礼节美语 Business Etiquette 263 Anti-smoking campaigns 1

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　　Marissa: I hate walking into our building in the morning! - All the smokers¹ stand around the building's entrance puffing² away....I can't take it! Sorry....I'm just a little bit worked up.

　　Hank: That's okay. I understand. A lot of people really hate smoke.

　　M: I'm glad they banned smoking³ inside the office, but I wish I didn't have to smell it while walking on the street. It makes me feel nauseous. I simply can't understand why a person would want to smoke.

　　H: well....I used to smoke. I quit about 20 years ago.

　　M: Yeah...I would assume⁴ at this point in history - especially given what we know about the dangers of smoking - most people would have quit already!

　　Marissa 说，每天早上来上班，大楼门口都有很多烟民在 puffing away 吞云吐雾，she can't take it. 实在让她受不了，烟味让她觉得反胃 nauseous, nauseous is spelled n-a-u-s-e-o-u-s, nauseous 意思是恶心，反胃。她觉得，现在吸烟的危害已经众所周知，怎么还会有人吸烟，真是让人匪夷所思。Hank 20年前也抽烟，我们看看他是怎么说的。

　　H: You know the saying, "old habits die hard." I think I would add that bad habits die even harder. You know, you could always move to Bhutan.

　　M: Bhutan? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

　　H: It's a small kingdom located⁵ in the Himalayan Mountains....near Nepal. In 2004, Bhutan banned tobacco⁶ altogether.

　　M: Cool! Did it work? If I go to Bhutan will I never smell cigarette smoke?

　　H: Actuall....no. I read a recent report that said there's a lot of loopholes in the law....and if you go to restaurants and bars you'll still see lots of people lighting⁷ up.

　　M: (Sighs) So I guess I'm just have to learn to put up with it.

　　俗话说得好，old habits die hard. 积习难改。Hank 觉得，坏习惯更难改。他开玩笑，建议 Marissa 搬到 Bhutan不丹去，因为不丹2004年就全面禁止烟草了。不过，这项法律其实还是有很多可以钻的空子，loopholes, 所以，在不丹的餐馆和酒吧里，还是能看到很多人 light up 点烟抽。

　　H: Things are changing, however. Smoking rates are dropping all around the world. Just the other day there was a newspaper report that said New Zealand is raising prices on a pack of cigarettes to US$15 by the year 2016!

　　M: US$15!? Wow!  That's really expensive. But is there any proof⁸ that high prices are a deterrent⁹?

　　H: There have been quite a few studies that show that every time a country raises cigarette taxes and prices, a certain percentage of smokers quit.

　　不过，情况也在逐渐向好的方向转变， Smoking rates are dropping all around the world. 世界各地的吸烟人口比例都在下降。Hank 看到一篇报道说，新西兰2016年之前，要把一包香烟的价格提高到15美元的天价。Mimi 问，有证据证明涨价能起到抑制作用吗？ Deterrent is spelled d-e-t-e-r-r-e-n-t, deterrent 意思是起到阻止和威慑效果的因素。Hank 说，有不少研究都发现，一个国家每一次给香烟涨价或是提高税率，都会有一部分烟民戒烟。

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