VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：樂(lè)觀使人長(zhǎng)壽

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

樂(lè)觀使人長(zhǎng)壽

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)健康和生活方式報(bào)道。

Imagine there is a glass of water on a table in front of you. It has water in it but it is not full. How do you describe the glass? Do you say it is half full or half empty?

假設(shè)你面前的桌子上有一杯水，杯子里水沒(méi)滿。你怎么描述這杯水呢?你會(huì)說(shuō)它是半滿的還是半空的?

If you say half full, you might be an optimist. If you say, half empty, you might be the opposite -- a pessimist.

如果你說(shuō)它是半滿的，你可能就是一位樂(lè)觀主義者。如果你說(shuō)它是半空的，你可能就相反是一位悲觀主義者。

Optimism and pessimism represent your general attitude toward certain situations or to life in general. And your attitude about life may be more important to living than you think.

樂(lè)觀和悲觀代表了你對(duì)特定情況或日常生活的普遍態(tài)度。你的生活態(tài)度對(duì)人生的重要性可能超出了你的想象。

A new study suggests that your level of optimism may affect your health. People who are optimistic may live longer than those who are pessimistic.

一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，樂(lè)觀程度會(huì)影響一個(gè)人的健康。樂(lè)觀主義者可能比悲觀主義者更為長(zhǎng)壽。

Researchers at Harvard University's School of Public Health in Boston did the study. They compared women with "a general expectation that good things will happen" to women who were less optimistic. They found that the optimists had a much lower risk of getting several deadly diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and certain types of infection.

哈佛大學(xué)公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院的研究人員進(jìn)行了這項(xiàng)研究。他們將樂(lè)觀的女性同不那么樂(lè)觀的女性進(jìn)行了比較。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)樂(lè)觀主義者患上致命疾病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更低，這些疾病包括癌癥、心臟病、中風(fēng)、呼吸道疾病和某些類型的感染。

The researchers published their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread and how they can be controlled.

研究人員在《美國(guó)流行病學(xué)》雜志上發(fā)表了他們的研究結(jié)果。流行病學(xué)研究疾病如何傳播及控制。

Eric Kim is one of the study leaders.

埃里克·金姆(Eric Kim)是這項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人之一。

He says there is increasing evidence that strengthening psychological resilience may help prevent disease. Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulty or change. Kim says that these new findings suggest that people should make efforts to increase their resilience and optimism.

他說(shuō)，越來(lái)越多的證據(jù)表明，增強(qiáng)心理韌性可能有助于預(yù)防疾病。韌性是指從困難或改變中恢復(fù)的能力。金姆表示，這些新的研究結(jié)果表明，人們應(yīng)該努力增強(qiáng)自己的韌性和樂(lè)觀。

He says optimism is connected with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of dealing with difficulty. Optimists tend to take better care of themselves by exercising, eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep.

他說(shuō)，樂(lè)觀涉及更健康的行為以及用更健康的方式面對(duì)困難。樂(lè)觀主義者傾向于通過(guò)鍛煉、健康飲食以及充足睡眠來(lái)更好地照顧好自己。

However, the researchers say that healthy behaviors of optimistic people only partly explain the connection with reduced risk of disease.

然而，研究人員表示，樂(lè)觀主義者的健康行為只能部分解釋同疾病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低之間的聯(lián)系。

For the study, researchers looked at information gathered on 70,000 women in the Nurse's Health Study. This massive study began in 1975. It collects health information on those involved in the study every two years.

在這項(xiàng)研究中，研究人員查看了《護(hù)士健康研究》中收集到的7萬(wàn)名女性的信息。這項(xiàng)大規(guī)模研究始于1975年，它每?jī)赡晔占淮窝芯繀⑴c者的健康信息。

The Harvard researchers looked at the level of optimism of the women, as well as other factors such as race, diet, physical activity level and overall health.

哈佛大學(xué)研究人員查看了這些女性的樂(lè)觀程度，以及種族、飲食、身體活動(dòng)水平以及整體健康狀況等因素。

They found the most optimistic women had nearly a 30 percent lower risk of dying from disease. When compared to the least optimistic women in the study, the optimistic women had:

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，最樂(lè)觀的女性的病故風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低了30%。與研究中涉及的不樂(lè)觀的女性相比，樂(lè)觀女性：

an almost forty percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease,

心臟病、中風(fēng)以及呼吸道疾病死亡風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低了近40%，

a fifty percent lower risk of dying from infection,

感染死亡風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低了50%，

and a sixteen percent lower risk of dying from cancer.

癌癥死亡風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低了16%。

The researchers note that other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease. This, however, is the first study to link optimism with reduced mortality from other diseases.

研究人員指出，其它研究已經(jīng)將樂(lè)觀同降低心血管疾病死亡風(fēng)險(xiǎn)聯(lián)系了起來(lái)。然而，他們這是第一項(xiàng)將樂(lè)觀與降低其它疾病死亡率聯(lián)系起來(lái)的研究。

Kaitlin Hagan, another study leader, says earlier studies show that a person can use simple, low-cost methods to increase optimism. For example, she says people can think about and write down the best possible outcomes for areas of their lives, like their careers or relationships.

這項(xiàng)研究的另一位負(fù)責(zé)人凱特琳·哈根(Kaitlin Hagan)表示，早期研究表明，人們可以通過(guò)簡(jiǎn)單、低成本的方式提升樂(lè)觀。她說(shuō)，例如人們可以思考并寫下他們?nèi)松詈玫慕Y(jié)果，像是他們的事業(yè)或人際關(guān)系。

Leslie Ralph is a clinical psychologist and counselor at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She also blogs about stress management. Ralph has several ideas about how to increase optimism.

萊絲莉·拉爾夫(Leslie Ralph)是圖森市亞利桑那大學(xué)的一位臨床心理學(xué)家和心理顧問(wèn)。她也在博客上發(fā)表文章談到了壓力管理。拉爾夫有幾個(gè)提升樂(lè)觀的主意。

She says each night plan to do two or three simple, enjoyable activities the next day. These activities might include watching the sun rise, visiting a friend, dancing to a favorite song or reading a story with your child.

她說(shuō)，每天晚上策劃第二天進(jìn)行兩到三項(xiàng)簡(jiǎn)單、愉快的活動(dòng)。這些活動(dòng)包括觀看日出、訪友、跟著喜歡的歌曲跳舞或是跟孩子一起讀個(gè)故事。

She also suggests that if your day starts badly, simply close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. When you open your eyes, imagine your day has started over. It's like having your own restart button.

她還建議，如果這天出門就不順，只要閉上眼睛深吸一口氣。當(dāng)你睜開(kāi)眼睛時(shí)，設(shè)想這一天已經(jīng)重新開(kāi)始。這就像是自己有個(gè)重啟按鈕。

And the counselor adds offering praise or support to someone can also improve your own outlook. A smile and "thank you" from another person may help you feel more optimistic.

這位心理顧問(wèn)補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，贊揚(yáng)或幫助某人也可以提升自己的人生觀。來(lái)自他人的一個(gè)微笑和一句謝謝可能有助于讓你感覺(jué)更樂(lè)觀。

I'm Anna Matteo.

安娜·馬特奧報(bào)道。