英语听力文摘 English Digest 672 为什么明明是热却感到冷

 　　Ow! Why Hot Feels Cold

　　Kids don’t try this at home!

　　Have you ever dipped your toe into a very hot bath and felt a flash of icy cold just before you realize that its really burning? After you pull your toe out, you might wonder what causes very hot water to feel cold.

　　This odd sensation is called paradoxical cold and is caused by the temperature receptors in the skin. There are separate, specific receptors that respond to decreases or increases in skin temperature. If skin temperature drops, the cold receptors fire and if it increases, the warmth receptors fire.

　　However, if a strong stimulus¹, like very hot water, can stimulate² not only the warmth receptors but also stimulate the pain receptors. These warn us that we are doing ourselves damage, and should take action to prevent it. The strong stimulus can also cause the abnormal stimulation³ of the cold receptors.

　　Over-stimulation can cause the confusing sensation of cold, hot and pain, but as long as we’re clear about pulling the toe out to safety, paradoxical cold is just another strange trick of the senses.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

3 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。