囧研究：想让食物更美味？转转你的盘子吧！

 　　Rotating your plate as it is placed on the table may improve the taste of your food, psychologists claim. People have a subconscious¹ preference for food that points away from them, according to Oxford² University experts, to the extent that it can affect the flavour.

　　心理学家称，转动一下盘子，盘中餐吃起来可能更美味。据牛津大学专家分析，人的潜意识里偏爱朝向偏外的美食，摆放方向甚至会影响到食物的风味。

　　An experiment involving 12,000 people, carried out at London’s Science Museum, suggests that most people prefer their meal to be aligned³ facing away from them, and marginally to the right. The perfect orientation⁴, the scientists discovered, is for food to point at 3.2 degrees clockwise, a tiny fraction to the right of the vertical⁵ axis⁶ of the plate.

　　一万两千人在伦敦的科学博物馆对做了一项实验，结果表明大多数人都更偏向菜肴不正对他们摆放，喜欢稍稍偏向右边摆。科学家们发现，完美的方食物摆放方向是顺时针方向3.2度， 即稍稍偏离餐盘中轴、

　　囧研究：想让食物更美味？转转你的盘子吧！

　　The effect is so pronounced that people actually experience an improved taste when the alignment⁷ is correct, the psychologists claim. The results, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, were obtained after thousands of people took part in an experiment at the Science Museum’s ‘Cravings Exhibition’, which explores the way reward circuits in the brain that determine flavour are altered by outside influences.

　　心理学家称，正确摆盘效果显著，人们实际可以体验到的食物也更美味了。数千人在科学博物馆“食欲展览”参加了实验，探索外界因素是如何影响大脑的奖赏回路，从而决定食物风味的。实验结果发表在《食品质量和偏好》期刊上。

　　Charles Michel, a chef and researcher on food aesthetics⁸ at Oxford University, said many people instinctively⁹ adjust their plate when it is placed in front of them.‘This everyday action that some of us do might hint at the fact that we all enjoy our food more when it is “oriented” in the best way possible. Indeed, by arranging the food to “look better”, we might be unconsciously enhancing its perceived value, and hence our enjoyment¹⁰ of it.

　　查尔斯·米歇尔是厨师，兼牛津大学食品美学研究员，称菜肴放在眼前时，许多人会本能地调整餐盘。这一日常动作很多人都会做，或许能体现这一事实，即食物摆放朝向最佳时，我们尝起食物会更美味。确实，把食物摆放好，看上去“更诱人”，我们或许下意识里会感知到食物价值的提升，从而更快乐地享受美食。

1 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。

2 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

3 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

4 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

5 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

6 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

7 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

8 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。

9 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。