Introduction

Do you enjoy having a glass of wine, gin or a beer with friends? Would you be able to give it up for a whole month? That's what Dry January is all about - a campaign to encourage people to resist the temptation of booze and enjoy some health benefits. Sam and Rob discuss the challenge of cutting down on alcohol and teach you related vocabulary.

This week's question

According to historians, which people were thought to be the first group to make New Year's resolutions? Was it the…

a)?Romans

b)?Native Americans?

c)?Babylonians

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Sam

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam…?

Rob

And I'm Rob.?

Sam

So we're well into 2020 now – how are your New Year's?resolutions?going, Rob??

Rob

Ah?resolutions?– you mean promises people make to themselves to stop or start doing something – I promised to start running, and to stop eating biscuits and to give up alcohol for a month. But I failed on all of them!?

Sam

Oh dear...?

Rob

Yes, I lasted a few days and then I started to crumble.?

Sam

Yeah. Well, you're not alone. Many people try to kick bad habits and get healthy when a new year begins. Their intentions – their plans to do something – are good.?

Rob

Yes, giving up drinking is particularly good to do, if only for the health benefits.?

Sam

Well, we'll be talking more about that as soon as I've set up today's question. According to historians, which people were thought to be the first group to make New Year's resolutions? Was it the…

a) Romans

b) Native Americans

c) Babylonians?

Rob

I haven't got a clue, so I'm going to guess a) the Romans.?

Sam

OK, Rob, I'll let you know if that was a good guess at the end of the programme. Now let's talk more about giving things up for New Year and, specifically, giving up alcohol.?

Rob

It's a time often called 'Dry January' – dry refers to not drinking alcohol, it's not about the weather! And the beginning of the year seems like a good time to start doing something to improve your health.?

Sam

But it's easy to give in to temptation – isn't it, Rob??

Rob

Oh yes.?And it's tough to give up drinking in the first place, as Millie Gooch, founder of The Sober Girl Society knows. She spoke to BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme and explained why it was hard to quit in the first place…?

Millie Gooch, founder of The Sober Girl Society

I think it's the?peer pressure?and, you know, it's so expected of us, it's so?ingrained?in us. Alcohol is everywhere and it's not just alcohol itself, it's alcohol?merchandise, so, you know, you've got Christmas jumpers that have been say 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho' and you can't buy a birthday card without saying 'let the fun be-gin'. It's just absolutely everywhere, it's so hard to avoid.?

Sam

So that's Millie, who's right when she says that, in the UK at least, we sometimes drink because we give in to?peer pressure. That's the influence a group of similar people have on you to behave like them.?

Rob

We want to be part of the group so we copy what they do – and we are expected to do so because, as Millie said, drinking alcohol is?ingrained?in us – well in some cultures anyway.?

Sam

And when an attitude is?ingrained?it means it's been that way for a long time - it's difficult to change.?And although it may be harmful, we see jokes about drinking through things like?merchandise?– a word for goods we buy and sell.?

Rob

And Millie goes on to say we can buy jumpers that joke about the Italian sparkling wine called Prosecco – which say 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho!' And birthday cards have the message 'let the fun be-gin' – a play on the word 'begin'.?

Sam

With all this social pressure, it's hard not to give in – and that's even worse when you're trying to fulfil your resolution not to drink.?

Rob

For Millie, enough was enough when drinking started to have a negative effect and she had to do something about it.?Let's hear from her again…?

Millie Gooch, founder of The Sober Girl Society

I started realising that alcohol was really affecting my mental health, so I was getting that really bad?hangover?anxiety – that like,?hangover?fear and dread – and I kind of noticed that was?permeating?everyday life. I was a?binge?drinker rather than like an everyday drinker… So I just decided that it wasn't suiting my life any more and I wanted to give it up.?

Rob

So Millie there described the negative effects of a?hangover?– that's the sick and tired feeling you get after drinking too much alcohol.?She also said she felt anxiety. And this feeling was permeating her everyday life.?When something?permeates?it spreads through something and influences every part of it.

Sam

So, drinking was affecting her everyday life, and it didn't help that she was a?binge?drinker. When you?binge?you do something occasionally but to extreme.?

Rob

Well, Millie managed to quit drinking and hasn't touched a drop since. There are many benefits to remaining sober – that means not being drunk. And one of them is hearing the answer to today's question!?

Sam

Earlier I asked you: According to historians, which people were thought to be the first group to make New Year's resolutions? Was it the…

a) Romans

b) Native Americans

c) Babylonians?

And Rob, what did you say??

Rob

I had a wild guess and said it was the Romans.?

