【英语时差8,16】肥胖损脑?

Another What You Didn't Know segment of A Moment of Science.   Don: Time once again for What You Didn't Know. This is the segment where I give Yael a science fact that everybody thinks they know already, then wow her with the follow-up. Ready?

Yael: Ready.

D: Obesity¹ is bad for men.

Y: Big surprise, Marcus Welby.

D: ...because it lowers their mental ability.

Y: Obesity lowers mental ability? I never heard that.

D: It's true. You've already heard that fat make things hard on the heart, for example, as well as making diabetes² and even certain cancers more likely. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity, however, shows that fat doesn't just slow down your jump-shot--it can even slow down your brain. Over five hundred men and eight hundred women were observed for eighteen years in this long-term study, all of whom took tests at different times to gauge³ how quick their thinking was. In the men, obesity was positively⁴ correlated with a decline in thinking ability. It's already known that the way men store body fat--the apple shape with a wide middle--causes more health problems than the pear shape more common to women.

Y: But what could your obesity have to do with how well you think?

D: That part isn't known. It may be that obesity equals problems in blood pressure, which is important for brain function. It may be that subtle forms of heart disease are present. Other scientists think the link may be psychological--overweight people tend to get depressed⁵, and depression slows down thinking. But whatever the link is, if you're a guy, it's not just your mid-section that needs taking care of...it's your brain.

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。