新奇事件簿 使用棉签会损害听力

Doctors are now telling us what grandparents have known for decades - don't stick anything smaller than your elbow into your ears. An organization of ear specialists in the USA, the American Academy of Otolaryngology, has said cleaning your ears with cotton buds (aka Q-tips) can cause long-lasting damage to your eardrums and hearing. Dr Jennifer Caudle told Yahoo Beauty that cotton buds seem harmless objects but can cause significant damage. She said: "I know people want to stick things in their ears and they think it’s the right thing to do, but [cotton buds] can cause holes in the eardrum, irritation¹ in the canal, and can predispose you to getting infections."

医生们现在告诉我们一个祖辈们已经知道了几十年的事实——不要把比手肘小的任何东西放进耳朵里。美国耳科专家组织美国耳科学会表示，用棉签清理耳朵会对耳膜和听力造成永久性的伤害。Jennifer Caudle医生告诉Yahoo Beauty，棉签看上去是无害的物品，但是会导致重大伤害。她说：“我知道人们想要把什么东西放进耳朵里，认为这是正确的，但是棉签会导致耳膜穿孔，刺激耳道，还容易造成感染。”

The Academy has also recommended that people change their image of earwax and think of it as an essential substance to keep our ears healthy. Dr Seth Schwartz said: "There is an inclination² for people to want to clean their ears because they believe earwax is an indication of uncleanliness. This misinformation leads to unsafe ear health habits." Doctors say our body produces earwax for a good reason. It does an essential job of cleaning out the ears, stopping them from drying out, and helping³ them to sweat naturally. It also protects the inner ears against bacteria, bugs⁴, dirt and dust. Using cotton buds can push earwax further inside the ear and cause blockages⁵, which can undo⁶ all the good work of earwax.

该学会还建议人们改变对耳垢的看法，将耳垢视为保护耳朵健康的必须物质。Seth Schwartz医生表示：“人们有一种清理耳朵的爱好，因为他们认为耳垢是不干净的标志。这种错误的信息导致不安全的耳部卫生习惯。”医生们表示，我们的身体产生耳垢是出于一个好的原因。耳垢可以完成清理耳朵的必须工作，防止耳朵干燥，帮助耳朵自然流汗。耳垢还可以保护内耳免受细菌，昆虫，污垢和尘土的污染。使用棉签把耳垢推向更深入耳朵的地方，导致堵塞，破坏耳垢的所有益处。

1 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

2 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 blockages   

n.堵塞物( blockage的名词复数 )；堵塞，阻塞

参考例句：

• The storms could increase the risks posed by river blockages. 暴风雨会增加因河道堵塞所造成的危险。 来自互联网
• An angiogram shows the location and severity of blockages in blood vessels. 冠状动脉造影能够显示血管内的阻塞位置以及阻塞的严重程度。 来自互联网

6 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。