托福阅读背景：茶和咖啡哪个更适合你

　　Countless arguments have been waged over the superiority of one beverageover the other. But what does the scientific evidence say?

　　关于这两种饮料孰优孰劣的问题已经引发了无数争论。但是科学证据是怎样的呢?

　　George Orwell may have written that “tea is one of the mainstays ofcivilization in this country” – but even we British have to acknowledge that ournational drink is facing stiff competition from the espressos, cappuccinos, andlattes invading our shores.

　　乔治·奥威尔或许写过“茶是这个国家文明的一个支柱”这样的句子——但我们英国人也要承认，随着浓咖啡、卡布奇诺和拿铁侵入国门，我们的全民饮料正面临着激烈的竞争。

　　Despite the dangers of wading into such a charged argument, BBC Futuredecided to weigh up the relative merits of each drink. There’s no accounting fortaste, of course, but we have combed the scientific literature for their real,measurable effects on our body and mind.

　　尽管探讨这个敏感话题充满风险，“BBC未来”栏目还是决定对每种饮品的相对优点进行评估。当然，百人百味，但通过精心梳理科学文献，我们找出了它们对人体和大脑真实的、可测量的影响。

　　The wake-up call

　　醒脑剂

　　For many, the caffeine kick is the primary reason we choose eitherbeverage; it’s the oil to our engines when we’re still feeling a bit creaky inthe morning. Based purely on its composition, coffee should win hands down: acup of tea has about half the dose (40 milligrams) of the stimulant caffeinethat you would find in a standard cup of brewed filter coffee (80 to 115milligrams). Yet this doesn’t necessarily reflect the jolt of the wake-upcall.

　　对许多人来说，咖啡因的兴奋作用是我们选择这两种饮料的主要原因;在睡眼惺忪的清晨，咖啡因就像石油一样，给我们身体的引擎以能量。只考虑成分的话，咖啡可以轻松获胜：一杯茶的咖啡因含量(40毫克)大约只有标准杯过滤咖啡(80至115毫克)的一半。然而，这并非反映了它们的醒脑作用。

　　Dosing subjects with either tea or coffee, one study found that bothbeverages left subjects feeling similarly alert later in the morning.

　　通过让被试者饮用一定量的茶或咖啡，一项研究发现，这两种饮料都能让受试者在早晨晚些时候感到同样清醒。

　　Verdict: Against logic, tea seems to provide just as powerful a wake-upcall as coffee. It’s a draw.

　　结论：虽然逻辑上讲不通，但茶跟咖啡的醒脑作用似乎不相上下。平局。

　　Sleep quality

　　睡眠质量

　　The biggest differences between coffee and tea may emerge once your headhits the pillow.

　　咖啡和茶之间最大的差异或许将集中体现在睡眠上。

　　Comparing people drinking the same volume of tea or coffee over a singleday, researchers at the University of Surrey in the UK confirmed that althoughboth drinks lend similar benefits to your attention during the day, coffeedrinkers tend to find it harder to drop off at night – perhaps because thehigher caffeine content finally catches up with you.

　　通过对比研究每天饮用等量的茶或咖啡的人，英国萨里大学的研究人员证实，尽管两种饮料在白天对注意力集中的作用差不多，但或许是因为咖啡里的咖啡因含量更高，喝咖啡的人晚上更难入睡。

　　Tea drinkers, in contrast, had longer and more restful slumbers.

　　相比之下，喝茶的人睡得更久更香。

　　Verdict: Tea offers many of the benefits of coffee, without the sleeplessnights – a clear win.

　　结论：茶不仅拥有咖啡的许多好处，还不会带来不眠之夜——完胜

　　Tooth staining

　　牙齿变黄

　　Along with red wine, coffee and tea are both known to turn our pearlywhites a murky yellow and brown. But which is worse?

　　众所周知，红酒、咖啡和茶都会把洁白的牙齿慢慢染成暗黄色或棕褐色。但哪个最糟糕?

