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在美国及各州、市、县对饮酒都制定了相关的法律。顾客要饮酒必须达到法定的年龄，一般规定在18至21岁以上。顾客进酒吧时，常需接受保安人员对其年龄进行核实。此时，只需出示自己的驾照或其他有效证件即可，因为这些证件上注有持证人的出生日期。
Alcohol(含酒精的饮料)andthelaw
ItisdifficulttogiveadescriptionofAmericanlaws
concerningalcoholbecausetheyvaryfromstatetostateand
citytocity.Thefollowing,though,maybenoted.
Sometowns,evenstatearetotallyissoldatallexcept
thattheyallowthesaleofveryweak(3.2percentalcohol)
beer,knownas“three-two”beer.Someplacesdonotallowthe
saleofalcoholonSundays,eveninshops—youmayfindabar
lockedoverthealcoholshelves.Youcanseeitbutnotbuy
it!OtherplacespermitalcoholtobesoldonSunday
afternoonsandevenings,butnotonSundaymornings.(Note
thatthismeanssaleshavetostopatmidnightonSaturday.)
InmanypartsofAmerica,youarenotallowedtodrink
alcoholinapublicplace.Thatis,youmaynotsitinaparkor
walkalongastreetdrinkingbeer,andyoucannoteventakea
nicebottleofwineonyourpicnic.Insomeplaces,peoplecan
beseentakingdrinksinpublicplacesfromcanswrappedin
brown-paperbags.ThesearenotcansofCoca-Cola.Andinmany
statesyouarenotallowedtodrinkalcoholwhiledriving,or
evenhaveanopenedalcoholcontainerinthecar.Somebars
havealicense(执照)onlyforbeerandwine.Othersarealso
allowedtosellspirits(烈*酒)andthus,asAmericanssay,
“mixeddrinks”.
Manybarshaveaperiodknownas“happyhour”,often
longerthananhour,whentheyselldrinksatlower-than-usual
prices.Thisisusuallyaround5p.m.andmaybeonlyon
certaindaysoftheweek.
TheLegalDrinkingAge
Legaldrinkingagevariesfromplacetoplacebutis
generallybetween18to21.Someplacespermitthe
consumption(消费)ofbeerat18butspiritsonlyat21.Others
permittheconsumptiononlyof“three-two”beerfrom18to21.
(Youngpeoplethereforeoftendrivefromoneplacetoanother
withmoreliberaldrinkinglaws.)Inanycase,insomeparts
oftheUSAyoungpeopleareallowedtovote,marry,raose
children,keepfull-timejobs,betriedincourtsasadults,
jointhearmyandevenbuyguns—butNOThaveaglassofbeer.
Insomeplacespeopleagedbetween18to21areallowedtogo
intobarsbutnotallowedtodrink.
AnotherevenmoreinterestingaspectofAmerican
drinking-agelawsisthatinsomeplacespeoplebelowlegal
drinkingagearenotevenallowedtosellalcohol.
ProvidingProofofYourAge
Inmostplacesthesedrinkinglawsarefairlyrigidly
enforced(严格地实施).Youmay,forexample,findpeopleliningup
togetintoabaranddiscoverthatthequeueiscausedbya
guardonthedoorwhoisaskingeverybodyforID(身份证).Ifyou
askhimwhyhewantstoknowwhoyouare,hewillinformyou
thatheactuallywantsconfirmation(确认)ofhowoldyouare.On
suchoccasionsAmericansoftenshowtheirdrivinglicenses,
whichhavetheirdateofbirthwrittenonthem.
美国的酒大致可分为啤酒、鸡尾酒、威士忌和葡萄酒。啤酒有淡啤酒和浓啤酒之别；包装采用瓶装、听装和壶装。鸡尾酒和“混合饮料”含有很浓的酒精成分，饮用方式一般有加冰和不加冰两种，其配制方式各种各样。威士忌也是一种烈*酒，而且呈油状，分为黑麦威士忌和苏格兰威士忌。葡萄酒分为红、白两种，但值得注意的是：标有“Chablis”商标的葡萄酒并非法国所产的无甜味的白葡萄酒，而是美国加利弗尼亚州生产的白葡萄酒，该酒在美国享有盛誉。
Beer
Americanbeer,withveryfewexceptions,variesfromthe
mediocre(普通的)totheterrible.Therearenotmanytypesof
beerintheUS—“light”and“dark”aretwotermscommonlyused.
Itisthereforenormaltoorderbeersimplybybrandname.
Inarestaurant,infact,itisquiteallrighttoorder“a
beer”,andtheywilltellyouwhattheyhave.
Itisnotnecessary,either,tospecifyquantitywhen
orderingbeer.Ifitcomesinbottlesorcans,youwillgeta
bottleorcan,andifit’s“ontap”(可以随时取用的)youwillgeta
glass,unlessyouordera“pitcher”(有嘴和柄的大酒罐i.e.ajug).
Thelatterisveryconvenientthingtodo,sinceyoucanthen
takethejugandglassestoyourtableandkeepfillingup
withoutgoingbacktothebar.(Itisharder,however,toknow
howmuchyouhavedrunk.)
Somebeercomesinbottleswithtopsthatlookasifthey
needanopener,butyoucan,infact,screw(拧开)themoffby
hand—thoughyouhavetobeverycarefulnottohurtyourself.
Itispossible,insomestoresandbars,tofindawide
selectionofbeerfromallovertheworld,especiallyWestern
EuropeandAustralia,anditisgoodfuntoexperimentwith
these.
Cocktails
Cocktailsand“mixeddrinks”aremuchmorepopularand
ratherstrongerintheUSAthaninEurope,andvisitorsmay
notbefamiliarwithsomeoftheterminology(术语).“Onthe
rocks”,asyouprobablyknow,meanswithice,while“straight
up”or“up”meansneatandwithoutice.
Therearehundredsofdifferentcocktails,andthereisno
spaceheretolistallthedifferentnames.
TheHardStuff
InAmerica“whiskey”means
bourbon(一种烈*威士忌酒，最初为美国肯塔基州Bourbon地区所产)unlessotherwise
indicated.Bourbonisaratheroilyspiritmadefrom
maize(玉米).Rye(黑麦威士忌酒)whiskeyiscalled“rye”andScotch
whiskey“Scotch”.
Wine
Inbarswinecanoftenbeboughtbytheglass.Don’tbe
misledbynamessuchas“Chablis”isusedtorefertowhite
wine,and“Burgundy”tored—Americansseemnevertohaveheard
ofwhiteBurgundy.