托福阅读材料之杯子外形影响喝酒速度

Drinkers consume beer almost twice as quickly if it is served in a fashionable curved glass rather than a conventional straight one, a study has reported.

一项研究表明，人们用时尚的弯曲型酒杯喝啤酒的速度是普通直型杯的两倍。

It took on average nearly 12 minutes for those who took part to down 12 fl oz of lager (a little over half a pint or a third of a litre) from a straight glass. But from a curved glass it took seven minutes. There was hardly any difference if the alcohol was replaced with a soft drink.

用直型啤酒杯喝12液量盎司（稍大于0.5品脱或1/3公升）淡啤酒大概平均需要12分钟，但如果用弯曲型酒杯则只需要7分钟。但如果是喝软饮料，两种酒杯耗时则无明显差别。

The researchers suggest the reason may be that it is more difficult to accurately judge the halfway point of curved glasses. As a result, people are less able to gauge how much they have drunk.

研究者暗示人们可能无法准确判断弯曲型酒杯的中间点，所以，人们没法估计自己到底喝了多少。

They believe drinkers try to pace themselves and so the halfway point becomes important.

研究者认为喝酒者自己控制喝酒速度，所以酒杯的中间点是个关键点。

The experiment was carried out by academics from Bristol University's school of experimental psychology, who recruited 160 social drinkers aged 18-40 with no history of alcoholism.

该实验由布里斯托尔大学的实验心理学学院实施，他们招募了160位18-40岁之间，无酗酒记录的社交饮酒者。

While watching a tranquil nature documentary, they were invited to drink from either straight glasses or the sort of modern curved ones that have become popular in bars, clubs and some pubs. The rate at which the lager was consumed was markedly different depending on the type of glass they were using.

这些实验参与者在观看平静的自然纪录片时，研究者邀请他们从直型酒杯和在酒吧、俱乐部等更受欢迎的弯曲型酒杯中选一杯饮用。结果表明，人们喝酒的速度取决于他们选择的酒杯形状。

The people taking part were invited to a second session when they were shown various pictures of curved and straight glasses and asked to judge if they were more or less than half full.

在第二轮实验中，研究者向被实验者展示了多幅弯曲型酒杯和直型酒杯的图片，然后让他们判断这些酒杯所盛的酒是否半满。

It emerged that the participants who showed the greatest error in their judgment of where halfway was in the curved glasses tended to be those that drank the quickest from them.

据透露，在判断弯曲型酒杯的中间点上，参与者们判断失误的那些酒杯正是他们饮酒速度最快时用的酒杯。

The study highlights how in recent years makers of alcoholic drinks have invested in interesting branded glasses to differentiate their products. These include chalice glasses, curved beer flutes, tankards and novel curved glasses.

这项研究同时强调了近几年酒精饮料制造商是如何投资感兴趣的酒杯品牌以使他们的产品与众不同。这些酒杯包括圣餐杯、长笛啤酒杯、大啤酒杯和新奇弯曲型酒杯。

Angela Attwood, who led the research, said: "People often talk of pacing themselves when drinking alcohol as a means of controlling levels of drunkenness, and I think the important point to take from our research is that the ability to pace effectively may be compromised when drinking from certain types of glasses."

领导该项研究的安吉拉·阿特伍德说：“人们在喝酒时会自己控制喝酒速度以防止喝醉，我想我们这项研究中最关键的启示也许是选择合适的酒杯能有效控制喝酒速度。”

The research, which was funded by a grant from Alcohol Research UK, is published in full in the online journal PLoS ONE.

该项研究由英国酒精研究中心拨款赞助，目前研究成果已在《公共科学图书馆期刊》发表。