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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?

As you get jostled in the daily rough and tumble¹, does it feel like other people care less about how rough you have it and how much you’re getting tumbled²? Well, your suspicion may have some data to back it up, because according to an article in Scientific American Mind magazine, analysis of surveys of college kids reveals that self-reported empathy has been dropping for the last 30 years. And empathy really took a nosedive in the last 10 years.

Nearly 14,000 student questionnaires that were completed in the last three decades were used for the study. And 75 percent of those surveyed today rated themselves as being less empathic than what was the average score 30 years ago.

One possible explanation is social isolation—we tend to do more things on our own and engage in fewer group activities than we used to. Another possible cause is a decrease in reading fiction for pleasure. Studies have found that the number of stories preschoolers read correlates³ with their ability to understand other people’s emotional states. The good news is that if empathy can go down, it can also go back up. You feel me?

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Steve Mirsky.

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收听单词发音

1 tumble
vi.跌倒，摔下，翻滚，暴跌；n.跌(摔)倒
参考例句：
Children tumble over each other in play.孩子们玩耍时相互连身翻滚。 He took a tumble down the stairs.他摔下了楼梯。

2 tumbled
v.倒塌( tumble的过去式和过去分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟
参考例句：
He slipped and tumbled down the stairs. 他脚一滑滚下了楼梯。 A hundred and fifty empty bottles tumbled onto the floor. 150个空瓶子滚落到地板上。来自《简明英汉词典》

3 correlates
有相关性( correlate的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The average speed of the vehicles correlates closely with the severity of the accident caused. 平均车速与所引起事故的严重程度密切相关。 The course of the disease correlates with the development of the tumour. 病程和肿瘤的发展有相互关系。