【在生活中學習語言】中英對照讀新聞--Music can improve heart health 音樂能改善心臟健康

Songs that make our hearts soar can make them stronger too, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

讓我們心情飛揚的歌曲，也能讓心臟變得更強健，美國研究人員週二指出。

They found that when people listened to their favorite music, their blood vessels dilated in much the same way as when laughing, or taking blood medications.

他們發現，當人們聆聽喜歡的音樂時，血管擴張程度與開懷大笑或服用血液藥物的作用大致相同。

"We have a pretty impressive effect," said Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

「我們發現效果十分驚人。」巴爾的摩馬里蘭大學醫學中心預防心臟科主任米勒博士說。

"Blood vessel diameter improved," he said in a telephone interview. "The vessel opened up pretty significantly. You can see the vessels opening up with other activities such as exercise."

「血管直徑擴大了，」他在電話訪問中說。「血管張開得相當明顯，可以見到諸如運動等其他活動時的血管擴張。」

When blood vessels open more, blood flows more smoothly and is less likely to form the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Elastic vessels also resist the hardening activity of atherosclerosis.

當血管進一步擴張時，血液流通較順暢，且形成會導致心臟病、中風的血栓機率也較小，血管維持彈性也會防止動脈粥狀硬化趨於惡化。

新聞辭典 Dictionary

dilate：動詞，擴大；使膨脹。例句：The cat dilated its eyes.（貓瞪大眼睛）。dilate另一個常見意思是「詳述、細說」，例句：If there were time, I could dilate on the subject.（要是有時間，我可以詳細談談這個問題的。）

stroke：本文中是醫學名詞「中風」。stroke另有「打、敲、一擊」的意思，用法如：a stroke of lightning（閃電的一擊）。

elastic：形容詞，有彈性的；有彈力的。例句：Rubber is elastic.（橡膠有彈性。）elastic當名詞時，是指橡皮帶（鬆緊帶、橡皮圈）。例句：It snapped back like a piece of elastic.（它像一條橡皮帶般迅速彈回。）

自由時報-971122

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