　　Most dentists seem to agree that tea’s natural pigments are more likely toadhere to dental enamel than coffee’s – particularly if you use a mouthwashcontaining the common antiseptic chlorhexidine, which seems to attract and bindto the microscopic particles.

　　大多数牙医似乎一致认为，茶中的天然色素比咖啡的更易附着于牙釉质之上——尤其当你使用常见的洗必泰漱口水时，其中的消毒洗必泰能吸引并聚合微观粒子。

　　Verdict: If you want a perfect smile, coffee may be the lesser of twoevils.

　　结论：如果你想展现完美笑容，两害相权取其轻，咖啡也许还好一点。

　　A balm for troubled souls…

　　不安灵魂的慰藉……

　　In England, it’s common to give “tea and sympathy” to a distressed friend –the idea being that a cup of Earl Grey is medicine for troubled minds. In fact,there is some evidence that tea can soothe your nerves: regular tea drinkers dotend to show a calmer physiological response to unsettling situations (such aspublic speaking), compared to people drinking herbal infusions. Overall, peoplewho drink three cups a day appear to have a 37% lower risk of depression thanthose who do not drink tea.

　　英国人喜欢给烦恼苦闷的朋友送去“茶与同情”——这是由于他们认为伯爵茶能够治愈不安的灵魂。事实上，有证据表明，茶可以舒缓神经：与喝中草药的人相比，经常饮茶者在处理一些令人不安的情况(如公开演讲)时确实表现得更为镇静。总的来说，每天喝三杯茶的人比不喝茶的人罹患抑郁症的风险要低37%。

　　Coffee doesn’t have the same reputation; indeed, some report that it makesthem feel like their nerves are jangling. Yet there is some evidence that it toomay protect against long-term mental health problems. A recent “meta-analysis”(summarising the results of studies involving more than 300,000 participants)found that each cup of coffee a day seems to reduce your risk of developingdepression by around 8%. In contrast, other beverages (such as sweetened softdrinks) only increase your risk of developing mental health problems.

　　咖啡并没有这种功效;事实上，有些人觉得咖啡会让人有些神经错乱。但是也有证据表明，咖啡能预防长期精神问题。最近的一项“荟萃分析”(总结了超过30万名参与者的研究结果)发现，每天一杯咖啡的人患抑郁症的风险比常人要低大约8%。相比之下，其他饮料(如甜味软饮)只会增加患精神疾病的风险。

　　Verdict: Based on this limited evidence, it’s a draw.

　　结论：基于有限的证据，平局。

　　…and a balm for bodies……

　　身体的万金油

　　Similarly tantalising, though preliminary, epidemiological studies havesuggested that both coffee and tea offer many other health-giving benefits. Afew cups of either beverage a day appears to reduce your risk of diabetes, forinstance.

　　流行病学研究虽然才刚刚起步，但也很吸睛。该领域研究表明，咖啡和茶都对身体还有其它益处。例如，每天喝几杯会降低患糖尿病的风险。

　　Both drinks also seem to moderately protect the heart, although theevidence seems to be slightly stronger for coffee, while tea also appears to beslightly protective against developing a range of cancers – perhaps because ofits antioxidants.

　　饮用这两种饮料能对心脏起到一定的保护作用，尽管证据显示似乎咖啡的功效更强，但许是因为茶中的抗氧化剂，茶对预防癌症也有些许功效。

　　Verdict: Another draw – both drinks are a surprising, health-givingelixir.

　　结论：还是平局——这两种饮料都是神奇的、有益健康的灵丹妙药。

　　Overall verdict: Much as we Brits would have liked tea to come out theclear victor, we have to admit there is little between the two drinks besidespersonal taste. Based solely on the fact that it allows you to get a betternight’s sleep, we declare tea the winner.

　　总结：大部分英国人都会觉得茶很明显更胜一筹。但除了个人口味，必须承认的是两者的差异并不大。仅仅基于能让人好眠这一点，茶无疑是赢家。

　　Vocabulary

　　pigment: 色素

　　dental enamel: 牙釉质

　　antioxidant: 抗氧化剂

　　elixir: 万能药