Sam

Sorry, Rob, you are wrong. Many historians think it was the Babylonians who made the first ever New Year's resolutions, about 4,000 years ago.?According to the history.com website, at New Year – which they celebrated in mid-March - Babylonians made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed.?

Rob

I wonder if they managed to keep their resolutions for longer than I did… Anyway, let's keep one of our regular promises - to recap the vocabulary we've discussed today. Starting with?resolution…

Sam

…which in the context of a New Year's resolution, is a promise to yourself to stop or start doing something.?

Rob

Peer pressure?is the influence a group of similar people have on you to behave like them.?

Sam

Ingrained?describes an attitude or idea that has been done in a certain way for a long time and is difficult to change. And?merchandise?is a word for goods we buy and sell.?

Rob

We also mentioned a?hangover?– that's the sick, tired and sometimes anxious feeling you get after drinking too much alcohol. And?permeating?describes spreading through something and influencing every part of it. Like the vocabulary in this programme, Sam!?

SamThanks, Rob - and that's all for now.?

Rob

Bye bye!

Vocabulary

resolution

a promise to yourself to stop or start doing something?

peer pressure

influence a group of similar people have on you to behave like them?

ingrained

an attitude or idea that's been done in a certain way for a long time and is difficult to change?

merchandise

goods we buy and sell?

hangover

sick, tired and sometimes anxious feeling you get after drinking too much alcohol?

permeating

spreading through something and influencing every part of it

雙語(yǔ)版Transcript

Hello.

大家好。

This is 6 Minute English from BBCLearning English.

這是BBC教學(xué)英語(yǔ)的六分鐘英語(yǔ)。

I'm Sam…?And I'm Rob.

我是薩姆……我是羅伯。

So we're well into 2020 now,?howare your New Year's resolutions going, Rob?

現(xiàn)在我們進(jìn)入了2020年，你的新年決心進(jìn)行的怎么樣了，羅伯？

Ah resolutions – you mean promisespeople make to themselves to stop or start doing something.

啊，決心呀，你是說(shuō)人們對(duì)自己所做出的要停止或開(kāi)始做某事的承諾。

I promised to start running, and tostop eating biscuits and to give up alcohol for a month.

我許諾開(kāi)始跑步，不再吃餅干以及戒酒一個(gè)月。

But I failed on all of them!

但都失敗了！

Oh dear. . .?Yes, I lasted a fewdays and then I started to crumble.

天呢……是的，我堅(jiān)持了幾天，然后我開(kāi)始崩潰。

Yeah. Well, you're not alone.

是的。你不是一個(gè)人。

Many people try to kick bad habitsand get healthy when a new year begins.

許多人在新年伊始時(shí)試圖戒掉壞習(xí)慣，保持健康。

Their intentions – their plans to dosomething – are good.

他們的意圖——他們做某事的計(jì)劃——是好的。

Yes, giving up drinking isparticularly good to do, if only for the health benefits.

是的，如果僅從健康角度來(lái)看，戒酒尤其有益。

Well, we'll be talking more aboutthat as soon as I've set up today's question.

好的，今天的問(wèn)題一設(shè)置完，我們就會(huì)討論更多關(guān)于這個(gè)話題的內(nèi)容。

According to historians,?whichpeople were thought to be the first group to make New Year's resolutions?

根據(jù)歷史學(xué)家的說(shuō)法，哪群人被認(rèn)為是首先立下新年決心的人？

Was it the… a) Romans, b) NativeAmericans, or c) Babylonians?

是a)羅馬人，b)美洲原住民，還是c)巴比倫人？

I haven't got a clue, so I'm going toguess a) the Romans.

我沒(méi)有頭緒，所以我猜是a）羅馬人。

OK, Rob, I'll let you know if thatwas a good guess at the end of the programme.

好的，羅伯，我將在節(jié)目最后讓你知道猜的對(duì)不對(duì)。

Now let's talk more about givingthings up for New Year and specifically giving up alcohol.

現(xiàn)在讓我們談?wù)劯嚓P(guān)于為新年放棄一些事物的內(nèi)容，特別是戒酒。

It's a time often called 'DryJanuary'.

這段時(shí)間通常被稱為"一月禁酒"。

Dry refers to not drinking alcohol,it's not about the weather!

"Dry"指的是禁酒，它和天氣無(wú)關(guān)！

And the beginning of the year seemslike a good time to start doing something to improve?your health.

新年伊始似乎是開(kāi)始做某事來(lái)改善健康的好時(shí)機(jī)。

But it's easy to give in totemptation. Isn't it, Rob?

但是我們很容易向誘惑屈服。不是嗎，羅伯？

Oh yes.

