How often have you longed to have time to just sit quietly and think? Well, be careful what you wish for. Because a study shows that many people find such interludes incredibly unpleasant. So uncomfortable, in fact, that they would rather zap themselves with electricity than be left alone with their thoughts. The shocking results appear in the journal Science. [Timothy D. Wilson et al, Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind]
你經常渴望可以有時間靜靜的坐著想事情嗎?那樣的話,你得小心你會有這樣的盼望了。因為一項研究表明,很多人發現這樣靜靜的思考間歇時間段讓人感覺非常的不愉快。實際上,讓人感覺很不舒服,他們寧願用電流電擊自己,也不願意獨自在那思考。這令人震驚的研究結果被發表在《科學》雜誌上。
In the experiment, participants were asked to sit alone in a room for up to 15 minutes…with no cell phone, no reading material, no music—so, nothing to entertain them, save their own rambling thoughts. Afterward, most subjects reported that they found it difficult to concentrate and that they did not enjoy the experience. You can find more 60-Second Science onchinavoa.com.
在該研究的試驗中,參與者被要求單獨坐在一個房間15分鐘……沒有手機,沒有任何閱讀材料,也沒有音樂——除了他們自己散漫的思想,沒有其他什麼東西可以拿來消遣時間。後來,大多數的受試者報告稱,他們發現自己很難集中注意力,而且他們並不享受這樣的獨處經歷。
Then, to assess just how much subjects disliked doing nothing, the researchers repeated the experiment. Only this time they gave volunteers the added option of occasionally giving themselves a mild electric jolt. Two thirds of the men in the study—and one quarter of the women—chose to take advantage of the shock option at least once during their time out.
然後,僅僅為了評估多少人不喜歡在那呆著什麼都不做,研究人員又再一次進行了該試驗。只是在這次的試驗中,研究人員給了志願者們額外的選擇,偶爾會給他們一個輕微的震顫電擊。該研究中,在這段試驗時間裡,三分之二的男性和四分之一的女性至少選擇利用過一次電擊。
The results suggest that if there’s anything worse than losing your mind, it’s getting caught alone with it.
—Karen Hopkin
研究結果表明,如果有什麼比讓你失去思想理智更難以承受,那就是獨自陷於自己的思想理智之中。—凱倫·霍普金
🎁中英文稿:
Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence have focused on various signs of life. And one signature of alien intelligence may be, cough, cough, air pollution.
尋找外星人要專注於各種生命的跡象,而且外星人的一個鮮明標誌可能是,他們因為大氣污染而產生的咳嗽。
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, due to launch in 2018, should be powerful enough to detect chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs. These ozone-destroying chemicals are used in aerosol sprays on Earth. Maybe another planet's denizens also employ them. You can find more 60-Second Space onchinavoa.com.
美國宇航局的詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡降於2018年發射,應該強大到能夠檢測含氯氟烴(CFCs)。這些破壞臭氧層的化學物質在地球上被用做噴霧劑。也許另一個星球的居民也使用它們。
A new analysis of this idea notes that aliens would have to be heavy users. The Webb scope could only detect the chemicals if they were 10 times more prevalent than here on Earth. And even then, the planet would have to orbit a special kind of star, a white dwarf, for the CFCs to show up. White dwarfs—the ultimate destiny of stars like the sun—maximize the pollution signal.
關於這種想法的一項新的研究指出,外星人會是這種化學物質的重度使用者。如果他們對該物質的普遍使用量比地球上多10倍, 韋伯望遠鏡就可以檢測到該物質。即使如此,為了讓氯氟烴出現,該行星還必須圍繞一顆特殊的恆星進行軌道運行,即白矮星。白矮星——它是像太陽這樣的恆星的最終命運,會最大化的加大污染信號。
The study is in the Astrophysical Journal. [Henry W. Lin, Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad and Abraham Loeb, Detecting industrial pollution in the atmospheres of Earth-like exoplanets]
該研究被發表在《天體物理學》雜誌上。
2015年12月12日,托福考試閱讀三篇文章分別是:
1. Comparing the Intelligence of Different Animal Species
(比較不同動物物種的智商)
2. Birds and Food Shortage(鳥類和食物短缺)
3. Changes of the Early Modern European States
(早期現代歐洲國家的變化)。
從題材看,回歸經典的生物和人文社科類文章。這些話題內容都比較常見,第一篇動物智商相關文章,在2015-10-31的The Brain Size of Bottlenose Dolphins就曾考過,鳥類的文章更是比比皆是,但在具體考查內容和考法上,各篇文章又有所偏向,不能同一而論。今天,就第一篇文章做重點點評,幫助考生把握學術文章的行文框架,增加閱讀的方向感,同時搭建動物智商類文章的學術背景知識和相關英文表達。
學術論文-標準結構
托福,作為一門對學術內容的語言考查,具有非常標準的行文結構。第一篇文章Comparing the Intelligence of Different Animal Species,採用「前錯後駁」型論文結構,即前文豎起一個錯誤觀點/樹靶,後文進行批駁,該結構是「前錯後對」型文章結構的一部分,但由於字數限制,沒能對後文的正確觀點進行闡發,只停留在駁斥階段便結束了。此類文章,開頭部分需對錯誤觀點引入,常用的英文表達有:According to traditional/conventional view, It has long been accepted that…,earlier belief, long-held view,at one time。這裡尤其要注意「at onetime」,表示「曾經一度」,用於引出先前的錯誤觀點」,而非「在一次」這樣的表面翻譯。例如,今天第一篇文章Comparing the Intelligence of Different Animal Species,首段就利用「at one time」引出人們先前用於比較動物智商的錯誤理論和方法。