人在不喝水的状态下能活多久?

If I were to stop drinking water right now, how long could I live? There are several different factors involved here. A human being isn’t an automobile which needs a certain amount of gas. There are conditions under which a person could die of dehydration within a single day, and other conditions whereby a person might live for over a week. It’s unlikely, though, anyone could go much beyond that.

假如我现在开始不喝水，我能活几天呢？这里涉及到了多方面的因素。汽车只需要一定量的汽油就够了，而人并不是汽车。有多种条件能使一个在脱水状态下的人在一天内死亡，而在其他条件下，人就可能活过一星期。但是不大会有人能够超越这个极限很多。

Water comes into our systems not just from drinking but from eating as well. It goes out of us through urine, through sweat, a even through exhaling. Ever notice the fog you can make on a window by breathing on it? That’s water vapor leaving your body.

不仅通过饮水，水还通过吃饭进入我们的身体循环系统。我们通过小便，出汗，甚至呼气来排水。以前你有没有注意到，当你对着窗子呼气的时候，窗子上会形成雾气？那就是水分从你的身体中蒸发掉了。

The biggest reason it's bad to lose too much water is that the actual volume of your blood goes down. When blood volume goes down, blood pressure goes down. As blood pressure goes down, body heat goes up, because your blood helps regulate your core body temperature. Without enough blood, you can’t cool off. Pretty soon you overheat.

说失水过多有害的最大原因就是，它能使你身体的血液量减小。当血液减少了，血压就降低。血压降低身体就会变热，因为血液可以帮助调节体温。没有充足的血液，你的体温就降不下来。很快，身体就过热了。

So various factors, from eating to circulatory health to the ambient temperature, play a part in how long you could go without water. Probably the biggest factor, though, is simply age: young people are much more likely to overheat faster than adults, which is why it’s especially important to keep an eye on the little ones on hot summer days.

因此，多种因素，从饮食到循环系统的健康度，再到四周环境的温度，都对你在不喝水的状态下能活几天产生影响。但最主要的因素可能只是年龄：年轻人会比成年人更容身体过热，这也是为何在炎热的夏天我们要多照看着点儿小朋友的原因。

new words:

dehydration:脱水
water vapor:水蒸气
urine:小便
exhale:呼气