VOA慢速英语2020 新研究探究女性为什么普遍比男性长寿

New Study Looks Into Why Females Live Longer Than Males

Researchers already know that women live longer than men in all parts of the world. Scientists have largely linked the difference in life expectancy¹ between the sexes to biological survival factors.

研究人员已经知道，全球各地的女性寿命都比男性长。科学家们认为，男女预期寿命差异很大程度上与生物学上的生存因素有关。

Now, a new study of wild mammals has found great differences in length of life and aging in many species of mammals.

现在，一项关于野生哺乳动物的新研究发现，许多哺乳类动物的寿命和衰老都存在巨大差异。

The researchers found that, in humans, women live almost 8 percent longer than men. But among wild mammals, females in 60 percent of the studied species live, on average, 18.6 percent longer. The percentages are very different for different groups of mammals.

研究人员发现，对于人类来说女性的寿命比男性的要长近8%。但对于野生哺乳动物来说，60%的研究物种中雌性预期寿命（比雄性）长18.6%。不同哺乳类动物群体的比例差异也很大。

Jean-Francois Lemaitre led the study. He is from the University Lyon 1 in France. He and his research team collected information on age-related deaths for 134 groups of 101 wild species of mammals.

来自法国里昂第一大学的让·弗朗索瓦·勒梅特（Jean-Francois Lemaitre）领导了这项研究。他和他的研究小组收集了134组101种野生哺乳动物与年龄相关的死亡信息。

Lemaitre said, "It was surprising to observe that this gender² gap in lifespan often exceeds the one observed in humans and is, at the same time, extremely variable across species."

勒梅特说：“令人惊讶的是，这种寿命的性别差异往往超出了在人类身上所观察到的差异，同时在不同种族之间也存在非常大的差距。”

Tamás Székely, from the University of Bath, was one of the writers of the study. He told VOA that female lions in the wild live at least 50 percent longer than male lions.

巴斯大学的塔玛斯·塞凯利是该研究的作者之一。他告诉美国之音，野生的雌狮比雄狮的寿命至少长50%。

"We previously³ thought this was mostly due to sexual selection, he said. "However our data do not support this."

“我们之前一直以为这主要是由于性别选择，”他说，“然而，我们的数据并不支持这一观点。”

Scientists say the risk of death does not increase more quickly in males than in females across species. They say there must be other, more complex reasons. These include things such as environmental conditions in which the animals live, sex-specific growth, survival and reproduction through the history of the species.

科学家表示，在不同的物种中，雄性的死亡风险并没有比雌性增加更快。他们认为，肯定还有其他更复杂的原因，包括诸如动物生活的环境条件，性别特异性增长，物种生存和繁殖的历史等因素。

Székely suggests that one reason for the differences between the sexes is that "female survival increases when males provide some or all of the parental⁴ care."

塞凯利表示，造成性别差异的原因之一是“当雄性提供部分或全部的亲代抚育责任时，雌性的存活率就会提高。”

He added that "giving birth and caring for young becomes a significant health cost for females and so this cost is reduced if both parents work together to bring up their offspring."

他补充道：“对女性来说，生育和照顾年轻一代会导致大量健康损耗，因此如果父母双方共同努力抚养后代，女性的损耗将会减少。”

Scientists plan to compare the data on wild mammals with the data on mammals kept in zoos. They want to measure how much biological differences between the sexes affect life expectancy. In zoos, animals do not have to fight with predators⁵ or fight for food and mates.

科学家计划将野生哺乳动物的数据与动物园饲养的哺乳动物的数据进行比较。他们希望借此衡量性别差异对两性之间预期寿命的影响。在动物园，动物们无需对抗掠食者，也不必为了食物与配偶争斗。

Scientists hope the findings will give them a better understanding of what affects length of life in humans. In the past 200 years, the average life expectancy of humans has more than doubled. The main reasons for the increase are improved living conditions and developments in the field of medicine. However, women continue to live longer than men. This suggests biological differences also play a part.

科学家希望，这些发现能帮助他们更好地了解影响人类寿命的因素。在过去200年间，人类的预期寿命增长了一倍多，造成这一现象的主要原因是生活条件的改善和医学领域的发展。然而，女性的寿命仍然比男性长，这表明生物学差异也起到了一定作用。

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says the average American man will live to age 76. The average woman in America will live to age 81. Women can also expect to be healthier than men in their older years. Experts said this is because of a combination of biological and social differences.

美国疾病控制中心表示，美国男性的平均寿命为76岁，美国女性的平均寿命为81岁。女性在老年阶段也会比男性更加健康。专家表示，这是由于生物和社会的差异造成的。

A hormone⁶ in men called testosterone is connected to a decrease in their immune system and risk of heart-related diseases as they age. It is also connected to risky⁷ behavior, such as smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating habits.

男性体内的一种叫做睾丸素的激素与他们的免疫系统下降和随着年龄增长患心脏病的风险有关。寿命还与一些危险的行为习惯有关，如吸烟、饮酒和不良的饮食习惯。

Men are also less likely than women to follow suggestions and warnings from a doctor. And research shows that men are more likely to take life-threatening risks and to die in car accidents or gun fights.

女性比男性更愿意听从医生的建议和警告。研究表明，男人更愿意冒风险，更容易死于车祸或枪战。

Words in This Story

gap – n. a space between two people or things; a missing part

lifespan – n. the amount of time that a person or animal actually lives

previously – adv. earlier in time or order

1 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。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

5 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。