohol is a great way to be healthier.
C. Alcohol consumption has no impact on health.
D. Only drinking alcohol in the evening is healthy.
Q2. What change did U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy propose regarding alcohol warnings?
A. To remove cancer risks from alcohol warnings.
B. To include cancer risks in alcohol warnings.
C. To focus only on heart-related risks in alcohol warnings.
D. To eliminate all health warnings on alcoholic drinks.
Q3. What is the main harm of alcohol consumption mentioned in the text?
A. It causes immediate heart failure.
B. It leads to weight gain.
C. It raises the risk of several types of cancer.
D. It results in sleep disorders.
Q4. What can be inferred about international guidelines on alcohol intake from the passage?
A. All countries have the same guidelines on alcohol intake.
B. International guidelines encourage heavy drinking.
C. There is no consensus on alcohol intake guidelines internationally.
D. Many countries are revising their guidelines to recommend less drinking.
Q5. What is the main message of the passage?
A. Reducing alcohol intake is recommended for better health.
B. Drinking alcohol in any amount is harmful.
C. Moderate drinking is beneficial for health.
D. There is no need to change current drinking habits.
Part II. TRANSCRIPT
How Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Your Health?
Past research suggested drinking alcohol in moderate amounts could be good for the heart. But a growing number of public health experts now advise people to limit alcohol intake as much as possible to improve health.
One of those experts is Dr. Timothy Naimi. He is with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. (Q1) Naimi told The Associated Press, “Drinking less is a great way to be healthier.”
Earlier this month, (Q2) U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for changing his agency’s existing health warning on alcoholic drinks to include cancer risks. Such a change would require approval from Congress.
What is the harm in drinking alcohol?
(Q3) The Surgeon General’s proposed change is linked to research suggesting that drinking alcohol raises the risk of several types of cancer — including colon, liver, breast, mouth and throat.
Alcohol breaks down in the body into a substance called acetaldehyde. This chemical can damage cells and stop them from repairing themselves. The process can create conditions for cancer to grow.
acetaldehyde n. 乙醛
Naimi said estimates show thousands of U.S. deaths could be prevented each year if people followed government dietary guidelines on drinking alcohol. The guidelines advise men to limit themselves to two drinks or fewer per day and women to one drink or fewer per day. An example of one drink would be equal to one 12-ounce can of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine or one serving of liquor.
U.S. Surgeon General Murthy noted there are about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases in the United States each year. And, about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths are reported yearly. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk,” Murthy wrote on the social media service X.
What about limited drinking?
Medical experts say the idea that moderate drinking can cause health improvements, or benefits, came from imperfect studies. The research compared groups of people based on how much they drank, with amounts usually measured at only one point in time. Since some earlier studies did not follow rules about what groups were measured, researchers say they did not effectively prove cause and effect.
effectively adj. 有效地
Naimi said people who report drinking moderately generally have higher levels of education, higher earnings and better resources for health care. He explained that when those elements are considered, “The benefits tend to disappear.”
Another problem, Naimi noted, was that most studies did not include younger people. Almost half of people who die from alcohol-related causes do so before the age of 50. Naimi said the studied groups did not effectively represent all drinkers. This likely created “an appearance” of a benefit for moderate drinkers that is not real, he added.
What do international guidelines say?
Health guidelines related to alcohol intake have wide differences from country to country. But the overall message today is that drinking less is better for health.
(Q4) Britain, France, Denmark, Holland and Australia recently examined new evidence and lowered their guidelines for safe amounts of alcohol. Ireland plans to begin requiring cancer warnings on alcohol containers starting in 2026.
Carina Ferreira-Borges is an adviser on alcohol for the World Health Organization in Europe. She said scientists had changed their minds from earlier research. This is because more recent studies suggest drinking alcohol is linked “to over 200 health conditions, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and injuries.”
cardiovascular adj. 心血管的
Naimi said, “The simple message that’s best supported by the evidence is that, if you drink, less is better when it comes to health.”
Part III. KEY
Q1. B.【解析】细节题。根据“Naimi told The Associated Press, ‘Drinking less is a great way to be healthier.’”，可知Naimi博士表示少喝酒是保持健康的好方法。因此答案是B。
Q2. B.【解析】细节题。根据“U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for changing his agency’s existing health warning on alcoholic drinks to include cancer risks.”，可知美国卫生局局长Vivek Murthy博士呼吁改变其机构现有的酒精饮料健康警告，提议加入癌症风险相关内容。因此答案是B。
Q3. C.【解析】细节题。根据“The Surgeon General’s proposed change is linked to research suggesting that drinking alcohol raises the risk of several types of cancer — including colon, liver, breast, mouth and throat.”，可知卫生局局长提议的改变与一项研究有关，该研究表明饮酒会增加多种癌症的风险，包括结肠癌、肝癌、乳腺癌、口腔癌和喉癌。因此答案是C。
Q4. D.【解析】推理题。根据“Britain, France, Denmark, Holland and Australia recently examined new evidence and lowered their guidelines for safe amounts of alcohol.”，可知英国、法国、丹麦、荷兰和澳大利亚最近审查了新证据，下调了酒精安全摄入量标准，这表明许多国家正在修改他们的指南，建议减少饮酒。因此答案是D。
Q5. A.【解析】主旨题。整个文章主要讨论了饮酒对健康的负面影响，甚至会增加癌症风险，并且多位专家建议减少饮酒以改善健康。因此其主旨是建议少饮酒以获得更好的健康。答案是A。
（本文图片来源于摄图网，版权归摄图网所有)