时差N小时 婴儿睡觉的时候体重在增加吗?

Most people who hold babies know that the moment babies go to sleep, they seem to gain weight. Of course, a baby's weight doesn't really change when they fall asleep, so why does the limp, floppy¹ weight of a sleeping baby seem greater than it actually is?

大多数有孩子的人都知道婴儿睡着的那一刻，体重似乎在增加。实际上，婴儿在睡着的时候体重并没有变化，那为什么他们松软无力的身体似乎比实际要重？

A sleeping baby in your arms feels heavier because you must constantly adjust your own movements to compensate² for their floppiness³. Your muscles work harder to carry a child who's asleep, and your brain perceives this increase in work as an increase in the child's weight, though, of course, the weight of the baby stays the same.

怀抱着睡梦中的婴儿，感觉他们比平常更重，那是因为你必须不断地调整自己的动作来抱稳他们。为了抱起熟睡中的婴儿，你的肌肉会要更努力地运作，你的大脑则把工作量的增加当成了孩子体重的增加。当然，孩子的体重是保持不变的。

To picture this, think about carrying a twenty-pound bag of water. You would continually have to rearrange how you were holding that bag to make up for how the weight shifted due to the water sloshing around.

为了更加形象化，想像一下你正抱着一个20英镑的水袋。你要不断地重新安排姿势，才能在水四处流动、重心不断的转移时稳住水袋。

In a similar way, you must continually adjust how you are holding or carrying a sleeping baby because they aren't able to control their own muscles to maintain a steady posture⁴. Their inability to control their posture and movements makes them floppy, just like that bag of water.

同理，在抱着熟睡中的婴儿的时候，你必须不断地调整你的动作，因为婴儿们不能控制自己的肌肉以保持稳定的姿势。因为他们不能控制姿势和动作，这让他们的身体显得很松软，就像一袋水似的。

Now, freeze your twenty-pound bag of water. Though it would be cold and slippery, it would feel lighter⁵ because it is a solid weight that doesn't require you to constantly make minute adjustments in order to carry it. This is how you perceive the weight of a conscious person.

现在，冰冻那20磅重的水袋。尽管它冰凉而湿滑，但还是觉得较轻，因为此时它是固体重量，不需要你不断地进行调整。这就是人们如何感知一个有意识的人的体重。

Babies aren't the only ones who seem heavier when they go limp. Dogs and cats also seem to gain weight when they go to sleep. And political protesters take advantage of this phenomenon by completely relaxing their muscles when police try to drag them away from a protest.

婴儿并不是唯一的在四肢无力时看起来体重在增加的人。狗和猫睡着时，也会让人觉得他们在增重。政治抗议者充分利用了这种现象，在警察试图将他们从抗议人群中拖走时，他们则完全放松肌肉。

1 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

2 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

3 floppiness   

松弛

参考例句：

4 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

5 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。