考研英語時(shí)文賞讀（61）：測量人眼睛的“殺傷力”

　　摘要：考研英語作為一門考研公共課，雖然大家都學(xué)了英語十幾年，卻仍經(jīng)常有總分過線掛在英語上的情況，因此英語復(fù)習(xí)不單單是單詞、做題。閱讀作為考研英語的大頭，僅僅做考研真題或許沒法滿足你的閱讀量，因此幫幫之后會(huì)不定時(shí)推出一篇英文美文，這些文章都與考研英語閱讀同源，多讀必有好處。

　　A new study suggests that, unconsciously, we actually do believe that looking exerts a slight force on the things being looked at. Karen Hopkin reports.

　　一項(xiàng)新研究表明，在潛意識(shí)上，我們確實(shí)相信我們目光對(duì)所看的事物施加了輕微的力量 —— 凱倫·霍普金報(bào)道。

　　You’re at a party and you suddenly feel someone looking at you. But how can it be possible to feel another person’s glance? I mean, it’s not like people shoot actual beams out of their eyes.

　　在參加派對(duì)時(shí)，你突然覺得有人在看著你。 但是你怎么可能會(huì)感受到另一個(gè)人的目光呢？ 我的意思是，人們并沒有從眼睛里射出實(shí)實(shí)在在的光線。

　　Yet…a new study suggests that, unconsciously, we actually do believe that looking exerts a slight force on the things being looked at. That eye-opening finding appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Arvid Guterstam et al, Implicit model of other people’s visual attention as an invisible, force-carrying beam projecting from the eyes]

　　然而......一項(xiàng)新研究表明，在潛意識(shí)上，我們確實(shí)相信我們目光對(duì)所看的事物施加了輕微的力量。這一令人大開眼界的發(fā)現(xiàn)刊登在《美國國家科學(xué)院院刊》上。 [Arvid Guterstam 等人著，將他人視覺注視當(dāng)作從眼里放射產(chǎn)生隱形不可見力光束的非顯性模型]

　　Vision depends on light entering the eye…a form of ocular intromission, if you will. But kids…even those in college…often express a belief in “extramission”…the idea that the eyes emit a form of invisible energy.

　　視覺的產(chǎn)生依賴于進(jìn)入眼睛的光......如果你愿意的話，這是一種視覺射入眼球的形式。 但是孩子們......甚至那些在大學(xué)里的年輕學(xué)生......往往表示相信眼睛“射出”......這種觀點(diǎn)就是相信眼睛會(huì)發(fā)射出一種肉眼不可見的能量。

　　To probe this perception, researchers at Princeton asked volunteers to look at a computer screen and gauge the angle at which a cardboard tube…shown being slowly tilted on its side… would finally topple over. Now, in some of the tests, they included an image of a young man watching the tube as it tilted toward him.

　　為了探究這種看法，普林斯頓大學(xué)的研究人員要求志愿者們看一下電腦屏幕并測量硬紙管擺放的一個(gè)角度，在該角度下，電腦顯示其側(cè)面緩慢傾斜最終會(huì)翻倒。 現(xiàn)在，在一些測試中，他們收集了一個(gè)年輕人看著管面向向他傾斜的圖像資料。

　　What the researchers found is that, when there was someone staring at the tube, subjects thought that the tube could tilt a little further before it toppled toward the fella looking at it. Which means that, unconsciously, the volunteers must have imagined that the guy’s gaze exerted a slight force on the tube, keeping it from falling.

　　研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)受試者盯著硬紙管時(shí)，受試者認(rèn)為管子可能會(huì)先稍微向反方向傾斜，然后才會(huì)向面對(duì)受試者的方向傾倒。 這意味著，在潛意識(shí)中，志愿者肯定預(yù)先認(rèn)為受試者目光在管上施加了輕微的力，防止它掉下來。

　　But this force was not strong. When the researchers replaced the cardboard tube with a brick, the subjects felt that the Jedi eyebeams wouldn’t support the added weight…they said the brick would fall at the same angle, whether or not there was someone there to watch it.

　　但這種力量不強(qiáng)。 當(dāng)研究人員用磚塊替換硬紙管時(shí)，受試者覺得神奇的眼睛發(fā)出的光束不能抵抗增加的重量......受試者說無論是否有人在那里注視它，磚塊都會(huì)以相同的角度落下。

　　Interestingly, when the participants were explicitly asked about eyeball extramission, only 5 percent of them fessed up to believing in some sort of force being exerted by the eyes. But deep down, it looks like many of us put stock in the awesome power of the staredown. Just don’t depend on it if something weighty is about to fall your way.

　　有趣的是，當(dāng)受試者者被明確詢問眼球是否外射出力量時(shí)，只有5％的人認(rèn)為眼睛會(huì)施加某種力量。 但在內(nèi)心深處，似乎我們中的許多人都堅(jiān)信雙眼注視某物時(shí)會(huì)產(chǎn)生強(qiáng)大的力量。但是一些重量級(jí)的東西向你墜落時(shí)，你可不能依賴這種力量。

　?。ㄈ墓?80個(gè)詞，科學(xué)美國人）

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