Two new studies have added to the evidence¹ that drinking a little alcohol² each day is good for the heart. Earlier studies have shown that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol reduces ³ the chances of suffering⁴ a heart attack⁵ or a stroke⁶ caused by thickening⁷ of the blood.
    两项新的研究再次证明了每天喝少量酒对心脏有益。先前的研究已经表明，适量饮酒能降低因血液变粘稠而导致的心脏疾病的几率。

    The new studies were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One group of researchers was from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts⁸ . They questioned almost two-thousand patients at forty-five hospitals. All the patients had just suffered⁹ heart attacks. The researchers asked them how much alcohol they drank in the year before the heart attack. Those who had fewer than seven alcoholic drinks a week were considered light drinkers. Those who had more than seven drinks a week were considered moderate drinkers.
    这项新的研究结果发表在《美国医学协会杂志》上。研究小组来自马萨诸塞州波士顿贝斯雅各医疗中心。他们调查了45家医院的约2000名病人。这些病人都刚刚患过心脏病。研究人员调查了他们在患心脏病的前一年喝了多少酒。那些每周喝酒不超过七杯的人被称为轻度饮酒者。每周喝酒超过七杯者称为中度饮酒者。

    The researchers studied the patients’ health for the next four years. At the end of that time, the light drinkers had a twenty-one percent lower chance of dying from a heart attack than those who never drank at all. The moderate drinkers had a thirty-two percent lower chance of dying than those who never drank. The drinkers survived mostly because they had fewer additional¹⁰ heart attacks.
    接下来的四年时间里，研究人员观察了病人的健康情况。最后结果表明，轻度饮酒者死于心脏病的几率比那些完全不饮酒的人低21%。而中度饮酒者死于心脏病的几率比不饮酒者低32%。饮酒者存活下来的主要原因是他们很少得伴随性心脏病。

    The other study involved more than two-thousand older men and women. Their average age was seventy-four. Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia asked them how much alcohol they drank. The researchers studied the health of these people for up to fourteen years. They found that those who had one or two drinks each day were twenty to fifty percent less likely to develop heart failure than those who did not drink.
    另外一项研究则涉及了2000多名老年男性和女性。他们的平均年龄为74岁。来自乔治亚洲亚特兰大艾莫黎大学的研究员询问他们喝多少酒。随后研究者对这些人的健康情况进行了长达十四年的观察。他们发现每天喝一两杯酒的人患心脏病的几率比不喝酒的人低20%到50%。

    Both studies found no difference in survival among people who drank beer, wine or liquor¹¹ .
    两项研究都认为喝啤酒、葡萄酒或者白酒之间没有区别。
    Arthur Klatsky is a heart doctor at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California. Doctor Klatsky said both studies strengthen the idea that drinking a small amount of alcohol each day can protect the heart. Alcohol thins the blood and prevents clots¹² that block arteries. It also increases the so-called good cholesterol in the blood that helps keep arteries¹³ open.
    亚瑟·克拉斯盖是加利福尼亚州奥克兰永皇研究中心的心脏病医生。他说这两项研究进一步证实了每天喝点酒能保护心脏。酒精能稀释血液，抑制堵塞动脉的血栓形成。同时酒精也增加了血液中保持动脉畅通的良性胆固醇的含量。

    However, other health risks have been linked to moderate drinking. And Doctor Klatsky said heavy alcohol drinking is a sure way to damage your health.
    然而，少量饮酒却与其它一些健康风险有关。克拉斯盖医生说大量饮酒肯定会损害健康。

小常识
酒文化
    酒文化是一种世界性的文化。除信仰伊斯兰教和佛教的国家外，其它国家都具有饮酒的习俗。欧、美国家的人们在宴会上喝葡萄酒。此外饭前喝的酒有开胃酒，餐后饮的有鸡尾酒或威士忌、白兰地等酒。西方人由于历史上农业生产相对紧张，因而基本不酿造粮食淀粉类的高度白酒，而主要酿造酒精含量偏低的果酒。中国的酿酒历史悠久，饮酒也颇有讲究。而唐朝的著名诗人李白，有“酒仙”之称，据传他酒后思如泉涌，故有“李白斗酒诗百篇”之说。

1. evidence n. 证据
2. alcohol n. 酒，酒精
3. reduces v. 减少，降低
4. suffering v. 承受（痛苦），遭受（痛苦）
5. attack n/v. 疾病发作，攻击
6. stroke n. 中风
7. thickening v. 使变浓，使变厚
8. Massachusetts n. 马萨诸塞州（美国的一个州）
9. survived v. 幸存，生存
10. additional adj.附加的，伴随性的
11. liquor n. 白酒
12. clots (pl.) 单数形式为 ：clot n. （血）栓，（血液等形成的）凝块，血块
13. arteries (pl.) 单数形式为 ：artery n. 动脉