(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.
Many people say they can not start their day without first having a cup of coffee or tea. People say these drinks help them think clearly and feel more awake. This is because of caffeine, a substance found in some plants.
Caffeine helps to give a jumpstart to the nervous system. Now a new report says it may also improve long-term memory. The report was published earlier this year in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Caffeine enhances consolidation of long-term memories.
Michael Yassa is a neurobiology professor at the University of California, Irvine. He and other researchers wanted to know if caffeine could improve what they called memory consolidation. They asked a group of individuals to learn something new, then the same people were given caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee, tea and chocolate.
He and the other researchers worked with a group of 160 people who were caffeine free. On the first day, all the subjects were shown pictures of everyday objects. They were asked to identify whether the pictures could be found inside the house or outdoors. Some of the subjects were then given a caffeine pill, the others were given a placebo - a pill containing an inactive substance.
On the second day, all of the subjects were asked to look at more pictures. Some of the images were exactly like the ones they had seen 24 hours early. But other images were different. And a third group of pictures was similar to the first group but a little different. The participants had to decide whether the images they saw were the same or different from the ones on the first day.
Professor Yassa says their answers help to show the effects of caffeine on memory.
He says those who took the caffeine pills had a ten to twelve percent increase in their ability to remember the objects. The amount of caffeine the researchers used in the study was similar to one strong cup of coffee.
Professor Yassa says pills with a little more coffeine also increased memory, but resulted in some participants appearing more nervous.
And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. For more stories about health, go to our website learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Christopher Cruise.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.caffeine n. [有化][药] 咖啡因；茶精（兴奋剂）
Caffeine is bad for your health.
咖啡因对人体健康有害。
2.memory consolidation 记忆巩固
He is interested in learning whether they could improve consolidation in people with memory problems.
他关注的是了解这种药物是否真的能改善人类的记忆巩固问题。
3.inactive adj. 不活跃的；不活动的；怠惰的；闲置的
He certainly was not politically inactive.
他在政治上当然不是无所作为。
内容解析
1.Professor Yassa says pills with a little more coffeine also increased memory, but resulted in some participants appearing more nervous.
result in 导致，结果是
The unsatisfiedness of the workmen resulted in a strike.
工人的不满引起了一场罢工。
The football match resulted in goalless draw.
这场足球比赛结果是零比零。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
很多人说只有先喝上一杯咖啡或茶，才能开始一天的生活。人们说这样能帮助他们清醒地思考，感觉更清晰。这是因为这些植物中存在有咖啡因。
咖啡因能使得神经系统重新启动，现在一份最新报告称咖啡因还能改善长期记忆力。报告今年早些时候发表在期刊《自然神经科学》上。
迈克尔·雅萨是加州大学尔湾分校的神经学教授，他和其他研究者希望弄明白咖啡因是否能改善所谓的记忆固化。他们请一群人学习新的东西，然后给他们服用咖啡因，也就是咖啡、茶和巧克力中的活性成分。
他和其他研究者对160名无咖啡因爱好的人做了实验，第一天，他们给所有实验对象都看了日常的物品，然后请他们识别能否在室内外找到这些图片。有的实验对象服用了咖啡因片，其他人服用了安慰剂，这是一种不含活动成分的药丸。
第二天，他们要求所有的实验对象都看更多的图片。有的图片和24小时前他们看到的一模一样，但其他的不一样。第三组图片和第一组相似，但有轻微不同。参与者必须决定这些图片和前一天看到的一样还是不一样。
雅萨教授说他们的答案说明了咖啡因对记忆力的影响。
他说那些服用咖啡因药片的人记住这些物品的能力提高了10%到12%，研究者在实验中使用的咖啡因的量和一杯浓咖啡中的量差不多。
雅萨教授说含咖啡因更多的药片还能增强记忆力，但这会导致有的参与者更加不安。
这就是美国之音慢速英语健康宝典，登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多健康报道，我是克里斯多夫·克鲁斯。
