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Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by society.
社會不會鼓勵哭泣行為。
Tears, be they of sorrow, anger, on joy, typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.
然而眼淚，不管是由于傷心，氣憤還是喜悅，都會讓美國人感到不安和尷尬。
The shedder of tears is likely to apologize, even when a devastating tragedy was the provocation.
流淚的人常常會道歉。即使是因為遭到了毀滅性的悲劇的刺激才哭的。
The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an end to the emotional outpouring.
而看到別人哭泣的人則很可能會千方百計想辦法來制止這種情感宣泄行動。
But judging from recent studies of crying behavior, links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears,
但是，從最近的關于哭泣行為的研究來看，疾病和哭泣及眼淚的化學成分之間存在著某種聯系，
both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.
前面所提到的兩種對眼淚的反應都是不合適的，甚至會產生反面效果。
Humans are the only animals definitely known to shed emotional tears.
人類是唯一知道通過落淚來宣泄情感的動物。
Since evolution has given rise to few, if any, purposeless physiological responses,
進化論，即使有的話，也很少會產生無意義的生理反應，
it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.
那么按照邏輯，我們可以設想哭泣對于提高生存能力具有一項或更多的功能。
Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance form others (as a crying baby might from its mother),
盡管一些觀察家認為哭泣是向他人尋求幫助的一種方式（如哭泣的嬰兒是在向它的母親尋求幫助），
the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help.
但是哭泣并不都是為了求助。
Vocal cries would have been quite enough, more likely than tears to gain attention.
大聲呼喊就夠了，這比眼淚更能引起他人注意。
So, it appears, there must be something special about tears themselves.
由此看來，眼淚本身還一定具有某種特殊的意義。
Indeed, the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in alleviating stress.
確實，最新的研究表明，情感性淚水可以直接減輕人的壓力。
University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional tears.
美國明尼蘇達大學研究眼淚化學成分的研究人員最近已將情感性眼淚中的兩種重要化學物質分離出來。
Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion.
這兩種化學物質僅僅存在于由于情感反應而流出的眼淚中。
Tears shed because of exposure to cut onion would contain no such substance.
因切洋蔥而流出的眼淚中不含有這兩種物質。
Researchers at several other institutions are investigating the usefulness of tears as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs.
其他幾個研究所的研究人員正在研究如何把眼淚作為診斷病情和監控藥物的工具。
At Tulane University's tear Analysis Laboratory Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that
在圖拉大學的眼淚分析實驗室，比特·喀斯特博士和他的同事報告說，
they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to medication,
他們可以用眼淚去檢測濫用毒品問題及藥物的性能，
to determine whether a contact lens fits properly of why it may be uncomfortable,
確認隱形眼鏡戴起來是否合適或者是為什么戴著不舒適。
to study the causes of "dry eye" syndrome and the effects of eye surgery,
還能用來探究"干眼"綜合癥的產生原因和眼部手術的效果。
and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.
甚至還能用來測量環境污染特的情況。
At Columbia University, Dr.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for clues to the diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes.
哥倫比亞大學拉瑞斯博士和他的同事們正在研究把眼睛作為線索來診斷除眼部疾病以外的其他病癥。
Tears can be obtained painlessly without invading the body and only tiny amounts are needed to perform highly refined analyses.
不用傷害到身體，眼淚便可輕松獲得，僅取少量便可做高度精確的分析。
