早點 | BBC:研究發現植物能為人減壓

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走彎路

「走彎路」，中文俗語，字面意思是沒走正確的路而耽誤進程(take a roundabout route)，比喻在實踐中由於犯錯誤而受挫折。可以翻譯為「take a wrong path；make a detour」。

例句：

少走彎路
avoid making detours

由於缺少經驗，我們工作中走了一些彎路。
Owing to lack of experience we took a roundabout course in our work.

「Courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior, and I believe – because I've done a little of this myself – pretending to be courageous is just as good as the real thing.」

— David Letterman, Talk Show Host

「勇氣，你應該知道，定義人類所有的行為，而我相信– 因為我自己也嘗試了一點– 假裝勇敢和真的勇敢效果一樣。」

– 大衛·賴特曼(脫口秀主持人)

大衛·賴特曼(1947－) 是美國脫口秀主持人、喜劇演員、電視節目製作人，擔任深夜電視脫口秀節目(Late Night/Show with David Letterman) 主持人33 年之久，1996 年被美國TV Guide 評為排名第45 的電視明星。

研究表明，在光禿禿的前花園種上幾株植物可以幫助減輕人們的壓力，讓人們感覺更快樂。Plants reduce stress, study finds研究發現植物能為人減壓Scientists gave 38 households in an economically deprived part of Salford in the north of England a tree, a shrub, and some other flowering plants. More than half said the plants made them feel happier. But the scientists also measured cortisol levels in their saliva, which indicate how stressed they are.科學家們給位於英格蘭北部索爾福德一個經濟貧困地區的 38 個家庭提供了一棵樹、一個灌木和其它一些開花植物。超過一半的人說這些植物讓他們感覺更快樂。與此同時，科學家們也測量了他們唾液中的皮質醇水平，皮質醇水平可以表明他們的壓力有多大。Before the experiment, only a quarter of those involved had healthy cortisol levels. Afterwards, half did so. Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui from the Royal Horticultural Society is the lead author of the study. She says it has major implications for public policy.在進行實驗之前，只有四分之一參與者的皮質醇水平處於正常水平。但後來，有一半人的皮質醇水平處於正常水平。來自皇家園藝學會的勞莉雅娜·蘇因·查明-普伊（Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui）是這項研究的第一作者。她說，這項研究對公共政策有重大影響。The research has also found that the effects of the plants on people’s perceptions of stress were similar to a previous study in which participants were given mindfulness and meditation sessions once a week for eight weeks.研究還發現，這些植物對人們對壓力感知的影響與之前的一項研究相似。在那項研究中，參與者每周參加一次正念和冥想的課程，持續八周。詞彙表deprived 貧困的
shrub 灌木
flowering 開花的
plants 植物
cortisol levels 皮質醇水平
stressed 緊張的，感到有壓力的
public policy 公共政策
perceptions 感知，認識
mindfulness 正念
meditation 冥想閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。1. How does the reporter describe the area of Salford where the participants in this survey lived?2. What proportion of people who took part in the study found plants made them happier?3. What can scientists find out from the amount of cortisol in someone’s saliva?4. What two practices does the report say were found to affect people’s perceptions of stress in the same way as caring for plants?答案1. How does the reporter describe the area of Salford where the participants in this survey lived?
It was described as an economically deprived.2. What proportion of people who took part in the study found plants made them happier?
More than half of the people said the plants made them feel happier.3. What can scientists find out from the amount of cortisol in someone’s saliva?
Scientists can find out how stressed people are.4. What two practices does the report say were found to affect people’s perceptions of stress in the same way as caring for plants?
The effects of plants on people’s perceptions of stress was similar to a previous study in which participants were given mindfulness and meditation sessions once a week for eight weeks.

7個你可能恐懼親密關係的跡象

區別辨析fade與wither

fade與wither這兩個動詞都有「凋謝」之意。

fade : 側重指漸漸失去色彩和光澤。

If you hang your clothes out in the bright sun, they will fade.
衣服掛在光線強的地方晾曬會褪色。

My suntan is already fading.
我曬黑的膚色已經開始變淺了。

They arrived home just as the light was fading (= as it was getting dark).
天色變暗時，他們到家了。

The sun had faded the blue walls.
太陽把藍色的牆曬褪了色。

wither : 指因無活力而喪失生命力。

once in a blue moon 千載難逢once就是一次，blue moon翻成中文就是「藍色的月亮」。once in a blue moon是一個習慣用語，意思是很少發生的事， 也就是中國人所說的「千載難逢」。下面我們來看一個例句。這是一個人在說他和他家人的關係。他能經常見到他家裡的任何人，就是不能經常見到他姐姐。為什麼呢？We all live fairly close to each other, so I get to see everyone quite regularly - everyone except for my older sister Rachel. She moved out to San Bernardino, which is miles away, so we only see each other once in a blue moon.
我的家人都住得比較近， 所以我能和每個人經常見面，我是說除了我大姐Rachel以外的每個人 。我大姐Rachel搬到了San Bernardino去了。那裡離我們很遠，所以我們很少見面。家裡的人住得很近，能夠經常能見面是很幸運的。有不少美國家庭的成員分散在各地，往往要等到感恩節或聖誕節才能合家團圓。once in a blue moon這個習慣用語是在19世紀初開始出現的，可是到現在人們還在普遍使用。許多人知道once in a blue moon這個習慣用語的意思，可是卻不知道它跟天文學之間的關係。原來blue moon指的是在一個月裡出現第二次全月。這種現象是很少發生的，每隔32個月才出現一次，所以美國人用once in a blue moon來形容很少發生的事情。我們再來舉一個例子。美國的房租是很高的。租金越高，房客對居住的條件，對房主提供的服務也期望更高。下面是一個人在抱怨他的房東沒有把他住的公寓大樓保持在一定的水平。I think that for the price we pay, the landlord should do a better job of maintaining the building. But he never does anything other than having the hallway carpets cleaned once in a blue moon. It's just not good enough.
我們付了這麼多房租， 房東本應更好地保持這房子應有的條件才對。可是他只是難得清洗一次樓道的地毯。除此之外，他什麼也不做。這是遠遠不夠的。在美國通常有兩種房東。一種是房地產公司，還有一種是私人房主。不管是從公司還是向私人租房子，雙方都要籤合同， 其中包括房東應盡的責任。國際：BBC，VOA，CNN，科學美國人，讀者文摘，時代周刊，紐約時報、商業周刊等網絡視聽讀資源。國內：chinadaily.com.cn，hjenglish.com，kekenet.com，enfamily.cn，okread.info，dailyenglishquote.com，qq.com，163.com，...僅供學習交流參考，未用作商業用途。如對本公眾號發布的文章存有異議，歡迎留言告知，編輯將在24小時內回復處理。