科学美国人60秒 SSS 2014-2-18_在线英语听力室

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If the sight of Swiss cheese makes you melt or the thought of a honeycomb gets you buzzing, you may suffer from trypophobia, the most common phobia that you've probably never heard of. Trypophobia is the fear of holes. People with the phobia experience panic attacks, increased heart rate and hot sweats when they see clusters of holes.

A visual scientist who suffers from trypophobia decided¹ to investigate the phenomenon with his colleague. They performed spectral² analysis on images that induce trypophobia and found that the fear-inducing images all had similar characteristics related to luminescence, contrast and light wavelengths³. But they didn't know why these features caused such an adverse⁴ reaction.

A study participant mentioned that certain animals also induced his phobia. So the researchers analyzed⁵ pictures of poisonous animals. They discovered that the trypophobia-inducing images and those of poisonous animals shared the same visual features, suggesting the fear may be an evolutionary⁶ survival response. The study is in the journal Psychological Science.

So if an English muffin induces a panic attack, your brain may just be saying better safe than sorry.

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收听单词发音

1 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 spectral
adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的
参考例句：
At times he seems rather ordinary.At other times ethereal,perhaps even spectral.有时他好像很正常，有时又难以捉摸，甚至像个幽灵。 She is compelling,spectral fascinating,an unforgettably unique performer.她极具吸引力，清幽如鬼魅，令人着迷，令人难忘，是个独具特色的演员。

3 wavelengths
n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍
参考例句：
I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。来自《简明英汉词典》 Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。来自辞典例句

4 adverse
adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的
参考例句：
He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。 The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

5 analyzed
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析
参考例句：
The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。来自《简明英汉词典》 The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。来自《简明英汉词典》

6 evolutionary
adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的
参考例句：
Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。 These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

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科学美国人60秒 SSS 2014-2-18