英语听力—环球英语 796 Crying for Health

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Bruce Gulland.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A group of businessmen enter a room in the Japanese city of Tokyo. They are coming here after working all day. Each man finds a place to sit. Soon, a film starts to play. It is a very sad story. One man starts to cry. Then another. And another. This is why these men have come to this group. They have gathered for one reason - to cry together!
Voice 2
Today's Spotlight is on crying. Most people cry at some time in their lives. But why do people cry and is it helpful?
Voice 1
Scientists say there are three different kinds of tears - basal tears, reflex tears and emotional² tears. Basal tears keep our eyes wet. These tears are always on our eyes. Basal tears keep our eyes from getting too dry. They help our eyelids³ move. And they help our eyes fight diseases⁴.
Voice 2
Reflex tears result when an irritant or foreign particle⁵ enters our eye. These tears are extra tears. They help to clean the eye - removing dirt, dust and other bad things.
Voice 1
But usually, when people talk about crying, they are talking about crying emotional tears. Many emotions make people cry - including joy, sadness, anger, conflict⁶, regret, failure and success. People also cry emotional tears when they experience physical pain. Doctors do not know exactly why our emotions and physical pain produce tears. Many people have studied it. But there are no clear answers to this question.
Voice 2
One idea is that crying protects the body. When a person feels strong emotions, the body produces particular substances⁷ like proteins, hormones⁸ and other chemicals. These substances cause many different effects - including a tense body and a faster heart rate. Emotional tears contain larger amounts of these substances than other kinds of tears. So emotional crying may remove some of these substances from the body. Some people talk about feeling better after having 'a good cry'. This process may be why crying can help people feel better.
Voice 1
Crying can be good for our emotions and for our health. But some people have a difficult time crying. This is the reason for the crying club - the group from the beginning of today's program. Crying clubs started in Japan, but there are now also clubs in United⁹ Kingdom. The idea of crying clubs is for people to gather together to help each other cry. Some clubs watch sad films or listen to sad music. In a crying club in London, members cut up onions. The strong smell from these vegetables makes their eyes water. People sit together with tears rolling down their faces. Do cry clubs help people release¹⁰ their emotions and be more healthy? Scientists do not know for sure. But what they do know is that crying for different reasons has different results.
Voice 2
A study published in 2008 looked at these results. People in the study reported how they felt after they cried. Some crying made people feel better - for example, crying for happiness. But in some sad situations, crying also made people feel better. This was true when people cried about problems in their own lives - especially things they felt they could change. But people felt worse if they felt they could not change things. For example, if someone else had hurt the crying person, crying often made them feel worse.
Voice 1
Crying is also cultural. People in some cultures cry much more often than people in other cultures. For example, studies show that people in America and Italy cry far more often than people in China or Ghana. In some cultures, people easily cry in public. But in other cultures, crying causes people to feel shame. So, crying is something a person will only do in private.
Voice 2
In the United Kingdom people talk about having a 'stiff¹¹ upper lip¹²'. Often, a person's mouth will shake just before they begin to cry. This British saying means¹³ that the person holds his mouth very still. He refuses to cry even when he is feeling very unhappy.
Historians¹⁴ believe this custom and saying developed during the twentieth century. During World War One and World War Two, life in Britain was very difficult. Many people were dying¹⁵. People in Britain also had limited food and other materials. People knew they had to be strong. So they tried hard not to show their emotions. They felt it helped them to continue living, even when everything around them was very bad.
Voice 1
But there are some times when people cannot help crying. For example, it is rare¹⁶ to be at a funeral¹⁷ where there are no tears. But the right behaviour at a funeral in one culture may be wrong behaviour in another culture. In Fiji you must not cry until after the body of the dead person has been buried. In Britain people can cry anytime during a funeral. But they usually try to be very quiet and still when they do it. They try to avoid being noticed. And in Iran the correct behaviour is to cry loudly and openly. In fact, a group of people are paid to begin the crying. This makes it easier for the rest of the people mourning¹⁸ to cry.
Voice 2
But as many people know, people do not just cry when they are sad. They also cry from happiness. For example, there are often many tears when two people get married! This is not usually because of regret. Instead, people are happy to celebrate such a good event. And scientific study shows that crying from happiness results is a person becoming even happier!
Voice 1
The Christian¹⁹ Bible²⁰ has a saying about crying. It says that people should show love by crying with people who are crying and laughing with people who are laughing. By doing this, people can honor²¹ both the pain and joy of people around them. Crying with a supportive person can make a person feel even better.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

3 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

5 particle   

n.微粒，颗粒，粒子；小品词，语助词

参考例句：

• There is not a particle of truth in what you said.你所说的没有一句是实话。
• This particle has a very small mass.这种粒子的质量很小。

6 conflict   

n.冲突，矛盾，争执；vi.争执，撞斗，冲突，抵触

参考例句：

• Your statement is in conflict with the rest of the evidence.你的陈述同其余证据有矛盾。
• The conflict between them seems ceaseless.他们之间冲突似乎没个止息。

7 substances   

n.物质( substance的名词复数 )；实质；物体；[哲学]1)。 本质

参考例句：

• substances with high levels of toxicity 毒性大的物质
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry. 核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• 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。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

9 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

10 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

11 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

12 lip   

n.唇，口缘，唇状构造；v.以嘴唇碰，轻轻说出

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He has a scar on his upper lip.他的上唇有一道疤痕。

13 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

14 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

15 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

16 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。

17 funeral   

n.丧葬，葬礼；adj.丧葬的，出殡的

参考例句：

• Her bright clothes were not appropriate for a funeral.她那身鲜艳的衣服不适合参加葬礼。
• A funeral is a somber occasion.葬礼是个忧郁的场合。

18 mourning   

n.悲痛，哀悼；戴孝；服丧期

参考例句：

• He was still mourning his brother's death. 他仍然在为哥哥的去世而悲伤。
• The government announced a day of national mourning for the victims. 政府宣布全国为受害者哀悼一日。

19 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

20 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

21 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。