VOA常速英语2016--热饮料或与癌症相关

Hot Drinks Linked to Cancer 热饮料或与癌症相关

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

VOA英语学习健康及生活方式报道。

The next time you make yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, you might want to let it cool down a bit before drinking.

下次你给自己泡一杯茶或咖啡的时候，喝之前可能会想让它凉一些。

Researchers say letting your hot drinks cool off could help you avoid some kinds of cancer.

研究人员说，让你的热饮料变凉，有助于避免一些类型的癌症。

In fact, the United Nations’ cancer research agencydecided to list hot drinks with lead, gasoline and exhaust fumes as “possibly carcinogenic.”In other words, each one could cause cancer.

事实上，联合国的癌症研究机构决定将含有铅、汽油和废气的热饮料列为“可能致癌物”。换句话说，每个都可能导致癌症。

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO).The IARC published the findings in the medical journal Lancet Oncology.

国际癌症研究机构（IARC）是世界卫生组织（WHO）的一部分。IARC在医学杂志《柳叶刀肿瘤学》上发表了研究结果。

Researchers at IARC found evidence that drinks at temperatures above 65 degrees Celsius, when swallowed, can cause cancer of the esophagus.

IARC的研究人员发现，饮用温度超过65摄氏度的热饮料可能引起食管癌。

The researchers examined findings from other studies where tea and coffee were often served at 70 degrees Celsius or above.Those studies were completed in Iran, China and South America.

研究人员检查了其他研究发现，其中茶和咖啡通常在70摄氏度或以上。这些研究在伊朗、中国和南美完成。

In developed countries, health experts have linked esophageal cancer to smoking and alcoholic drinks.However, this form of cancer is more common in areas where people drink beverages at very high temperatures.

在发达国家，健康专家将食管癌与吸烟和酒精性饮料联系起来。然而，在人们喝下高温饮料的地区这种形式的癌症更常见。

In Europe and the United States, many people drink coffee and tea at temperatures around 60 degrees Celsius.And they often add milk which lowers the temperature considerably.

在欧洲和美国，许多人饮用60摄氏度左右的咖啡和茶。他们经常加牛奶，大大降低了温度。

However, tea-drinkers in Iran and maté-drinkers in South America often enjoy their beverages at closer to 70 degrees Celsius.Maté is a tea-like brew made by steeping the leaves of the yerba mate plant in near-boiling water.

然而，伊朗的饮茶者和南美洲的饮用者经常饮用70摄氏度左右的饮料。Maté是一种类似于茶的啤酒饮品，通过在接近沸腾的水中浸泡马黛茶植物的叶子酿造而成。

The researchers note that South Americans not only drink their maté very hot, they also drink it through a metal straw.This sends the scalding liquid directly into the throat.

研究人员注意到，南美洲人不仅直接饮用高温的maté，他们还通过金属吸管饮用。这将可能会导致滚烫的液体直接送入喉咙。

The findings, however, are good news for coffee drinkers.

然而，这项发现对喝咖啡的人来说是好消息。

In 1991, the World Health Organization listed coffee as “possibly carcinogenic.”WHO officials have since changed their position on that listing.They now suggest that the temperature of your hot drink is a greater risk factor than the actual drink itself.

1991年，世界卫生组织将咖啡列为“可能致癌物”。世界卫生组织官员随后改变了对这一列表的立场。他们现在认为，与饮料本身相比，热饮料的温度是个更大的风险因素。

Christopher Wild is the director of the IARC.When he spoke with the AFP news agency,he said the results “suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of esophageal cancerand that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible.”

斯托弗·怀尔德是IARC的主管。在他接受法新社采访时表示，结果“表明喝非常热的饮料是导致食管癌的一个可能原因，看来，应当归咎于温度而不是饮料本身。”

The National Coffee Association called the change “great news for coffee drinkers.”

国家咖啡协会称之为“咖啡饮者的福音”。

But how common is esophageal cancer?Worldwide, it is the eighth most common cancer.Cancer of the esophagus killed about 400,000 people in 2012.

但是食管癌有多常见？在全球范围内，它是第八大最常见的癌症之一。2012年约40万人死于食管癌。

Words and Their Stories

brew – n. a cup or mug of tea or coffee.

beverage – n. something you can drink : a liquid for drinking

steep – v. to soak in a liquid at a temperature under the boiling point (as for softening, bleaching, or extracting an essence)

maté – n. a tealike beverage drunk especially in South America

scalding – adj. very hot

gasoline – n. a liquid made from petroleum and used especially as a fuel for engines

exhaust fumes – n. the mixture of gases produced by an engine

carcinogenic – adj. medical : a substance that can cause cancer

esophageal – adj. medical : the tube that leads from the mouth through the throat to the stomach

factor – n. something that helps produce or influence a result : one of the things that cause something to happen