雙語勵志美文：8種方式讓生活更美好
摘錄：根據對10000個成年人長達50年的追蹤研究，科學家發現，志願活動尤其是那些無私利心的，可以是救命稻草。那些花時間幫助別人的人們要比其他人更加長壽，即使他們幫別人只是爲了自己開心。
新的研究發現有很多方式能讓自己更加安靜、富有創造力和長壽。
New scientific research offers surprising ways to shower yourself with tranquility, creativity, longevity and more.
1. Optimism
樂觀積極
Never mind if you don't have hours a day——even a few minutes spent in quiet contemplation once in a while yields noticeable benefits.
就算你每天沒有太多的時間也沒關係，僅僅幾分鐘的沉思就能讓你獲得不少好處。
A group of adults who meditated an average of six hours and 13 minutes over the course of five weeks developed patterns of brain activity typically associated with positive moods.
研究顯示，在五週的時間裏平均沉思6小時13分鐘的成年人，有效地提升了腦力，心態也變得更加積極。
2. Serenity
平靜
When mice were fed a strain of probiotics found in some yogurt, they became calmer under stress, Irish and Canadian scientists observed.
愛爾蘭和加拿大的科學家觀察發現，用某種酸奶裏含有的活益生菌餵食老鼠，能讓它們在壓力之下顯得更加冷靜。
The were less likely to panic like their broth-fed brethren, and they produced fewer stress hormones—effects similar to those brought on by antidepressants. Look for yogurt that has active probiotic cultures, and say, "Mmmm."
相比那些食肉的老鼠而言，它們似乎更不容易陷入恐慌，還能分泌出較少的壓力荷爾蒙——這和服用抗抑鬱症藥物的效果一樣。喝喝那些富含活益生菌的酸奶吧，然後大讚一句“好喝”。
創造性思維
Volunteers who worked in rooms lit by a lamp with an incandescent lightbulb instead of overhead fluorescents solved problems requiring novel thinking more successfully.
房間裏的燈泡對創造性思維有影響。相比頭頂是日光燈的志願者而言，頭頂是白熾燈泡的似乎更能輕而易舉的解決需要創新性思維的難題。
Scientists say the symbolism of the bulb (not just its light spectrum) led to the subjects' bright ideas, and cited "a growing body of research showing that perception of objects... can subtly influence our behavior."
科學家表示，燈泡的象徵主義(不僅僅它的光譜)能幫助被試者想出不錯的點子，並且“越來越多的行爲研究表明對物體的感知能潛移默化的影響我們的行爲”。
4. Belonging
歸屬感
Undergraduates who considered chicken soup a comfort food and then were fed some scored higher on a psychological test of social connectedness than those who weren't given any soup. When given a word fragment like "incl", they converted it into a "relationship word" such as include, instead of a neutral term, like incline, because the dish stirred a sense of connection.
在社交連通性的心理測試中，我們給那些把雞湯看成是安慰食物的大學生準備了一些雞湯，結果顯示他們的得分要比沒有喝雞湯的那羣人更高。比如我們給出詞根incl， 他們會迅速轉化成“關係詞匯” 比如include，而非中性詞彙incline，因爲雞湯激起了他們心中的歸屬感。
5. Vitality
活力
Tired? Draggy? Stuck in your office? Picture yourself outside beneath an arching sky and canopied branches. Daydreaming about nature is energizing, according to a new study.
累了?乏了?被困在辦公室了?想象一下自己正在戶外，藍天下，綠茵旁吧。新的研究顯示，做點關於自然的白日夢能增加能量。
And if you can go outdoors, even better: as little as 20 minutes in a natural setting demonstrably increased people's energy levels for the day.
如果你真能去戶外那就更好了，每天只需要在自然環境下待上20分鐘就能有效提高一天的能量了。
6. Longevity
長壽
Using data from about 10,000 adults tracked over 50 years, scientists discovered that volunteering, especially for altruistic motives, can be a lifesaver. People who reported giving their time because they wanted to help others outlived those who didn't volunteer at all, as well as those who did so mostly for their own satisfaction.
根據對10000個成年人長達50年的追蹤研究，科學家發現，志願活動尤其是那些無私利心的，可以是救命稻草。那些花時間幫助別人的人們要比其他人更加長壽，即使他們幫別人只是爲了自己開心。
7. Bliss
狂喜
Researchers asked volunteers to rate their level of happiness the last time they spent money on themselves or on someone else. Not only were the givers happier, but when presented with extra cash to use as they wished, they were more apt to spend it on others. The study's authors concluded "a positive feedback loop" exists between offering gifts and well-being.
研究者要求志願者回想一下上次爲自己或別人花錢時到底有多開心。事實上，花錢者不僅更開心了，給他們多餘的錢時，他們還會樂於花在別人身上。研究作者總結道，給禮物和人之間有着“積極的回饋循環”。
8. A Healthier Diet
健康飲食
To make better choices at the grocery store, bring dollar bills, a revelatory study shows. Analyzing 1,000 households, researchers found that shoppers who paid by credit card tended to select chips, cookies, and other junk food. The theory: Shelling out cash is more psychologically painful, so people are less likely to spend it on unhealthy goods.
一項啓示性的研究顯示，想在便利店做出正確的選擇，用現金吧。對1000個家庭的分析發現，那些用信用卡付賬的顧客似乎更易選擇薯片、餅乾和其他垃圾食品。理論：花現金才更會肉疼，人們也就不會多買那些垃圾食品了。
