【英语时差8,16】右耳，左耳

Don: Say something, Yael. Say whatever you want, but talk directly into my right ear.

Y: You're a nut.

D: Okay. Now say the same thing in my left ear.

Y: Sure thing. You're still a nut. Now what on earth is this about?

D: Hold up. Now sing something in my right ear.

Y: Forget it. I'm doing no such thing until you tell me what's going on.

D: I'm testing out the differences in how my right and left ears process sound. They don't process sound in the same way, you know.

Y: Are you sure about that? The left hemisphere of the brain dominates over the right in processing different sounds. I know that. Specifically, the left hemisphere dominates in processing rapidly changing sounds such as in speech, and the right hemisphere dominates in processing prolonged tones such as in music, but I didn't think that had anything to do with how our ears function. Don't they just deliver the signals to the brain, where all the processing happens?

D: That's what scientists used to think. But now they know that the processing of sound actually begins in our ears, before sound reaches the brain. And because the right ear connects to the brain's left hemisphere, it's the dominant¹ ear for processing rapidly changing sounds, and vice² versa, the left ear dominates in processing prolonged tones.

Y: Wow. This could mean some significant changes in the design of hearing devices.

D: That's a possibility, but only time will tell what the real implications for this finding are.

1 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。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。