欧美人文风情第128篇:十大误解概要 - 喝八杯水必要吗?

 Number ten. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space. 第十。中国长城是唯一能在太空中看到的人造物体。

To see something on Earth from space, it would have to be pretty big, 要从太空看到地球上的某个东西，它一定要是非常大，

which the Great Wall of China, all five thousand miles of it certainly is. 这中国长城全长五千英里(八千公里)，一定是很大。

But it's only thirty feet across at its widest. 但是在它最宽的地方只有三十英尺(九公尺)宽。

Here's a photo taken from the International Space Station, two hundred miles above Earth. 这是一张从国际太空站，距地表两百英里(三百二十公里)高处所拍摄的照片。

Can you spot the Great Wall amid the mountain tops? Here, right? No, that's a river. 你可以在山巅之中找出长城吗？这里，对吗？不，那是条河流。

The Wall is actually here. 长城其实在这。

Even if you guessed the right lines by pure luck, this photo was taken with a zoom¹ lens, 即使你因为运气好猜对了线条，这张照片是用长镜头拍摄的，

so from the window of the International Space Station, it would look more like this, which pretty clearly makes the Great Wall count as "not visible." 所以从国际太空站窗户它看起来更像是这样，那很明显地让长城属于“不可见的”。

As for the man-made part of this misconception, 至于人造部分的误解，

our glorious man-made cities' blasting lights into the void certainly are visible. 我们那光荣的、人造的、城市爆出来到太空中的光线一定是可见的。

Number nine. Cracking Your Knuckles² Causes Arthritis³. 第九。折你的关节造成关节炎。

Socially obnoxious⁴? Yes. Gives you arthritis later in life as karmic punishment? No. 会在社交圈里令人厌恶吗？是的。会让你在日后生活中得到关节炎作为因果报应吗？不会。

Number eight. People Only Use Ten Percent of Their Brain. 第八。人们仅使用他们百分之十的大脑。

If you haven't seen a medical drama in the past oh, thirty year, you might not be aware that doctors now have machines that can see inside people's brains. 如果你过去三十年没看过任何一部医疗影集，你可能不会知道医生现在有机器可以看进人们的脑袋里。

And contrary to popular belief, ninety percent of the neurons don't sit around all day doing nothing. 而且不同于大家所想像的，百分之九十的神经细胞不会整天无所事事什么都不做。

While scientists don't yet know exactly what each part does, they do know that all the bits matter. 尽管科学家还不完全地知道每个部位的作用，他们的确知道所有的部分都很重要。

So if you think that someone could scoop⁵ out ninety percent of your brain and you'd still be just fine, 所以如果你认为某人可以挖出你百分之九十的脑袋而你还会好好的，

then perhaps you really only do use ten percent of it. 那么也许你真的只用了百分之十的大脑。

Number seven. Eskimos Have Hundreds of Words for Snow. 第七。爱斯基摩人有数百种描述雪的字汇。

This one is technically⁶ correct but misleading. 这严格来说是正确但是误导人的。

Some languages, such as German, like to make compound words by running several smaller ones together, 有些语言，像是德文，喜欢借由合并几个简短字汇来创造复合字，

which is why German words are sometimes absurdly long. 这是为何德文有时候长到很愚蠢的原因。

Inuit languages use compound words as well. So rather than say "yellow snow" as you would in English,  伊努伊特(爱斯基摩一支)语也使用复合字。所以与其想你会用英文说“黄色的雪”，

an Inuit speaker combines the two words into one, but it's not really a new word, just a quirk⁷ of grammar. 一位说伊努伊特语的人把这两个字合而为一，但这不真的是个新字，只是玩弄文法。

So technically Eskimos do have hundreds of ways to describe snow, but then so does every language. 所以严格来说爱斯基摩人的确拥有数百种描述雪的方法，但另一方面来说，每个语言都有。

Number six. You Need Eight Glasses of Water a Day. 第六。你一天需要八大杯水。

While doubtless some people would benefit from drinking more water and drinking less crap, 尽管无庸置疑地有些人从喝多点水、少喝点垃圾中获益，

there's no scientific evidence that eight glasses of water a day is the required amount, 没有科学证据说一天八杯水是必须的份量，还有些证据说这可能太多了。

and some evidence says that it might be too much. And while we're talking about water... 而当我们提到水...

Number five. Tap Water is Bad but Bottled Water is Good. 第五。自来水不好但瓶装水很好。

If you live in a paradise, free from Government regulations like, say, Somalia, 如果你住在世外桃源，没有政府规定，像是，比方说，索马利亚，

then you might have a good reason to prefer bottled water over tap. 那么你也许有个好理由选择瓶装水而不是自来水。

But modern, functioning countries have something called health regulations, which cover both kinds of water. 但是近代的、运作中的国家有某种叫做健康条例的东西，那两种水都保护。

Also, water is extremely dense⁸, making transporting it from those pristine⁹ mountain tops and glaciers¹⁰ enormously expensive, 同时，水密度非常高，使得从那些有名的山峰和冰河运送它变得极为昂贵，

which is why bottled water companies don't bother. 这是为什么瓶装水公司不会自找麻烦。

"Bottled" water is often just local tap water with a fancy label and an enormous markup¹¹. “瓶装”水通常只是当地的自来水加上漂亮的标签和昂贵的利润。

