托福阅读材料之英国人三分钟站着解决早餐

It's supposed to be the most important meal of the day.

这本应是中最重要的一餐。

 

But on average we spend just three minutes and 15 seconds on a weekday breakfast – and we're so pressed for time that we often eat it standing up.

英国人平均每个工作日仅花3分钟15秒吃早餐，因为时间太紧，以至于常常站着吃早饭。

 

In fact, only half of us eat breakfast at all, research shows. Many prefer to have a lie-in, while others blame the growing pressure to get to work early.

调查显示，事实上只有半数英国人吃早餐。许多人宁愿睡懒觉，另一些人则将不吃早餐归咎于赶早上班的压力增大。

 

Only a third of us now eat breakfast in the kitchen. Some resort to eating it in the bedroom, or even the bathroom, with 22 percent getting dressed at the same time.

现在只有三分之一的英国人在厨房里吃早餐。有些人在卧室里、甚至在浴室里吃早餐，22%的人一边吃早餐一边穿衣服。

 

Around a fifth manage to eat only half their breakfast because they have so little time, while more than a third say they eat their first meal of the day on the bus or train.

约五分之一的人因为没时间早餐只能吃一半，超过三分之一的人说他们的顿饭是在公共汽车或列车上解决的。

 

In Birmingham, 59 percent said they were too busy on the internet or watching TV in the morning to eat breakfast.

在伯明翰，59%的人说他们早上忙着上网或看电视，没时间吃早饭。

 

In London 57 percent said the same, and 52 percent of people from Bristol and 51 percent of Mancunians agreed.

57%的伦敦人、52%的布里斯托尔人和51%的曼彻斯特人也这么说。

 

One in seven eat at their desk at least one morning a week – and one in five confess to grabbing something as they run out of the door and eating it while they walk down the street.

七分之一的英国人一周中至少有的早饭是在办公桌前解决的。五分之一的英国人坦言自己匆匆抓了点食物就奔出门外，然后在街上一路走一路吃。

 

But three-quarters still said it was the most important meal of the day, and seven in ten always have a hot breakfast, according to the survey commissioned by Weetabix.

根据维他麦食品公司委托开展的这一调查，四分之三的英国人依然认为，早餐是中最重要的一餐，十分之七的人总是吃热腾腾的早饭。

 

Sian Porter, a company spokesman, said: 'Encouragingly, the research indicated that possibly 1.2million of us find time to eat a hot breakfast every single morning and demonstrates that Brits do understand the importance of breakfast, even going as far as eating it on the bus, or in the bathroom, to try and fit it in.'

该公司的发言人西恩·波特说：“令人感到鼓舞的是，该调查指出，每天早上英国大概有120万人抽时间吃上一顿热乎乎的早饭，这表明英国人确实了解早餐的重要性，即使要在公车上或浴室里解决，还是会努力找时间来吃早饭。”