How to love the winter寒冬的乐趣

爱思英语编者按：近几周，北半球各地气温骤降(plummet)，处处都是冰天雪地的景象。不同的文化背景也造就了世界各地人们那五花八门的御寒习惯。尽管严寒打乱了平静的生活，但人们仍能苦中寻乐——美食，美酒，户外运动样样精彩。看来人们已经开始恋上冬天。 
 
 
近几周，北半球各地气温骤降；到处都是冰天雪地的景象，也使得人们不得不加倍小心。但严寒也为人们提供了享受严寒乐趣的机会。
Temperatures have plummeted across the northern hemisphere in recent weeks, and icy conditions, everywhere have forced people to take extra care. But they"ve also provided some chances for cold-weather fun.
由于不同的地理位置渗透出各异的流行文化，所以当严寒到来时，世界各地人在吃喝穿玩方面的习惯也是五花八门。
And since cultural trends often spill across geographical borders, there"s a rich mix of things that people eat, drink, wear and do around the globe when the mercury falls.

喝 Drink

在英国，热酒精饮料很受欢迎。一杯苏格兰热棕榈酒由蜂蜜，柠檬以及威士忌调制而成，它可以使苏格兰高地的人们保持体温。英国人则喜爱置身于传统英式酒吧中，围坐在敞开式的壁炉旁，时不时地喝上一小口加香料的热葡萄酒。 Hot alcoholic drinks are popular in the UK. A Scottish hot toddy is made with honey, lemon and whisky and keeps the highlanders warm. The English like to sip mulled wine as they sit round an open log fire in a traditional pub.

俄罗斯人以喜爱伏特加而闻名于世，他们通过饮用伏特加来驱散严寒，但“认为酒精有助于抵挡严寒，这种观点是错误的，”俄罗斯首席卫生检查员Gennady Onishenko在接受英国泰晤士报时表示。“它损害了你的身体，使你产生一种温暖的错觉。”
Russians are renowned for enjoying vodka to stave off the winter chill, but “It"s a mistake to think alcohol helps when it"s cold,” Gennady Onishenko, Russia"s chief sanitary inspector, tells the UK Times. “It damages you and gives a feeling of false warmth.”

你还可以选择不含酒精的Sbiten，或者是热蜂蜜酒：一种由蜂蜜、香料、果酱以及饮用水调制而成的饮品，不过你也可以用葡萄酒来代替饮用水。
A non-alcoholic alternative is Sbiten, or hot mead: a drink made with honey, spices, jam and water, though the water can be replaced by wine.

在白天，热巧克力是很受欢迎的驱寒饮品。“柏林人正在积极抵御寒冬。热巧克力店营业额激增。”Roger Boyes在英国泰晤士报中写道。在美国，热巧克力也是深受人们喜爱的冬季饮品之一，纽约市处处都可以买到这种可以驱散严寒的饮品。
Hot chocolate is a popular daytime warmer. “Berliners are nesting. Hot chocolate outlets are booming,” wrote Roger Boyes in the UK Times last Thursday. Hot chocolate is also a winter drink of choice in the States, and New York is brimming with great spots for the molten brew.

吃 Food

一顿美食有助于人体抵抗寒流。精心烹制的肉食以及蔬菜很受人们欢迎。在东欧人们喜欢的菜式有：美国的蒸锅菜或炖菜，法国的法式杂烩，匈牙利的传统炖菜——菜炖牛肉。在英国，寒冷的夜晚来临时，没有什么比一份鱼和薯条的外卖更受欢迎了。
A good meal helps get anyone through a cold snap. Slow cooked meat and vegetable dishes are popular, taking the form of casserole or stew in the US, a ragout in France, or a goulash, the traditional stew of Hungary, in Eastern Europe. In the UK, nothing goes down quite as well as a bag of takeaway fish and chips on a frozen night.

在最最寒冷的地区，肉食是一个关键要素。在西伯利亚，那里的温度达到零下30℃甚至更低，人们依靠驯鹿以及马肉生存。西伯利亚的母亲们将一种提炼自獾类脂肪的乳霜涂在孩子们的脸上，以防他们的皮肤产生皲裂。
Meat is a key ingredient and in the coldest climes, like Siberia, where temperatures reach -30 C or below, people live on reindeer and horsemeat. Siberian mothers rub a cream made from badger fat on their children"s faces to keep their skin from getting chapped.

穿 Clothing

在西伯利亚，动物还被用来制作衣物。整个俄罗斯的人们都带着一种名为“Ushanka”的帽子，它是由动物皮毛加工而成，此外还带有耳罩。一种名为“Valenki”的靴子，由羊毛制成，自中世纪时代起俄罗斯人们就穿着它来保持脚部温度。“在俄罗斯的首都莫斯科，Valenki正创造着一场潮流的回归，在莫斯科的咖啡馆和夜店里，年轻人以及时尚人士都在穿着这种靴子，”上周纽约时报报道称。
In Siberia, animals are also used for clothing. Ushanka hats, made from fur, with earflaps, are worn throughout Russia. The name derives from the Russian word for “ears”. Valenki boots, made of wool, have kept Russians" feet warm since medieval times. “Valenki are making a stylish comeback in Russia"s capital, with Moscow"s young and fashionable wearing them out in the city"s cafes and nightclubs,” The New York Times reported last week.

