英语音频杂志：危险：小鸟池

 　　Danger: Bird Bath!

　　

　　by Andy Baxter

　　We all know that chainsaws are very dangerous. In Britain, 1207 people had to visit hospitals after accidents with chainsaws in 1999. However, in the same year, 16,662 people, more than twelve times as many, were injured by their sofa!

　　In June 2001, the New Scientist reported that “its favourite government report” had been published by Britain's Department of Trade and Industry . This was the annual Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System report for 1999. The report looks at what people said had made them go to accident departments in certain British hospitals. It then uses these figures to estimate causes of accidents over the whole country.

　　Some of the most harmless things prove to be extremely dangerous:

　　Clothes: the Times (07 June 2001) reported that there were 5945 trouser accidents (compared with only 5,137 the previous year). Socks and tights caused 10,773 accidents. Most of these accidents were people falling over because they were getting dressed too fast, and many other people fell over clothes left on the floor (you see, your mother was right when she told you to tidy up your bedroom!)

　　Meanwhile, the garden also took its revenge. Tree trunks caused 1,810 accidents, and bird baths went on the rampage, attacking 311 people - up from 117 victims in 1998. But the biggest danger was your wellington boots: 5,615 accidents.

　　In films, people always hide from danger in the bathroom, but that’s a dangerous option in real life. Toilet-roll holders¹ alone accounted for 329 victims, while 787 people had to confront their sponge or loofah, and there were 73 talcum powder victims. But beware the clothes basket, which claimed 3,421 victims nationwide.

　　But it was in the kitchen that most people got injured. Tea cosies² – woollen covers for tea pots to keep the tea hot – caused 37 injuries, compared with 20 the previous year; while placemat accidents were up from 157 to 165. Vegetables caused 13,132 incidents, while 91 accidents were caused by bread bins³.

　　The deadly nature of these common household objects becomes clearer when you compare it with items people normally think are dangerous. Only 329 injuries were caused by meat cleavers⁴, and only 439 caused by rat or mouse poison.

　　How can we explain all these horrors hiding in our homes? Perhaps the figures are explained by the fact that most of the injured people were children under five. And we all know that young children on wobbly legs will go to places and insert their fingers in places that even Lara Croft would have thought twice about risking…

1 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

2 cosies   

n.温暖舒适的( cosy的名词复数 )；亲切友好的

参考例句：

• Because of their genteel, civilized settings and characters, these stories are also known as \"cosies\" 由于这类小说的上层社会、文明的背景和角色，它们也被称为“舒适推理小说” 来自互联网

3 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

4 cleavers   

n.猪殃殃（其茎、实均有钩刺）；砍肉刀，剁肉刀( cleaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These monsters would not lay down their cleavers even when on the brink of their own destruction. 这些魔鬼临死也不会放下屠刀。 来自《简明英汉词典》