噢，是的。

And it's tough to give up drinking inthe first place, as Millie Gooch, founder of The Sober Girl Society knows.

正如The Sober Girl Society創(chuàng)始人米莉·古奇所知道的那樣，一開(kāi)始的時(shí)候戒酒很困難。

She spoke to BBC Radio 4s You andYours programme and explained why it was hard to quit in the first place…

她做客BBC廣播4頻道的You and Yours節(jié)目，并解釋了為什么一開(kāi)始時(shí)戒酒很難。

I think it's the peer pressure and,you know, it's so expected of us, it's so ingrained in?us.

我認(rèn)為這是同輩壓力，你知道的，那是對(duì)我們的期望，它是根深蒂固的。

Alcohol is everywhere and it's notjust alcohol itself, it's alcohol merchandise,?so you know, you've gotChristmas jumpers that have been say 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho',?and you can'tbuy a birthday card without saying 'let the fun be-gin'.

酒精無(wú)處不在，不僅是酒精本身，還有酒精類商品，所以，你知道的，你會(huì)看到圣誕針織套衫上寫(xiě)著"普羅塞克（一種全球知名的意大利葡萄酒）——吼——吼——吼"，你沒(méi)法買(mǎi)到上面沒(méi)寫(xiě)著"開(kāi)始杜松子酒的享受"的生日賀卡。

It's just absolutely everywhere, it'sso hard to avoid.

它絕對(duì)是無(wú)處不在的，很難避免。

So that's Millie, who's right whenshe says that, in the UK at least,?we sometimes drink because we give into peer pressure.

那就是米莉所說(shuō)的，她說(shuō)的沒(méi)錯(cuò)，至少在英國(guó)是這樣，我們有時(shí)喝酒是因?yàn)榍谕厜毫Α?/span>

That's the influence a group ofsimilar people have on you to behave like them.

那是一群和你相似的人對(duì)你的影響，讓你表現(xiàn)得像他們一樣。

We want to be part of the group so wecopy what they do, and we are expected to do so,?because as Millie saiddrinking alcohol is ingrained in us – well in some cultures anyway.

我們想要成為那群人中的一員，所以我們效仿他們的行為，我們被期望那樣，因?yàn)檎缑桌蛩f(shuō)，喝酒在我們身上是根深蒂固的——至少在某些文化中是這樣。

And when an attitude is ingrained, itmeans it's been that way for a long time, it's difficult to change.

當(dāng)一種態(tài)度根深蒂固時(shí)，那指的是它已經(jīng)那樣很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了，很難改變。

And although it may be harmful, wesee jokes about drinking through things like merchandise?– a word forgoods we buy and sell.

盡管喝酒可能是有害的，但我們還是會(huì)在一些東西上看到關(guān)于喝酒的笑話，比如"商品"——這個(gè)詞指的是我們所買(mǎi)賣的東西。

And Millie goes on to say we can buyjumpers that joke about the Italian sparkling wine called Prosecco?– whichsay 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho! '

米莉接著說(shuō)我們可以買(mǎi)到有意大利起泡酒普羅塞克玩笑的針織套衫，上面寫(xiě)著"普羅塞克——吼——吼——吼！"

And birthday cards have the message'let the fun be-gin' – a play on the word 'begin'.

而且生日賀卡上寫(xiě)著"開(kāi)始杜松子酒的享受"，這是對(duì)"begin"一詞的惡搞。

With all this social pressure, it'shard not to give in,?and that's even worse when you're trying to fulfilyour resolution not to drink.

在這種社會(huì)壓力下，很難不屈服，而當(dāng)你試圖實(shí)現(xiàn)不喝酒的決心時(shí)，情況甚至?xí)愀狻?/span>

For Millie, enough was enough whendrinking started to have a negative effect,?and she had to do somethingabout it.

對(duì)米莉來(lái)說(shuō)，喝酒開(kāi)始產(chǎn)生負(fù)面影響時(shí)就足夠糟糕了，而且她不得不為此做些事情。

Let's hear from her again…?Istarted realising that alcohol was really affecting my mental health,?so Iwas getting that really bad hangover anxiety?– that like, hangover fearand dread,?and I kind of noticed that was permeating everyday life.

讓我們?cè)俾?tīng)聽(tīng)她是怎么說(shuō)的……我開(kāi)始意識(shí)到酒精真的會(huì)影響我的精神健康，所以我真的開(kāi)始對(duì)宿醉產(chǎn)生嚴(yán)重焦慮——那就像宿醉時(shí)的恐懼和害怕，而且我注意到它正在滲透到我的日常生活之中。

I was a binge drinker rather thanlike an everyday drinker…?So I just decided that it wasn't suiting my lifeany more and I wanted to give it up.

