A woman lights a cigarette, as she poses for the photographer outside a pub, in London on September 24, 2008.

Promised yourself to quit smoking in the new year, but just can't stop lighting¹ up? You're not alone, with an Australian survey showing that only 3 percent of smokers² who made such resolutions stuck with them.

An online poll of just over 1,000 people, conducted ahead of the launch of a video game designed to help smokers quit, showed one in four Australians made New Year's resolutions to quit -- but more than half went back on their word within a week.

Some 15 percent lit up within hours of making the pledge, the survey showed.

The research revealed that seven out of ten smokers have tried to kick the habit at some point.

"Our research shows that the majority of smokers in Australia want to quit but are struggling to stick to their resolution. For most people, the desire to stop smoking is not enough," Edward Fong, general manager of Ubisoft, the videogame manufacturer selling the anti-smoking software, said in a statement.

According to the survey, Australian smokers light up an average of 13.8 cigarettes every day or 5,037 cigarettes a year.

There are currently 2.63 million smokers in Australia, which equates³ to 16 percent of the population over the age of 18, with women on average making more attempts to quit than men.

The World Health Organization says smoking kills about 4 million people each year, causing a quarter of deaths related to heart disease.

The organization estimates that by 2030, more than 8 million people will die from tobacco-related causes each year, mainly in developing countries.

发誓在新的一年里一定要戒烟，却又忍不住点燃一支？你不是个例外。澳大利亚的一项调查显示，在新年决心中表示要戒烟的人中，仅有3%的人正在坚持。

这项调查在发布一款帮助烟民戒烟的电子游戏之前进行，共有一千多人参加。调查显示：四分之一的澳大利亚人决心在新的一年中戒烟，但超过半数的人不到一周就挺不住了。

调查显示，约15%的受访者立誓戒烟还不到几个小时，就又开始吞云吐雾了。

调查表明，70%的烟民曾尝试过戒烟。

将推出戒烟游戏软件的育碧公司的总经理Edward Fong声称：“我们的调查结果显示，澳大利亚的大多数烟民都想戒烟，但很难坚持下来。对于大部分人来说，戒烟的愿望还不够迫切。”

调查显示，澳大利亚烟民平均每人每天吸13.8根香烟，合每人每年吸5037根。

目前澳大利亚共有263万烟民，相当于18岁以上成年人的16%，女性烟民试图戒烟的次数要多于男性。

世界卫生组织称，全球每年有400万人死于吸烟引发的疾病， 其中四分之一死于心脏病。

据世界卫生组织估计，截至2030年，全球每年将有超过800万人死于吸烟引发的疾病，且主要集中在发展中国家。

Vocabulary:

go back on one's word:食言；违背诺言