国家地理-2008-07-12 Lie Detector 测谎仪的奥秘

It might be the cheeks flushing with embarrassment¹ or a voice choking with emotion. Our physical reactions can reveal what we truly feel. And some think they can show when someone's lying.

Typically when a person tells a lie, they begin to sweat. I'm sure we've all seen the 1940s and 50s interrogation movies where the person in the hot seat has a sweaty brow or a sweaty upper lip or perhaps sweat dripping down from their sideburns.

"All right, if you lean forward in the chair, put your arms up (in) front of you, like you're gonna dive into a swimming pool. Put this around your stomach.  "

Jack² Trimarco uses physical sensations to probe for truth. His primary tool? The lie detector³, or polygraph.

 "This cuff⁴ is just like the one of the doctor."

Polygraph, its work's very similar to any other biofeedback instrument. It simply records deviations⁶ from a person's physiological⁷ norm, such as someone's blood pressure going up and then coming back down, or perhaps a decrease or an increase in pulse rate, or sweat pore  activity.

"Are you sometimes known as Bobbie?"

"Yes."

A polygraph examiner knows what to look for when questioning someone.

 "D o you intend to be completely truthful⁸ with me?"

"Yes."

 Any deviation⁵ from normal could signal deception⁹. Our body can give us away.

 "And are you sure that I won't try to trick you on this test?"

"Yes."

 We may think we're being cool, but when we're stressed, our network of nerves starts to prepare our body for action as if it's under attack. It's a response that harks back to our ancient ancestors -- fight or flight.

 It starts by triggering your stress hormone¹⁰ -- adrenalin. Your heart rate increases to pump more blood to your muscles as if you were about to go into battle. Your breathing deepens as vital oxygen reaches your muscles. And you begin to sweat -- the body cools so that you won't overheat when rushed into action. The brain won't let us stop the survival strategy. These basic nervous functions are automatic. That's why a polygraph can often uncover a liar¹¹.

 1. hot seat: (n., slang) 1. The electric chair used to cause death by electrocution in legal executions.

                       (informal ) 2.A position in which you can easily get into trouble.

                          e.g. A judge in a beauty contest is on the hot seat.

 2. sideburns: pl.n.（复数名词）Growths of hair down the sides of a man's face in front of the ears, especially when worn with the rest of the beard shaved off. 连鬓胡子：在耳朵前面沿着脸侧部向下生长的毛发，尤指胡子刮去之后留下的残茬

 3. hark back: To return to a previous point, as in a narrative¹².

e.g. he keeps harking back to his music-hall days

 4. adrenalin: [生化]肾上腺素

5. rush sb into sth

1 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

4 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？

5 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

6 deviations   

背离，偏离( deviation的名词复数 )； 离经叛道的行为

参考例句：

• Local deviations depend strongly on the local geometry of the solid matrix. 局部偏离严格地依赖于固体矩阵的局部几何形状。
• They were a series of tactical day-to-day deviations from White House policy. 它们是一系列策略上一天天摆脱白宫政策的偏向。

7 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

8 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

9 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

10 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

11 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

12 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。