英语听力文摘 English Digest 383、手势有助记忆

Hand Gestures
手势

You know, radio is a great thing. Here I am! Flying high above the earth, but my voice is coming across just as if I were sitting in front of you. Communicating by voice alone has its drawbacks, though.

For example, I can’t use hand gestures to clarify what I mean. And, as it turns out, that makes a big difference. Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand wanted to know how much a relevant hand gesture helps to communicate an idea. They had volunteers watch video clips¹ of a woman saying different simple phrases³, such as “the square box,” or “peel the banana.”

In some, she simply said the phrase² without moving her hands. Peel the banana. In others, she made the kind of hand gesture most of us would make when saying that–a sort of banana-peeling mime that matches the content of the phrase. In a third group, she made gestures with her hands that were unrelated to what she was saying.

The results? People who got the matching content hand gestures remembered those phrases more effectively⁴ than folks⁵ who got just the words alone. And folks who got just the words alone did better than folks who got irrelevant hand gestures!

What does this show us? We already knew that all the hand-waving we do when we speak isn’t just nervous energy; it serves various functions. Apparently⁶, one of them is to help the listener⁷ remember what you’ve said.

要知道，收音机是伟大的发明。现在，我在演播厅，可是，我的声音让你觉得我就在你面前。但是，光凭声音沟通是有缺点的。

比如，我现在无法用手势来表达自己。这说明手势对沟通很重要。新西兰奥塔拉大学的研究，想知道相关的手势对表达想法有多少帮助。志愿者被要求观看视频短片，短片中有个女人在说各种简单短语，比如，“方盒子”、“剥香蕉”……

比如，剥香蕉。第一组志愿观看的视频中，她只是说出来，而不做任何手势。但是，第二组志愿观看的视频中，她模仿默剧，做剥香蕉手势。在第三组志愿观看的视频中，她做了一些和剥香蕉毫不相干的手势。

结果是什么呢？第二组志愿者比第一组记得更好；而第一组比第三组记得更好！

这说明什么呢？我们在说话时所做的手势，除了情绪表达还有更多其它用处。很显然，手势有助于听者记忆。

1 clips   

n.剪（ clip的名词复数 ）；剪短；剪报；（塑料或金属的） 夹子v.用别针别在某物上，用夹子夹在某物上（ clip的第三人称单数 ）；剪掉；缩短；给…剪毛（或发）

参考例句：

• toe clips on a bicycle 自行车上的踏脚夹套
• Use the crocodile clips to attach the cables to the battery. 用鳄鱼嘴夹把电缆接到蓄电池上。

2 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

3 phrases   

n.短语( phrase的名词复数 )；成语；说法；乐句

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 effectively   

adv.有效地，有力地，实际上

参考例句：

• This method worked effectively.这方法很见效。
• The public should be educated to use resources more effectively.应该教育大众更有效地使用资源。

5 folks   

n.人们；父母；亲人；家属；人们( folk的名词复数 )；亲属；大伙儿；民间音乐

参考例句：

• Ask yourself what the folks in Peoria will think of it. 想一想皮奥里亚的人会如何看待这件事。
• When good folks meet, evil men keep their distance. 好人相逢，恶人远离。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 listener   

n.听众；收听者

参考例句：

• I'm a regular listener to her show.我经常收听她的节目。
• She became an attentive listener.她变成了一个专心致志的聆听者。