新奇事件簿 多读书有助延长寿命

New research shows that people who read a lot live longer. The study was carried out by researchers from Yale University in the USA. The researchers said reading keeps the mind active, helps reduce stress and makes us take better care of our health. The researchers said that books help the brain more than newspapers and magazines, but any kind of reading will help us to live longer. Even reading for half an hour a day could help us to live longer. In the study, researchers looked at the lifestyles of 3,500 men and women over a 12-year period. They looked at their reading habits, health, lifestyle and their education. All of the people were at least 50 years old at the start of the research.

最新研究表明读书多寿命长。这是耶鲁大学进行的研究。研究人员称阅读保持大脑活跃，帮助缓解压力，有助身体健康。称书籍比报纸和杂志更有益大脑，但任何种类阅读都有助延长寿命。每天阅读半小时就能有所帮助。在十二年间，研究人员对3500名男女的生活方式进行了调查。对他们的阅读方式、健康、生活方式以及教育进行了研究。受访者年龄至少在50岁以上。

The study is in the journal 'Social Science and Medicine'. It found that people who read for up to 3.5 hours a week were 17 per cent less likely to die during the study’s 12-year research period than those who read no books. Those who read for more than 3.5 hours a week were 23 per cent less likely to die. Researcher Becca Levy¹ said: "Older individuals, regardless of gender², health, wealth or education, showed the survival³ advantage of reading books." She suggested people swap⁴ watching TV for reading to live longer. She said: "Individuals over the age of 65 spend an average of 4.4 hours per day watching television. Efforts to redirect leisure time into reading books could prove to be beneficial."

该研究刊登在了《社会科学与医学》。发现在这十二年研究中，每周阅读达到3.5小时的被调查者比不阅读者的死亡率低17%。每周阅读超3.5小时死亡率降低23%。研究学家贝卡·利维认为：“无论性别、健康、贫富还是教育，老年人读书会带来生存优势。”她建议人们少看电视多读书，确保益寿延年。她认为：“65岁以上老人平均每天4.4小时电视时间。将闲暇时间用来读书将受益匪浅。

1 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

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 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

4 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。