对于一些年轻人来讲，保持时尚就意味着不顾严寒。在英国北部，女孩们外出去酒吧时，常常冒着彻骨的严寒，身穿迷你短裙；然后喝一些烈酒，这样她们就不会感到寒冷了。
Staying fashionable means ignoring the frost, for some youngsters. In Northern England, girls wear miniskirts when they go out to bars in the biting cold and drink strong alcohol so they don"t feel the chill.

今年年初，新浪一则报道惊讶于日本年轻女孩的抗寒能力：“在北海道地区的暴风雪天气中，在零下10℃的严寒天气条件下，走在大街上的性感女孩们，仍旧穿着超短裙以及热裤，并且不穿长筒袜。”
A report in Sina.com earlier this year marveled at young Japanese girl"s resistance to the cold: “In Hokkaido"s blizzard, in freezing temperatures over 10 C below zero, hot girls walk the streets still wearing revealing short skirts and hot pants, without stockings.”

但是，当严寒难耐的时候，大多数人会放弃时尚选择保暖。BBC的记者Matthew Price表示，就连时髦的纽约人也穿上了臃肿的夹克衫，包括男士在内的所有人都戴上了防寒耳罩。
However, when it gets too cold, most ditch fashion for warmth. According to BBC reporter Matthew Price, even style-conscious New Yorkers pull on puff jackets and everyone, including the men, don ear-muffs.

玩 Outdoor activities

对于很多人来说，冬季要做的事并不是和寒冷作战，而是去拥抱它。加拿大有着诸多的冬季运动，今年冬季奥运会也将在那里举行。冰上曲棍球是一项全国性的娱乐活动。滑雪，滑板滑雪，狗拉雪橇以及滑冰都是常见的娱乐项目。 For many, winter is not about combating the cold, but embracing it. Winter sports abound in Canada, where the winter Olympics will be held this year. Ice hockey is a national pastime and skiing, snowboarding, dog sledding, and ice skating are common.

在阿拉斯加以及北美的五大湖地区，冬天的室外活动包括冰上钓鱼，打猎，越野滑雪以及雪地摩托。
In Alaska and the great lakes region of north America winter activities include ice fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

严寒也给予人们一些挑战。比如冬泳，这似乎是一项在全球范围内都极具魅力的运动。在冰面上凿开一个洞，为那些“冬泳迷”们开拓出足够的水域来畅游一番。
The chill also offers challenges. Ice swimming, for example, seems to be one with global appeal. A hole is cut in the ice to expose enough water for adrenaline junkies to dive into.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

在俄罗斯，“海象”俱乐部就是由冬泳爱好者组成的。在北美洲，冬泳爱好者被称作“北极熊”。在元旦这天，由纽约市民同康尼岛极地俱乐部的冬泳爱好者共同一展身手；在德国，柏林“海豹俱乐部”的冬泳爱好者们也在结冰湖水中畅游一番。保加利亚人在1月6日主显节（基督教的节日）这一天，在冰水中翩翩起舞。在伦敦，圣诞期间，游泳爱好者们无畏严寒，在九曲湖中畅游。 In Russia, “walrus” clubs perform this function. In North America, the participants are called “polar bears”. On New Year"s day, New Yorker"s join the Coney Island polar plunge and, in Germany, the Berlin “seals” brave their own icy pool. Bulgarians dance in icy water on Epiphany (a Christian festival on January 6). In London, swimmers take the plunge in the Serpentine lake, on Christmas day.

尽管严寒可能打乱了许多计划以及日程安排，但在世界范围内，我们已经看到各式各样冬季带来的欢乐，这也使得人们似乎不再那么抗拒严寒。
It"s true that severe cold can throw plans and schedules into disarray, but around the world we"ve figured out various winter delights that make a deep freeze seem–well, almost welcome.

相关词汇

abound in 富于，盛产
 
brimming with 充满着，洋溢着
 
badger 獾
 
casserole 蒸锅
 
chap 皲裂
 
cold snap 寒流
 
disarray 混乱
 
ditch 抛弃
 
goulash 菜炖牛肉
 
hemisphere 半球
 
hockey 曲棍球
 
inspector 检察员
 
mead 蜂蜜酒
 
medieval 中世纪的
 
mercury 温度表
 
molten 熔铸的
 
mulled 烫热的
 
pastime 消遣，娱乐
 
plummet 骤降
 
plunge 跳进，投入
 
ragout 法式杂烩
 
sanitary 有关卫生的
 
stew 炖菜
 
stave off 阻挡，延缓