世界左撇子日 关于左撇子你不知道的6件事

 　　August 13th is Left Handers' Day and this year, 2014, will mark the 22nd annual celebration. The first celebration took place in 1976 to promote awareness¹ of left handers' and the struggles they face with the day-to-day products catered² towards the right-handed predominant population. It has been estimated that up to 10 percent of the world's population are left-handers and even now, many are still discriminated⁴ in society for being born that way. Scientists have studied left handers' for a while now to see what differences they boast in comparison to their peers, and here are six surprising discoveries:

　　2014年8月13号是第22个世界左撇子日。我们生活的世界大多都是为右撇子设计的，而为了引起对左撇子的关注，1976年这个纪念日被首次提出。据统计，世界上现在有10%的人口都是左撇子，然而至今他们中的很多人仍遭受着不公平对待。科学家曾对左右撇子进行研究来辨别彼此有何不同，这里是六个令人惊讶的发现：

　　1.Left-handers are more likely to develop schizophrenia. A whopping 20 percent of schizophrenics are said to be left-handers, which is a strong proportion considering they only make up 10 percent of the world's population. What's more, being left handed has been associated with mood disorders⁶, ADD and dyslexia.

　　1. 左撇子更容易精神分裂。据称，近20%的精神分裂患者都是左撇子。鉴于左撇子仅占全球人口的10%，这个比例是相当大的。而且，左撇子更容易遭受情绪障碍、注意力缺乏症和阅读障碍的困扰。

　　2. Left-handers have a shorter lifespan. It has been quoted, for what seems to be ages, that left-handed people have a shorter life span by nine years than their right-handed peers. This information was shared in the 1980s in two scientific journals -- "Nature" and the "New England Journal of Medicine" -- by psychologists Diane Halpern and Stanley Corenboth. But critics of the study have pointed⁷ out that some of the subjects of the study could have been right-handed, since it was common to train a child to use the that hand, and thus, the data was erroneous.

　　2. 左撇子寿命相对较短。据多年的观察表明，左撇子平均寿命比右撇子少九年。二十世纪八十年代，这项发现由心理学家黛安·哈普恩和斯坦利·科恩波斯发表在《自然》和《新英格兰医学期刊》上。然而评论家指出，这项研究的某些样本其实是右撇子，因为孩子常被训练使用右手。因此，该数据是错误的。

　　3. Left-handers do worse on timed exams. It could be because of the right-handed desks in school or awkward sitting positions, but left-handers do worse on timed exams. Lefties, know that you can ask your school for special seating on your exam to accommodate your hand dominance!

　　3. 左撇子在限时考试时表现较为不好。这可以归结为学校里的桌椅都是适合右撇子的设计，但是一旦考试限时，左撇子的表现会变得更不好。左撇子们注意了，在学校考试的时候你是可以根据自己需要要求特殊座位的！

　　4. Left-handers are most scared. You know that lefties suffer from more disorders in the aforementioned point above, but did you know they're twice as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder⁵? If you're curious why, then know that it is because left-handers have a dominant³ right brain, which is responsible for the symptoms of PTSD.

　　4. 左撇子大多胆小。你可能从本文的前半部分知道了左撇子生活有诸多障碍，但是你知道他们比右撇子遭受创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的概率高一倍吗？如果你好奇原因的话，那么让我来告诉你：是右脑主导着左撇子的行为，而这部分大脑正好负责着创伤后应激障碍的症状。

　　5. Left-handers will be worse at languages. The left hemisphere of our brain is responsible for language function, according to Psychology⁸ Today, and this is the less dominant hemisphere for lefties. As such, they have less dominance for language.

　　5. 左撇子语言方面表现更差。根据《今日心理学》，我们的左脑负责语言功能，而左撇子的这半脑发育较不占优，因而语言能力也相对较差。

　　6. Left-handers are better at certain sports. For instant, in sports where opponents are facing off each other (e.g. boxing, tennis) lefties have an advantage due to the "fighting hypothesis," which states that lefties are better away to combat their opponent's rightward movement with their dominant left hand.

　　6. 左撇子在某些运动上表现更好。例如，在和对手面对面的运动项目中（如拳击、网球）等，基于“战斗假说”，左撇子们更占优势。因为他们用左手更能回击对手右侧的行动。

1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 catered   

提供饮食及服务( cater的过去式和过去分词 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• We catered for forty but only twenty came. 我们准备了40客饭菜，但只来了20个人。
• They catered for everyone regardless of social rank. 他们为所有人服务而不计较其社会地位。

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

4 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。