【在生活中學習語言】《中英對照讀新聞》Hurt feelings ’worse than pain’ 受傷的感覺比身體的疼痛還難過
◎鄭寺音

The old adage "sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you", simply is not true, according to researchers.

古語所說的：「棒子與石頭可以打斷你的骨頭，但言語永遠不會傷害你」，根本就不對，根據研究人員指出。

Psychologists found memories of painful emotional experiences linger far longer than those involving physical pain.

心理學家發現，情緒經驗的痛苦記憶，會比身體疼痛停留的時間長許多。

They quizzed volunteers about painful events over the previous five years.

他們詢問志願者過去5年間的痛苦事件。

Writing in the journal Psychological Science, they said evolutionary brain changes which allow us to work better in groups or societies could be key.

他們在心理學期刊撰文指出，腦部經過讓我們在團體或社會中做得更好的演化改變，可能是關鍵。

The volunteers were asked to write about painful experiences, both physical and emotional, then given a difficult mental test shortly afterwards.

這些志願者被要求寫下身體與情緒的痛苦經驗，之後隨即接受困難的心理測驗。

The principle was that the more painful the recalled experience, the less well the person would perform in the tests.

此一測驗的原理是，回想起的經驗越痛苦的人，測驗表現就越差。

Test scores were consistently higher in those recalling physical rather than "social" pain.

回憶身體疼痛而非「社交」痛苦的人，測驗分數始終比較高。

新聞辭典

linger：逗留，徘徊。例句：Davis lingered for a moment in the bar.（戴維斯在酒吧逗留了一會兒。）

recall：回想起。例句：Dick recalls having been in Paris to study music when he was a child.（狄克憶起小時候曾經到巴黎學音樂。）

consistently：前後一致地，形容詞為consistent。例句：His behavior is consistent with his teaching.（他的行為與其教誨相符。）

自由時報-970911
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