傳統的觀點認為女性的直覺能力比男性強， 但英國最新的一項研究結果卻否認了這一觀點。

　　Psychologists who tested the abilities of more than 15,000 people to identify the sincerity or otherwise of different smiles have concluded that female intuition is a myth.

　　為了保證研究結果更具信服力，心理學家對15000人的不同的笑進行研究。研究結果表明女性的直覺是個迷。

　　Shown a series of pairs of images of individuals displaying real and fake smiles, men marginally outperformed women. When it came to judging genuine and false expressions of happiness in the opposite sex, male participants did significantly better than females.

　　研究對象看完一系列不同人的真實和虛假微笑的對比照片，男性對真假的識別略勝過女性。當開始判斷異性真實和虛假的幸福表情時，男性參與者表現明顯好于女性。

　　Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, said:

　　作為心理學家，赫特福德大學的教授理查德·懷斯曼說：

　　"I was surprised, given that women had so much more confidence in their intuition. We thought women would be better but, overall, men just pipped them to the post."

　　我很驚訝，考慮到女性一貫被認為在直覺上有自信的。我們本以為女性直覺會更有效，但是事實上男性在直覺上卻占了上風。

　　These findings question the notion that women really are more intuitive than men. Some previous research has found evidence for female intiuition but perhaps,over time, men have become more in touch with their intuitive side.

　　這些發現都讓過去多數人認為的女性確實比男性直覺更靈這一結論不再成立。先前的研究也是有依據的，但也許隨著時間推移，男性開始更多地使用他們的直覺。

　　Before studying the faces, participants were asked to rate their intuitive abilities.

　　在識別照片之前，參與者被要求評價他們的直覺能力。

　　More women defined themselves as highly intuitive—77 per cent compared with just 58 per cent of men.

　　更多的女性認為自己有較強的直覺能力——77%女性這么認為，而男性只有58%。

　　Dr Wiseman said: "This could be because women experience emotions more fully and are more expressive. If men have a more limited emotional system, this may make it easier for them to fake it."

　　懷斯曼博士說：“這可能是因為女性能更全面地體驗情感，更具表現力。如果男性的情感表達還能再弱些，那么他們將更容易蒙蔽女性的眼睛。”

　　in touch with 同……有聯系，和……有接觸

　　eg. I have kept in touch with him since we separated.自從我們分手以來，我一直與他保持聯系。

　　eg. But they kept in touch with each other all these years.這些年來他們一直與當時分散的同胞保持聯系。

　　英語六級閱讀材料：科學家證明愛是盲目的

　　Scientists have shown that there is a degree of truth in the old adage that love is blind. They have found that feelings of love lead to a suppression of activity in the areas of the brain controlling critical thought.

　　科學家已經證明，古老的諺語所說的，愛情是盲目的這一真理在一定程度上是正確的。他們發現，愛情的感覺會抑制大腦控制批判性思維的區域的活躍性。

　　It seems that once we get close to a person, the brain decides the need to assess their character and personality is reduced.

　　看上去，我們一旦接近了一個人，大腦對于對方的性格和品質的要求就會降低。

　　The study, by University College London, is published in NeuroImage.

　　英國倫敦大學學院對此的研究報告在《神經成像》雜志上發表。

　　The researchers found that both romantic love and maternal love produce the same effect on the brain. They suppress neural activity associated with critical social assessment of other people and negative emotions.

　　研究人員發現，無論是浪漫的愛情，還是母愛對大腦產生的影響是相同的。愛能夠抑制那些會對他人進行批判性社會評價和消極情緒的神經活動。

　　The UCL team scanned the brains of 20 young mothers while they viewed pictures of their own children, children they were acquainted with, and adult friends.

　　倫敦大學的研究團隊對20位年輕母親在看自己孩子照片時的大腦進行掃描，還掃描了她們看其他熟人的孩子，以及成年的朋友時的大腦。

　　The team found that the patterns of brain activity were very similar to those identified in an earlier study looking at the effects of romantic love.

　　研究團隊發現大腦活動的模式和早先研究愛對浪漫愛情影響的結果非常接近。

　　Both studies recorded increased activity in parts of the brain's "reward system".

　　這兩項研究都記錄了部分大腦的“獎賞系統”活動增加。

　　When these areas are stimulated—as they can be by food and drink, or even monetary gain—they produce feelings of euphoria.

