考研英語時文賞讀（46）：研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，對苦味敏感的人可能更喜歡喝咖啡

　　摘要：考研英語作為一門考研公共課，雖然大家都學了英語十幾年，卻仍經(jīng)常有總分過線掛在英語上的情況，因此英語復習不單單是單詞、做題。閱讀作為考研英語的大頭，僅僅做考研真題或許沒法滿足你的閱讀量，因此幫幫之后會不定時推出一篇英文美文，這些文章都與考研英語閱讀同源，多讀必有好處。

　　If you’re a regular coffee drinker, there’s a good chance your first taste of black coffee wasn’t an entirely pleasant one, at least according to a new study published in Scientific Reports.

　　如果你是一個經(jīng)常喝咖啡的人，那么你第一次喝黑咖啡的時候很可能并不是很愉快，至少根據(jù)發(fā)表在《科學報告》上的一項新研究是這樣的。

　　The research, which aimed to explain why some individuals develop a taste for coffee, reveals that love of coffee is actually linked to our genes.

　　這項研究旨在解釋為什么一些人會對咖啡產(chǎn)生興趣，它揭示了對咖啡的喜愛實際上與我們的基因有關。

　　The paper explains that individuals who are genetically more sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine actually end up liking coffee more than those who aren’t.

　　這篇論文解釋說，對咖啡苦味天生更敏感的人，實際上比那些不敏感的人更喜歡咖啡。

　　It might seem backward, but it’s all due to caffeine’s effect on our bodies and brains.

　　這看起來有點矛盾，但這都是由于咖啡因?qū)ξ覀兩眢w和大腦的影響。

　　The researchers explain that those of us with higher sensitivity to the bitterness of coffee also quickly learn to associate that taste with the boost our bodies get from the caffeine it contains.

　　研究人員解釋說，我們當中那些對咖啡苦味敏感的人也很快學會了把咖啡的味道和我們身體從咖啡因中獲得的提神感聯(lián)系起來。

　　This data was gleaned from the habits of over 400,000 people who submitted samples to the UK Biobank and shows that those classified as heavy coffee drinkers are particularly sensitive to caffeine’s bitter taste.

　　這些數(shù)據(jù)來自于40多萬人喝咖啡的習慣，他們向英國生物銀行提交了樣本，數(shù)據(jù)顯示這些人對咖啡因的苦味特別敏感。

　　“You’d expect that people who are particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine would drink less coffee,” Marilyn Cornelis, senior author of the study, said in a statement. “The opposite results of our study suggest coffee consumers acquire a taste or an ability to detect caffeine due to the learned positive reinforcement (i.e. stimulation) elicited by caffeine.”

　　研究報告的主要撰寫人瑪麗蓮.科內(nèi)利斯在一份聲明中說：“你可能會認為那些對咖啡因的苦味特別敏感的人會少喝咖啡。我們相反的研究結(jié)果表明，由于咖啡因所產(chǎn)生的正強化(即刺激)，喝咖啡的人獲得了檢測咖啡因的味覺或能力。”

　　Tasting something as bitter is a built-in protective feature of our bodies. Bitterness is something we tend to avoid because our bodies are essentially warning us that what we’re ingesting might be poisonous or otherwise harmful.

　　品嘗苦味是我們身體的固有保護特性。我們往往會避免吃苦的東西，因為我們的身體會本能地警告我們，我們攝入的東西可能有毒或有害。

　　In the case of caffeine, our brains learn that the particular compounds in the beverage that taste bitter aren’t harmful but are instead beneficial, giving us a stimulating boost.

　　就咖啡因而言，我們的大腦了解到咖啡中有苦味的特定成分沒有害處，而是有益的，給我們一種提神醒腦感。

　　That’s why your very first cup of coffee may have tasted like dirt, but you can now drink an entire pot and enjoy every drop.

　　這就是為什么你喝的第一杯咖啡嘗起來像塵垢一樣，但你現(xiàn)在可以喝下一整壺咖啡，享受每一滴咖啡。

　　(全文共324個詞，紐約時報)

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