我曾經(jīng)是一個(gè)酗酒者，而不是每天都喝酒的那種人……所以我認(rèn)定它不再適合我的生活，我想放棄它。

So Millie there described thenegative effects of a hangover?– that's the sick and tired feeling you getafter drinking too much alcohol.

所以米莉描述了宿醉的負(fù)面影響那是你喝了太多酒之后惡心和疲倦的感覺(jué)。

She also said she felt anxiety.

她還說(shuō)她感到焦慮。

And this feeling was permeating hereveryday life.

這種感覺(jué)滲透到她的日常生活之中。

When something permeates it spreadsthrough something and influences every part of it.

當(dāng)某物滲透時(shí)，它會(huì)擴(kuò)散并影響到自己的各個(gè)部分。

So, drinking was affecting hereveryday life, and it didn't help that she was a binge drinker.

所以，喝酒影響了她的日常生活，而她是個(gè)酗酒者也沒(méi)什么幫助。

When you binge you do somethingoccasionally but too extreme.

當(dāng)你放縱時(shí)，你會(huì)偶爾做某事，但非常極端。

Well, Millie managed to quit drinkingand hasn't touched a drop since.

嗯，米莉設(shè)法戒了酒，從那以后一滴也沒(méi)碰過(guò)。

There are many benefits to remainingsober – that means not being drunk.

保持清醒有很多好處——那指的是不喝醉。

And one of them is hearing the answerto today's question!

好處之一就是聽(tīng)到今天問(wèn)題的答案！

Earlier I asked you: According tohistorians, which people were thought to be the first group to make New Year'sresolutions?

早些時(shí)候我問(wèn)你：根據(jù)歷史學(xué)家的說(shuō)法，哪群人被認(rèn)為是首先立下新年決心的人？

Was it the… a) Romans, b) NativeAmericans, or c) Babylonians?

是a)羅馬人，b)美洲原住民，還是c)巴比倫人？

And Rob, what did you say?

羅伯，你說(shuō)什么？

I had a wild guess and said it wasthe Romans.

我胡亂猜想，說(shuō)是羅馬人。

Sorry, Rob, you are wrong.

很遺憾，羅伯，你答錯(cuò)了。

Many historians think it was theBabylonians who made the first ever New Year's resolutions,?about 4,000years ago.

許多歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為，巴比倫人是最先立下新年決心的人，大約是在4000年前。

According to the history. comwebsite, at New Year – which they celebrated in mid-March,?Babyloniansmade promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects?they hadborrowed.

據(jù)history。com網(wǎng)站稱，在3月中旬慶祝新年時(shí)，巴比倫人向眾神許諾償還債務(wù)并歸還他們所借的任何物品。

I wonder if they managed to keeptheir resolutions for longer than I did…?Anyway, let's keep one of ourregular promises?- to recap the vocabulary we've discussed today.

我不知道他們保持決心是否比我堅(jiān)持得更久……不管怎樣，讓我們遵守我們慣常承諾之一——復(fù)習(xí)我們今天討論的詞匯。

Starting with resolution…?…which in the context of a New Year's resolution, is a promise to yourself tostop or start doing something.

從決心開(kāi)始……在新年決心的語(yǔ)境中，那是指對(duì)自己所做出的要停止或開(kāi)始做某事的承諾。

Peer pressure is the influence agroup of similar people have on you to behave like them.

同輩壓力是一群和你相似的人對(duì)你的影響，讓你表現(xiàn)得像他們一樣。

Ingrained describes an attitude oridea that has been done in a certain way for a long time?and it's difficult tochange.

"根深蒂固"形容的是以某種方式存在了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的一種態(tài)度或想法，而且它很難改變。

And merchandise is a word for goodswe buy and sell.

"商品"這個(gè)詞是指我們買(mǎi)賣的東西。

We also mentioned a hangover.

我們還提到了宿醉。

That's the sick, tired and sometimesanxious feeling you get after drinking too much alcohol.

那是你喝了太多酒之后，惡心、疲倦的感覺(jué)，有時(shí)還會(huì)感到焦慮。

And permeating describes spreadingthrough something and influencing every part of it.

滲透指的是在某物中擴(kuò)散開(kāi)來(lái)并影響它的每一部分。

Like the vocabulary in thisprogramme, Sam!

就像這個(gè)節(jié)目里的詞匯，薩姆！

Thanks, Rob - and that's all for now.

謝謝你，羅伯，以上就是今天的全部?jī)?nèi)容。

Bye bye!