雅思课外阅读--绿色好心情 1

The researchers, most of them affiliated with VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, focused on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The first responds to stress by triggering a fight-or-flight reaction, raising heart rates and putting us generally on edge;the second counters those responses,bringing physiological calm. For this study, nearly four dozen university students were outfitted with sensors to monitor electrical activity in the heart and then shown photos on a computer screen. Half the pictures displayed urban spaces full of buildings and parked cars; the rest were green places— but homely ones,like empty pathways flanked by trees, not majestic wilderness.

该研究的研究人员大多来自阿姆斯特丹自由大学医学中心(VU University Medical Center)，他们关注的重点是交感和副交感神经系统。交感神经系统通过激发战斗或逃跑反应、加速心跳和保持身体紧张来应对压力;而副交感神经系统压制这些反应，保持生理上的平静。为了这个研究，他们找到近50名大学生，给他们装上感应器，以监测心电活动，然后让他们观看电脑屏幕上的照片。其中一半的照片展示了全是建筑物和静止汽车的城市空间，另一半是绿色空间，不过大多是常见的场景，比如两侧是绿树的无人小径，而不是壮观的野外景色。

【经典句式】

affiliated with 附属于

nervous system 神经系统

respond to应对

stress压力

trigger激发

fight-or-flight reaction战斗或逃跑反应

heart rate心率

put… on edge让……紧张

counter对抗

response反应

physiological生理的

sensor感应器

monitor监测

electrical activity in the heart心电活动

computer screen电脑屏幕

display显示

urban space城市空间

the rest剩下的

homely平凡的

pathway路

majestic壮观的

wilderness荒野

Having viewed the photos, the students tackled a series of increasingly difficult computerized math problems while an on-screen assessment compared their results with the average performance and, whether accurately or not, showed them to be subpar. This test has proved to be a robust means of raising stress levels. Afterward,the subjects reviewed the pictures, retook the math test, then looked at more photos.

看完照片后，这些学生要在电脑上解答一系列难度逐步加大的数学题，而屏幕上的评估器把他们的答案与平均成绩相比较。结果显示，他们成绩低于平均水平，虽然不确定准确与否。这证明了这项测试能迅速提高压力水平。之后，研究对象们再看照片，再做数学题，然后再看更多照片。

【经典句式】

tackle解决

a series of 一系列的

computerize用计算机处理

math problem数学题

assessment评估

average平均的

performance表现

accurately准确地

robust强健的

means途径

stress level压力水平

subject实验对象

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