阅读背景知识之微笑的力量

　　APEC放假期间做什么？好好备考托福才是王道，跟随和谐英语网托福频道的脚步来学习吧！笑是人类最美的语言，也是最好的健康保养品。我们常说“笑一笑十年少”，不过你知道吗?笑真的对健康有着莫大的作用。下面，就请跟新东方留学进入今天的托福阅读材料：笑有利于健康。

　　Laughter is good for the heart because it prolongs life while depressionincreases the risk of an early death, according to two new studies.

　　据两份最新研究表明，大笑有益心脏健康，能延年益寿; 相反，忧郁增加早死的危险。

　　A good bout of laughter every day provides similar cardiovascular benefitsas exercise because it stimulates the blood flow, said Michael Miller, whoheaded one research team at the University of Maryland.

　　其中一项研究的负责人、美国马里兰大学的迈克尔?米勒表示，坚持每天开怀大笑，能促进血液流动，像锻炼身体一样，提高心血管健康。

　　On the other hand, depression -- or the lack of laughter -- is often linkedto unhealthy habits such as smoking and drug addiction and increases the risk ofdeath by 44 percent, said Wein Jiang, who led a study of 1,000 heart patientsfor the University of North Carolina.

　　另一方面，北卡罗莱纳大学的WeinJiang负责的另一项研究，研究了1000个心脏病患者则表明，沮丧或者少笑常常与不健康习惯联系在一起。比如，吸烟，吸毒等。同时，死亡的危险增加44%。

　　Miller said laughter produced a "magnitude of change ... in the endothelium... similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic activity, but without theaches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise"

　　Miller称笑会在心内膜内引起很大的变化，其功效类似于我们进行的有氧运动，而且避免了因为锻炼而疼痛或肌肉紧张等不良影响。

　　While laughter should not replace exercise, he said, "We do recommend thatyou try to laugh on a regular basis. Thirty minutes of exercise three times aweek, and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is probably good for thevascular system."

　　他还表示，笑并不能代替锻炼。我们强烈建议每天都笑笑。一周坚持三次半小时以上的运动，每天笑15分钟，这样会对人们的脉管体统大有裨益。”

　　Notes:

　　cardiovascular [,kɑ:di u'v skjul ] adj. 心血管的

　　endothelium [,end u'θi:li m] n. 内皮;内覆组织

　　aerobic activity: 有氧运动