評論
打印
Lesson 25 Non-auditory effects of noise
第25課 噪音的非聽覺效應(yīng)
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
What conclusion does the author draw about noise and health in this piece?
作者得出關(guān)于噪音和身體健康這一塊的結(jié)論是什么？
Many people in industry and the Services, who have practical experience of noise, regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time;
在工業(yè)部門工作和在軍隊中服役的許多人對噪聲音有切身的體會，他們認(rèn)為對這個問題進(jìn)行調(diào)查是浪費時間，
they are not prepared even to admit the possibility that noise affects people.
他們甚至不愿承認(rèn)噪音可能對人有影響。
On the other hand, those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society.
另一方面，那些討厭噪音的人有時會用不充分的證據(jù)來支持他們希望有一個較為安靜的社會環(huán)境的要求。
This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause, and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science.
這令人遺憾，因為要求減少噪音是件好事，但是如果與拙劣的科學(xué)摻雜在一起的話，就不會被人們所信任。
One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness.
常見的一種指責(zé)是，噪音能引起精神病。
A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance, was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress,
例如，最近一家周報刊登了一篇文章，文章上方有一幅引人注目的插圖，是一位表情沮喪的女子。
with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'.
圖的文字說明：“她是又一個受害者，成了只會尖叫的可憐蟲。”
On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more
當(dāng)人們急切地看完正文后，便知道這女子是個打字員，辦公室打字機(jī)的聲音使她越來越煩，
until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital.
最終住進(jìn)了精神病醫(yī)院。
Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect.
這類奇聞的疑難之處是無法區(qū)別因果關(guān)系。
Was the noise a cause of the illness, or were the complaints about noise merely a symptom?
是噪音引起了（精神）病呢，還是（精神）病的癥狀之一是對噪音的抱怨？
Another patient might equally well complain that her neighbours were combining to slander her and persecute her,
另有一位病人可能同樣有理由抱怨說，她的鄰居們正在聯(lián)合起來對她進(jìn)行誹謗和迫害，
and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.
不過，人們不會輕信她的抱怨。
What is needed in the case of noise is a study of large numbers of people living under noisy conditions,
對于噪音問題，需要對大量生活在噪音中的人進(jìn)行研究，
to discover whether they are mentally ill more often than other people are.
看一看他們是否比其他人更易患精神病。
Some time ago the United States Navy, for instance, examined a very large number of men working on aircraft carriers: the study was known as Project Anehin.
例如，美國海軍前些時候調(diào)查了許多在航空母航上工作的人，這次調(diào)查被稱之為：“安內(nèi)英工程”。
It can be unpleasant to live even several miles from an aerodrome;
即使住在離機(jī)場幾英里以外的地方，機(jī)場的噪音也會使人難受。
if you think what it must be like to share the deck of a ship with several squadrons of jet aircraft,
因此，和幾個中隊的噴氣機(jī)同在一個甲板上，如果你能想像出是什么滋味兒的話，
you will realize that a modern navy is a good place to study noise.
你就會認(rèn)識到現(xiàn)代海軍是研究噪音的好地方。
But neither psychiatric interviews nor objective tests were able to show any effects upon these American sailors.
但是，不管進(jìn)行精神病學(xué)的調(diào)查訪問，還是進(jìn)行客觀的測試，都不能顯示噪音對這些美國水兵有任何影響。
This result merely confirms earlier American and British studies: if there is any effect of noise upon mental health,
這個結(jié)果只不過證實了美國和英國早些時候的研究結(jié)論：如果噪音對精神健康有影響的話，
it must be so small that present methods of psychiatric diagnosis cannot find it.
那也一定是微乎其微，以致現(xiàn)代的精神病診斷方法還發(fā)現(xiàn)不了。
That does not prove that it does not exist; but it does mean that noise is less dangerous than, say being brought up in an orphanage
這并不是證實不存在噪音對健康的影響。但它確實說明，噪音的危險性 -- 比如說 -- 比在孤兒院長大所受的危害要小一些，
which really is a mental health hazard.
孤兒院才是真正危害精神健康的地方。
