評論
打印
Text 3
閱讀3
In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) listed at over seven feet.
在 20世紀 60年代早期，Wilt Chamberlain 是美國國家籃球協會中僅有的身高超過7英尺的三個人之一。
If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42.
可是如果他參加了上個賽季的話，他就變成了 1/42了。
The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years,
這些年來在較大的職業體育運動中的運動員的身體狀況發生了很大的改變，
and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames.
而他們的經理人也更愿意調整隊員的運動服來適應隊員們更大，更高的身材。
The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing.
雖然體育界的這種趨勢可能蒙蔽了一個沒有被承認的現實：美國人基本上停止生長了。
Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people - especially those born to families who have lived in the U. S. for many generations - apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s.
雖然現在人們比 140 年前高了 2英寸，特別是那些出生在已移民美國很多代的那些人，但是明顯的，在二十世紀60年代早期，已經到達了他們的身高的極限。
And they aren't likely to get any taller.
他們已經不可能再長得更高了。
“In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go, ” says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University.
Wright 州大學的人類學家 William Cameron Chumlea 說：“在這個基因和環境的條件下，現在整體的人們已經長到我們能夠達到的范圍了?！?/p>
In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world.
拿 NBA 球員來說，他們身高的增加主要由于從世界各地招募到了球員。
Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients - notably, protein - to feed expanding tissues.
身高的增長一般在 20 歲以后就停止了，而發育是需要能量和營養的，其中的蛋白質用來供給組織的生長。
At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition and childhood infections got in the way.
在 20世紀初，營養不良和兒童疾病妨礙了整體的發育。
But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height.
但是當飲食和健康的促進，兒童和青少年平均每 20年都增長了大概1.5英寸，這就是長高的趨勢。
Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height - 5'9″ for men, 5'4″ for women - hasn't really changed since 1960.
根據疾病防治中心，從1960 年開始，人們平均身高，男性5英尺9英寸，女性5英尺4英寸，就沒有什么變化了。
Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height.
總的說來，避免太高的身高是有很多優點的。
During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal.
在生產時，較大的嬰兒通過產道是有更多的問題的。
Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal posture and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs.
而且，就算人類已經直立行走已經幾百萬年了，我們的腳和背部繼續對抗著巨大的壓力，這些壓力來源于雙足直立的姿勢和巨大的肢體。
“There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism, ” says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University.
西北大學的人類學家 William Leonard 說：“有一些限制是個體器官的基因結構導致的?！?/p>
Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon.
基因的最大化可以改變，但是不要期待它會馬上就能發生。
Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass. , ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration.
Mass州的Natick的軍隊研究中心的高級人類學家Claire C. Gordon確信百分之九十的入伍新兵不需要更換新的制服和工作站。
She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time.
她說，不像那些籃球制服，軍隊的制服長度很長時間都沒有改變了。
And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, “you could use today's data and feel fairly confident. ”
如果你需要在不遠的將來預測人類的身高而去設計一款新的設備，Gordon 說基本上，“你都可以使用現在的數據，并且非常地自信?！?/p>
