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  • Sam: Hello. This is 6 Minute English

  • from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam...

  • Rob: And I'm Rob.

  • Sam: So we're well into 2020 now -

  • how are your New Year's resolutions

  • going, Rob?

  • Rob: Ah resolutions - you mean

  • promises people make to themselves

  • to stop or start doing

  • something - I promised to start

  • running, and to stop eating biscuits

  • and to give up alcohol

  • for a month. But I failed on all of them!

  • Sam: Oh dear...

  • Rob: Yes, I lasted a few days and then

  • I started to crumble.

  • Sam: Yeah. Well, you're not alone.

  • Many people try to kick bad habits

  • and get healthy when

  • a new year begins. Their intentions - their

  • plans to do something - are good.

  • Rob: Yes, giving up drinking is particularly

  • good to do, if only for the health benefits.

  • Sam: Well, we'll be talking more

  • about that as soon as I've set up

  • today's question. According

  • to historians, which people were thought

  • to be the first group to make New Year's

  • resolutions?

  • Was it the... a) Romans,

  • b) Native Americans or c) Babylonians.

  • Rob: I haven't got a clue, so I'm going

  • to guess a) the Romans.

  • Sam: OK, Rob, I'll let you know if that

  • was a good guess at the end

  • of the programme.

  • Now let's talk more about giving things up

  • for New Year and, specifically,

  • giving up alcohol.

  • Rob: It's a time often called 'Dry January'

  • - dry refers to not drinking alcohol, it's

  • not about the weather!

  • And the beginning of the year seems

  • like a good time to start doing

  • something to improve your health.

  • Sam: But it's easy to give in

  • to temptation - isn't it, Rob?

  • Rob: Oh yes. And it's tough to give up

  • drinking in the first place,

  • as Millie Gooch, founder

  • of The Sober Girl Society knows.

  • She spoke to BBC Radio 4's You and

  • Yours programme and

  • explained why it was hard

  • to quit in the first place...

  • Millie Gooch: I think it's the peer pressure

  • and, you know, it's so expected of us, it's

  • so ingrained in us. Alcohol is everywhere

  • and it's not just alcohol itself, it's alcohol

  • merchandise, so, you know, you've got

  • Christmas jumpers that have been

  • say 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho'

  • and you can't buy a birthday card without

  • saying 'let the fun be-gin'.

  • It's just absolutely

  • everywhere, it's so hard to avoid.

  • Sam: So that's Millie, who's right when she

  • says that, in the UK at least,

  • we sometimes drink because

  • we give in to peer pressure. That's the

  • influence a group of similar people

  • have on you to behave like them.

  • Rob: We want to be part of the group so

  • we copy what they do - and

  • we are expected to do so because,

  • as Millie said, drinking alcohol

  • is ingrained in us - well in

  • some cultures anyway.

  • Sam: And when an attitude is ingrained it

  • means it's been that way

  • for a long time - it's difficult

  • to change. And although it may be

  • harmful, we see jokes

  • about drinking through

  • things like merchandise - a word

  • for goods we buy and sell.

  • Rob: And Millie goes on to say we can

  • buy jumpers that joke about

  • the Italian sparkling wine called

  • Prosecco - which say 'Prosecco-ho-ho-ho!'

  • And birthday cards have the message 'let

  • the fun be-gin' -- a play on the word 'begin'.

  • Sam: With all this social pressure, it's hard

  • not to give in - and that's even

  • worse when you're trying

  • to fulfil your resolution not to drink.

  • Rob: For Millie, enough was enough

  • when drinking started to have

  • a negative effect and she had

  • to do something about it.

  • Let's hear from her again.

  • Millie Gooch: I started realising that

  • alcohol was really affecting

  • my mental health, so

  • I was getting that really bad hangover

  • anxiety - that like, hangover fear

  • and dread - and

  • I kind of noticed that was permeating

  • everyday life. I was a binge drinker

  • rather than like

  • an everyday drinker. So I just decided

  • that it wasn't suiting my life any more

  • and I wanted

  • to give it up.

  • Rob: So Millie there described the

  • negative effects of a hangover - that's

  • the sick and tired feeling

  • you get after drinking too much

  • alcohol. She also said she

  • felt anxiety. And this feeling was

  • permeating her everyday life. When

  • something permeates it spreads through

  • something and influences every part of it.

  • Sam: So, drinking was affecting her

  • everyday life, and it didn't help

  • that she was a binge drinker.

  • When you binge you do something

  • occasionally but to extreme.

  • Rob: Well, Millie managed to quit drinking

  • and hasn't touched a drop since.

  • There are many benefits

  • to remaining sober - that means

  • not being drunk. And one of them

  • is hearing

  • the answer to today's question!

  • Sam: Earlier I asked you:

  • According to historians,

  • which people were thought to be the first

  • group to make New Year's resolutions?

  • Was it the...

  • a) Romans, b) Native Americans or

  • c) Babylonians.

  • And Rob, what did you say?

  • Rob: I had a wild guess and said

  • it was the Romans.

  • Sam: Sorry, Rob, you are wrong.

  • Many historians think it was the

  • Babylonians who made the

  • first ever New Year's resolutions, about

  • 4,000 years ago. According to the

  • history.com website,

  • at New Year - which they celebrated in

  • mid-March - Babylonians made

  • promises to the gods to

  • pay their debts and return any objects

  • they had borrowed.

  • Rob: I wonder if they managed to keep

  • their resolutions for longer

  • than I did... Anyway,

  • let's keep one of our regular promises -

  • to recap the vocabulary we've

  • discussed today.

  • Starting with resolution....

  • Sam: ...which in the context of

  • a New Year's resolution, is a promise

  • to yourself to stop

  • or start doing something.

  • Rob: Peer pressure is the influence

  • a group of similar people have

  • on you to behave like them.

  • Sam: Ingrained describes an attitude or

  • idea that has been done in

  • a certain way for a

  • long time and is difficult to change.

  • And merchandise is a word for goods

  • we buy and sell.

  • Rob: We also mentioned a hangover -

  • that's the sick, tired and

  • sometimes anxious feeling

  • you get after drinking too much alcohol.

  • And permeating describes spreading

  • through something

  • and influencing every part of it. Like the

  • vocabulary in this programme, Sam!

  • Sam: Thanks, Rob - and that's all for now.

  • Rob: Bye bye!

Sam: Hello. This is 6 Minute English

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