SSS 2009-10-02_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

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When there are Nobel prizes there are Ig Nobel prizes, which were handed out at Harvard on October 1st. The awards honor research that “makes people laugh and then makes them think.”

Among this year’s winners:

The physics prize went to a study of why pregnant women don’t tip over. Usually. The chemistry prize was awarded to scientists who turned tequila into diamonds. Proof that all that glitters is not Cuervo gold. The veterinary medicine prize was given for finding that cows that have names make more milk than those who remain anonymous¹. Another study that’s udderly original. The medicine prize went to a physician who, for fifty years, cracked the knuckles² on only his left hand to test his mother’s contention³ that knuckle-cracking causes arthritis⁴. His conclusion: mom was wrong, although his study was self-controlled and not blinded.

Finally, the peace prize went to Swiss researchers for determining, through experiment, whether it’s better to get cracked over the head with a full bottle of beer or an empty one. Both, they found, are capable of fracturing a skull⁵. Which should definitely make you think during your next barroom brawl, and that’s no laughing matter

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1 anonymous
adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的
参考例句：
Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。 The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

2 knuckles
n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝
参考例句：
He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。 Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。来自《简明英汉词典》

3 contention
n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张
参考例句：
The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。 The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

4 arthritis
n.关节炎
参考例句：
Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。 He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

5 skull
n.头骨；颅骨
参考例句：
The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。 He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。