今天我们来看一看BBC是如何分析啤酒肚(beer belly)是如何形成的。
What causes a beer belly?
When you drink beer, your liver has to go into overdrive to detoxify the alcohol. Now add a few packets of crisps to the equation, maybe some peanuts and those calories are there to stay. Beer itself is pretty calorific stuff, to the tune of around 150 calories a unit so why beer makes you fat, well that starts to seem obvious.
喝啤酒的时候，肝脏要加速工作以分解酒精。如果拿几包如花生等的香脆零食来下酒，热量方程式的右边卡路里就更多了。啤酒本身是高热量饮料，热量高达150卡路里每酒精单位，这就是喝啤酒会导致肥胖的第一个原因。
Now why does it give you a beer belly specifically? Well the answer is down to two things apparently - gender and age. After about the age of 35 most men'smetabolisms start to slow down. While men tend to put weight on their...bellies, women's fat stores commonly go on their backside and hips.
具体说来，啤酒肚到底是如何形成的呢?看来有两个因素——性别和年龄。男性一过了35岁，新陈代谢就开始减慢，脂肪就会囤积在肚子上，而女性的脂肪则通常囤积在臀部和髋部。
【语言点解析】
1. beer belly 啤酒肚，也叫beer gut。belly肚子，bell钟，ball球，bullet子弹，billiards台球，这些单词都含有b...ll的组合，可以认为它们都和"圆"相关。
【例】He was short and fat, with a large beer belly. 他又矮又胖，挺着个大大的啤酒肚。
(来源：Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary 5th Edition)
2. go into overdrive 加速;卖力
【例】She always goes into overdrive before the holidays. 她总是在放假前特别努力。
(来源：Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary)
3. detoxify 清除毒素;解毒。toxic是"有毒的"，de-代表除去，如defrost除霜 = de除去 + frost霜，decode解码 = de除去 + code码。
【例】detoxify the bloodstream 清除血液中的毒素
(来源：Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary)
4. to the tune of 多达;高达
【例】Canada is funding the programme to the tune of $ 30 million. 加拿大为这个项目拨的款多达3000万美元。
(来源：Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)
5. specifically 具体来说;确切地说
【例】We've been married now for over thirty years, specifically since 1972. 到现在我们结婚都30年了，具体来说是1972年结的。
(来源：MacMillan English Dictionary - American)
6. metabolism 新陈代谢
【例】Exercise is supposed to speed up your metabolism. 锻炼身体能加快新陈代谢。
(来源：Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