　　這些區域受到刺激，如同吃食物、喝飲料、甚至收獲財富，會讓人產生愉悅的感覺。

　　But perhaps more surprisingly, both studies also showed reduced levels of activity in the systems necessary for making negative judgements.

　　但更令人驚訝的或許是，這兩項研究也顯示隨著系統活躍性水平降低，消極判斷也減少了。

　　Lead researcher Dr Andreas Bartels said it was crucial that both romantic and maternal love were viewed by the brain in a highly positive way—because both were crucial to the perpetuation of the species.

　　研究員領導者安德里亞·巴特爾博士說，重要的是，大腦用一種非常積極的方式來看待浪漫的愛情和母愛，因為兩者對物種延續都至關重要。

　　英語六級閱讀材料：為何快樂的時間溜得快?

　　Scientists have come up with a theory for why time flies when you are having fun and drags when you are bored.

　　科學家們提出理論依據，解釋為什么當你玩得開心的時候，時間總是過得飛快，而當你無聊的時侯，時間卻過得特別慢。

　　Scans have shown that patterns of activity in the brain change depending on how we focus on a task.

　　通過掃描發現，大腦活動的方式隨著我們對事情的關注程度發生變化。

　　Concentrating on time passing, as we do when bored, will trigger brain activity which will make it seem as though the clock is ticking more slowly.

　　我們在無聊的時候，往往把注意力集中在時間的流逝上，這樣會使大腦活動產生錯覺，總覺得時鐘似乎走得更慢

　　The research, by the French Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cognition, is published in the magazine Science.

　　法國神經生物和認知學實驗室進行的此項研究發表在《科學》雜志上。

　　In the study, 12 volunteers watched an image while researchers monitored their brain activity using MRI scans.

　　在研究中，當12名志愿者同時看一幅圖像時，研究者們用核磁共振成像掃描儀來監控他們大腦的活動。

　　Volunteers were given a variety of tasks. In one they were told to concentrate simply on the duration of an image, in another they were asked to focus on the colour, and in a third they were asked to concentrate on both duration and colour.

　　志愿者們被分配了各種不同的任務。一次他們被要求專注于圖象持續的時間，另一次集中觀察圖象的色彩，第三次同時關注圖象持續的時間和色彩。

　　The results showed that a network of brain regions was activated when more subjects were paid attention to duration.

　　結果表明，在觀看圖像的過程中，注意的對象多的話，就會激活大腦區域網絡。

　　It is thought that if the brain is busy focusing on many aspects of a task, then it has to spread its resources thinly, and pays less heed to time passing.

　　科學家們認為如果大腦忙于關注一項任務中的多個方面，那么它不得不分散注意力，這樣就不太會注意到時間的流逝。

　　Therefore, time passes without us really noticing it, and seems to go quickly.

　　所以，我們還沒真正注意到時間，時間就已經過去了，而且似乎過得特別快。

　　However, if the brain is not stimulated in this way, it concentrates its full energies on monitoring the passing of time.

　　然而，如果大腦并沒有受到這樣的刺激，它就會把全部精力用來監控時間的流逝。

　　This may make time seem to drag, but in fact it is probably a more accurate perception of reality.

　　這樣就會覺得時間過得特別慢，但是事實上這可能是對現實情況的更準確的認識。

　　Indeed, the researchers found that the more volunteers concentrated on the duration of the images, the more accurate were their estimates of its duration.

　　事實上，研究者們發現，志愿者們越是注意圖像持續的時間，他們對于時間的估計就越準確。

　　Lead researcher Dr Jennifer Coull said many of the areas of the brain involved in estimating time were the same that played a key role in controlling movement, and preparing for action.

　　主任研究員詹尼弗·庫爾博士說，大腦中有許多參與估計時間的區域，同時他們對行為控制和行動準備也起到重要的作用。

　　She said this overlap suggests that the brain may make sense of time as intervals between movements, in much the same way as a musician marks time with his foot, or an athlete anticipates the sound of a starter's pistol.

　　她說這種區域重合說明大腦在活動的間隙可能會注意到時間，在很大程度上就像音樂家用腳來記錄時間、運動員預料發令員的槍聲一樣。

　　以上就是學習啦小編為大家帶來的英語六級閱讀材料，歡迎大家學習!