科学美国人60秒 SSS 通过咳嗽和喷嚏声能判断是否有传染病吗?

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

You're at the supermarket trying to choose a ripe tomato when, behind you, you hear...

你正在超市里努力挑选成熟的西红柿，突然你身后传来……

If you're like most people, you probably hold your breath, tighten¹ your mask and hope you don't catch whatever Patient Zero is spraying over the fresh produce.

如果你和大多数人一样，你可能会屏住呼吸，按紧口罩，希望自己不会赶上零号病人正向生鲜产品喷洒病毒。

And if you're like most people, chances are you're overreacting,

如果你和大多数人一样，那你可能是反应过度了，

because a new study shows that we're not very skilled when it comes to diagnosing infectiousness based on the sound of a sneeze or cough.

因为一项新研究表明，我们不是很擅长根据喷嚏或咳嗽声来诊断传染病。

The work is in the Proceedings² of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences.

这项研究发表在《英国皇家学会学报：生物学》上。

Previous studies have shown that folks can tell when someone is sick based on how they look or, in some cases, how they smell.

先前研究表明，人们可以根据外表——有时根据气味——来判断一个人何时在生病。

So it's only natural to wonder whether the same would hold true for an assessment³ with our ears.

因此，我们自然想知道，用我们的耳朵是否也能进行评估。

So researchers asked volunteers to listen to audio clips of people hacking⁴ and sneezing.

因此，研究人员让志愿者听人们咳嗽和打喷嚏的音频片段。

"Half of the coughs and sneezes were produced by someone with an infectious illness, like the flu or the common cold.

“其中一半的咳嗽和喷嚏声是流感或感冒等传染病患者发出的。

And half were produced by benign⁵ causes like eating too much cinnamon all at once or sticking a Q-tip up their noses."

另一半则因良性原因产生，比如一下吃太多肉杜或往鼻孔里捅棉签。”

Nicholas Michalak, a grad student in social psychology⁶ at the University of Michigan.

密歇根大学社会的心理学研究生尼古拉斯·米恰拉克说到。

"We clipped these sounds from YouTube videos in which people told their audience that they were sick.

“我们从YouTube视频中截取了这些声音，视频中的人告诉观众他们生病了。

Many reported having been diagnosed by a medical professional.

许多人报告称经过了医学专业人员的诊断。

All this said, we could not directly confirm whether people in our sound clips were infectious or not."

尽管如此，我们仍然无法直接确认音频片段中的人是否具有传染性。”

And what he found?

他发现了什么？

"Across four studies of over 600 participants in total, on average, people guessed four out of 10 sounds correctly, which is consistent with random⁷ guessing.

“在总共600多人参与的四项研究中，人们猜测的正确率平均为40%，这与随机猜测正确率一致。

In other words, they weren't very good at judging whether the sounds were infected."

换句话说，他们不太善于通过声音判断传染性。”

But being bad judges didn't dampen their confidence.

但判断力不佳并未打击他们的自信。

When asked how sure they were about their guesses, on a scale of 1 to 9, participants reported an average certainty of 7.

当被问及对自己的猜测有大把握时，在1到9的范围内，参与者报告的平均确定度为7。

“Interestingly, we didn't find any evidence that people who were more certain about their guesses were more or less likely to guess correctly.”

“有趣的是，我们没有发现任何证据表明，对自己的猜测更有把握的人，或多或少更容易猜对。”

So what made them so sure that certain sounds were sure signs of disease? Well, the sickies, they figured, made noises that seemed the most gross.

那是什么让他们如此确信某些声音是疾病的明确信号呢？他们认为，病人发出的声音似乎是最恶心的。

"The more disgusting they perceived a sound, the more likely they were to judge it infectious, even if the sound wasn't infectious."

“他们觉得声音越恶心，就越有可能判断声音有传染性，即使发出声音的人并没有传染病。”

So...

因此……

...might be deemed more contagious⁸ than...

……可能被认为更具传染性……

...depending on your own personal nasty-o-meter.

……这取决于你自己判断恶心的程度。

All that's to say...

这一切表明……

"Even if it seems you can tell whether a cough or sneeze is infectious, based on how disgusting it sounds, that feeling has the potential to mislead you."

“即使你似乎能根据声音的恶心程度来判断咳嗽或喷嚏是否具有传染性，这种感觉也有可能误导你。”

In other words, you can't judge a bug⁹ by its cougher.

换而言之，你不能通过咳嗽来判断传染病。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

1 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

2 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

5 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

6 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

9 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。