听力文摘：压力之下

In physics, pressure depends on the amount of force acting¹ on a surface and on the size of the surface.

物理学上，压力大小取决于作用在表面力的大小和表面积大小。

The smaller the surface, the greater the pressure.

表面积越小，承受的力越大。

Let's say that a woman steps on your toe; she weighs 120 pounds.

假设一个重120磅的女人踩到你脚趾了。

If she's wearing flat shoes, you would feel the force of 120 pounds spread out over the whole heel of the shoe, maybe around 4 square inches.

如果她穿的是平底鞋，你会感到120磅的压力分散到鞋子的整个根部，大概4平方英寸。

So the pressure would be 120 divided by 4, or 30 pounds per square inch.

所以120磅的压力平均分为4份，或者每平方英寸30磅的力。

But when she steps on you with a high heel, the whole 120 pounds of force is concentrated on a heel that is maybe one eighth of one square inch in area.

但如果她穿的是高跟鞋，整个120磅的力集中在或许只有八分之一英寸大小的鞋跟上。

Now the pressure of her step is eight times as much, or 240 pounds per square inch instead of 30 pounds per square inch.

她踩下去的压力也是8倍之多，或者说240磅每平方英寸而不是30磅每平方英寸。

Of course, it hurts more.

当然，这更痛。

It works² the other way, too.

同理，

Spiked⁴ heels are painful to wear because your weight is all on the spike³ and the ball of the foot;

穿细高跟鞋是痛苦的，因为你的重量全压在在细跟和脚趾球上。

therefore, the pressure is much greater on these points than in running shoes, where your weight is spread out over the whole bottom of the foot.

因此，压力在这些点上要比重量被分散在整个脚底的跑鞋大很多。

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

3 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

4 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句