Number four. Gum Takes Seven Years to Pass Through Your Digestive system. 第四。口香糖要花上七年通过你的消化系统。

This is pretty easy to disprove yourself, but it's understandable why most people don't try the experiment. 要你自己去推翻这点很容易，但是可以了解为什么大部分的人不去尝试这实验。

Number three. Blood in your Veins¹³ is Blue. 第三。静脉里的血液是蓝色的。

The idea here is that the blood in veins is blue, and it only turns red when exposed to the oxygen in the air. 这里的想法是说静脉里的血液是蓝色的，而且当它只有在接触到空气中的氧气时才会变成红色。

Thinking this isn't unreasonable¹⁴, after all, your veins look blue, 这么想不是不合理，毕竟，你的静脉看起来是蓝色的，

and medical diagrams show arteries¹⁵ as red and veins as blue, 而且医学图表展示出动脉是红色的而静脉是蓝色的，

but it's the same mistake as thinking that Mountain Dew is green because it's in a green bottle. 但这跟我们认为Mountain Dew是绿色的，因为它在绿色的瓶子里面是相同的错误。

Pour it out and you discover that Mountain Dew is really piss yellow, which is probably why it's in a green bottle to begin with. 把它倒出来你发现Mountain Dew实际上是尿黄色，这也许正是为何它一开始就是在绿色瓶子里的原因。

The next time you get blood withdrawn¹⁶ from a vein¹², take a look. What color is it? Red. 下次你从静脉抽血，看一下。它是什么颜色？红的。

How much oxygen is inside a good syringe? None. 一支优良的针筒里面有多少氧气？一点也没有。

Unless you're a Horseshoe crab¹⁷ or Plavalaguna, your blood isn't blue. 除非你是鲎鱼或是Plavalaguna(第五元素里蓝色外星歌姬Diva的本名)，不然你的血液不是蓝的。

Number two. Fan Death. 第二。电风扇吹死人。

This misconception is a specialty¹⁸ of South Korea. 这个误解是个南韩的特产。

Here the belief is that if you spend too much time with a rotating fan in a confined space, 这里的信念是说如果你在密闭空间花太多时间跟一台转动的电扇在一起，

it will use up all your oxygen and you'll asphyxiate¹⁹ to death. 它会用光你的氧气然后你会窒息而死。

Exactly how the fan made of lifeless, anaerobic²⁰ plastic, competes for your oxygen is unclear, 确切来说用没生命、厌氧的塑胶制成的电扇如何抢你的氧气是不清楚的，

but hilariously²¹ South Korea fan manufacturers(who surely must know better) include timers on fans to prevent them from running too long. 但南韩电扇制造商(他们必定更清楚)很好笑地在电扇上装定时器，预防它们转太久。

Number one. People Swallow Eight Spiders a Year While Sleeping. 第一。人们一年在睡觉的时候吞下八只蜘蛛。

Supposedly while you're in bed, helplessly unconscious with your gob wide open, 推测当你在睡觉，无助的昏迷，嘴巴大开的时候，

each year eight spiders find their way into your mouth, and you reflexively swallow them. 每年八只蜘蛛找到它们的路跑进你的嘴巴里，然后你反射性的吞下它们。

This is plainly ridiculous. 这很明显的很荒谬。

Spiders love warm, moist places, so eight is far too low an estimate. 蜘蛛喜爱温暖、潮湿的地方，所以八只是太低估了。

 

1 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

2 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

4 obnoxious   

adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的

参考例句：

• These fires produce really obnoxious fumes and smoke.这些火炉冒出来的烟气确实很难闻。
• He is the most obnoxious man I know.他是我认识的最可憎的人。

5 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

6 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

7 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

8 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

9 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

10 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

11 markup   

n.加价，涨价，利润

参考例句：

• This mean that international delivery will line markup from today.这意味着国际快递将从今天起全线涨价。
• Our products are expensive,and distributors and retailers always want a large markup.我们的产品很贵，经销商和零售商总是要求高额利差。

12 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

13 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

15 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

17 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

18 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

19 asphyxiate   

v.无法呼吸，窒息而死

参考例句：

• We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.在我们被这些有毒气体窒息之前，必须查出其来源。
• Three people were asphyxiated in the crush for last week's train.在上周的火车撞车事故中有3人窒息死亡。

20 anaerobic   

adj.厌氧的

参考例句：

• Anaerobic respiration occurs only in particularly active tissues such as muscles during severe exercise. 厌氧呼吸只有在处于剧烈运动状态的肌肉等特别活跃的组织中才会发生。
• Infection,especially anaerobic infection, is much more apt to occur.感染，特别是厌氧感染很容易发生。

21 hilariously   

参考例句：

• Laughing hilariously, Wu Sun-fu left the study and ran straight upstairs. 吴荪甫异样地狂笑着，站起身来就走出了那书房，一直跑上楼去。 来自互联网
• Recently I saw a piece of news on the weband I thought it was hilariously ridiculous. 最近在网上的新闻里看到一则很好笑的新闻。 来自互联网