经济学人430:一个懒汉,两个懒汉,三个懒汉

 　　Science and technology.

　　科技。

　　Global health.

　　全球健康。

　　One potato, two potato, three potato.

　　一个懒汉，两个懒汉，三个懒汉。

　　An effort to count the world's sloths¹.

　　来数一数世界上的懒汉。

　　A PAPER in the Lancet, shamelessly timed to coincide with the Olympic games, compares countries' rates of physical activity. The study it describes, led by Pedro Hallal of the Federal University of Pelotas, in Brazil, is the most complete portrait yet of the world's busy bees and couch potatoes. It suggests that nearly a third of adults, 31%, are not getting enough exercise.

　　《柳叶刀》①的一篇文章对世界各国人民进行体育锻炼的比率做了一个比较，而这篇文章的发表时间竟有意选在了奥运会召开之际。文章中的研究由巴西佩洛塔斯联邦大学的Pedro Hallal主导，是迄今为止对世界上的勤劳之人和电视懒虫最为完整的描绘。研究显示，世界上有将近三分之一（31%）的成年人缺乏锻炼。

　　That rates of exercise have declined is hardly a new discovery. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, technology and economic growth have conspired² to create a world in which the flexing³ of muscles is more and more an option rather than a necessity. But only recently have enough good data been collected from enough places to carry out the sort of analysis Dr Hallal and his colleagues have engaged in.

　　人们的锻炼比率有所下降这并不是什么新发现。自从工业革命开始后，科技和经济发展合谋创造了一个新世界，在这个世界里，锻炼身体（肌肉收缩）越来越成为人们的一种选择，而非迫切的需要。但直到最近，Hallal博士和他的同事才从足够多的地区收集到了充足的数据来进行这类分析研究。

　　In all, they were able to pool data from 122 countries, covering 89% of the world's population. They considered sufficient physical activity to be 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week, 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three days a week, or some combination of the two.

　　Hallal博士和他的同事总共收集了122个国家的数据，覆盖了89%的世界人口。他们认为，充足的体育锻炼应该是每周五天进行半小时的适量运动，或是每周三天进行20分钟的激烈运动，或者对这两者进行适当结合。

　　There are common themes in different places. Unsurprisingly, people in rich countries are less active than those in poor ones, and old people are less active than young ones. Less obviously, women tend to exercise less than men—34% are inactive, compared with 28% of men. But there are exceptions. The women of Croatia, Finland, Iraq and Luxembourg, for example, move more than their male countrymen.

　　不同的地区出现了同样的模式。富裕国家的人比那些贫穷国家的人锻炼得更少，老人比年轻人锻炼得更少，这一点在意料之中。但较为隐秘的一个现象是，女性通常比男性锻炼得少。女性懒惰人数占总人数的34%，而男性却只占了28%。但是也有例外情况，如克罗地亚、芬兰、伊拉克、卢森堡这几个国家的女性锻炼得就比本国男性同胞多。

　　Malta wins the race for most slothful country, with 72% of adults getting too little exercise. Swaziland and Saudi Arabia slouch in close behind, with 69%. In Bangladesh, by contrast, just 5% of adults fail to exercise enough. Surprisingly, America does not live up to its sluggish⁴ reputation. Six Americans in ten are sufficiently⁵ active by Dr Hallal's definition, compared with fewer than four in ten Britons.

　　马耳他有72%的成年人缺乏锻炼，成为世界上最懒的国家。斯威士兰和沙特阿拉伯紧随其后，懒惰人数占全国的69%。相比之下，孟加拉国只有5%的成年人缺乏锻炼。让人吃惊的是，美国竟然没有人们所说的那么懒。根据Hallal博士的标准，十个美国人中有六个拥有足够的锻炼，而相比之下，十个英国人中拥有足够锻炼的人还不到四个。

　　In an accompanying analysis of people's habits, Dr Hallal found equally wide differences. In South-East Asia fewer than a quarter sit for at least four hours each day; in Europe 64% do. And even neighbours may differ. Only 2% of Swiss walk to work, whereas 23% of Germans do so.

　　同时Hallal博士还对人们的生活习惯进行了分析，发现在这方面不同地区的人差别也很大。在东南亚，每天至少坐四小时的人不到四分之一，但在欧洲这样的人却占了总人口的64%。而且即使是邻国之间差别也很大。在瑞士，只有2%的人走路上班，但在德国却有23%的人这样做。

　　These high rates of inactivity are worrying. Paradoxically, human beings seem to have evolved to benefit from exercise while eschewing⁶ it whenever they can. In a state of nature it would be impossible to live a life that did not provide enough of it to be beneficial, while over-exercising would use up scarce calories to little advantage. But that no longer pertains⁷. According to another paper in the Lancet, insufficient⁸ activity these days has nearly the same effect on life expectancy⁹ as smoking.

　　这么高的懒惰率实在令人担忧。人类似乎已经进化到一种自相矛盾状态，尽管运动十分有益，但人类却唯恐避之不及。在自然状态下，缺乏锻炼的生活是不可能对人有益的，但过度锻炼又可能耗尽宝贵的卡路里，对人体无益。但现在这种说法已经不再适用现代人了。《柳叶刀》中的另一篇文章称，缺乏锻炼对寿命造成的影响几乎和抽烟差不多

1 sloths   

懒散( sloth的名词复数 )； 懒惰； 树獭； （经济）停滞。

参考例句：

• Mummies of pleistocene ground sloths, with original skin, hair, tendons and claws have been found. 还发现了保存原有皮肤，毛发，腱和爪的更新世时期地面树懒的木乃伊。
• He was inspired by fossils of armadillos and sloths. 犰狳和树懒化石让他获得了灵感。

2 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

3 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

4 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

5 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 eschewing   

v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The company sells direct to customers, eschewing distributors, re-sellers, and dealers. 公司直接向客户销售，避开批发商、分销商和经销商。 来自互联网
• That suggests the Taliban forces are eschewing firefights in favour of terrorist-style attacks. 这表明塔利班武装力量正偏向采用恐怖袭击方式以避免交火。 来自互联网

7 pertains   

关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用

参考例句：

• When one manages upward, none of these clear and unambiguous symbols pertains. 当一个人由下而上地管理时，这些明确无误的信号就全都不复存在了。
• Her conduct hardly pertains to a lady. 她的行为与女士身份不太相符。

8 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

9 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。