bart:: there's a new resurgence in binge drinking (聚众饮酒作乐）among american college students.

lisa: yes, i've head about it. so what?.

bart: unfortunately, college women are gaining ground on （追上，接近，逼近...) men for the title of campus drunk.(校园酒鬼的称号）

lisa: really? drinking among college students has been going on for decades. why are women drinking more now?

bart: i don't know, but the percentage of college women drinking to get drunk has more than tripled over the past 15 years, says a new report from columbia university.

lisa: i guess that's really not that surprising. women are beginning to assert themselves more in every aspect of society.

bart: i know a lot of people are shrugging this off （对某事听之任知，不予重视）as just a teenage rite of passage, but it's more serious than that. i read in usa today that alcohol is involved in 90% of all rapes, 80% of all vandalism （蓄意破坏公物或他人私有财产的行经）cases, 40% of all academic problems and 28% of all dropout （辍学）problems.

lisa: i have to admit, that is shocking! i never realized that booze （酒，痛饮）was so connected with crime.

bart: what's even worse is that as many as 360,000 of today's undergraduates ultimately will die from alcohol-related causes - more than will get advanced degrees.

lisa: that's downright （彻底地，十分地））depressing. i'll bet that fraternities （大学男生联谊会）and sororities （大学女生联谊会）have a lot to do with that.

bart: you're right. students in frats （fraternities 的缩写）report drinking three times as much as the average student. also studies show that 25% of freshmen admit to binge drinking in comparison to 20% of seniors.

lisa: aren't there any campuses that are trying to do anything about this problem?

bart: yes, as a matter of fact, the university of maryland found that 30% of its students actually preferred alcohol-free social events. officials offered cash awards fro groups sponsoring the best alcohol-free party. hey, would you like something to drink.

lisa: yeah, just as long as it's doesn't have any alcohol, sugar or caffeine in it!