新奇事件簿 社会地位低对健康不利

A new study shows that having a low social status can be bad for our health. The study was on monkeys. Researchers from Duke University in the USA looked at the behaviour and health of 45 female¹ monkeys and found that those with a lower social status had more health problems. The monkeys were split² up into five groups of nine. The researchers gave the monkeys in each group time to get to know each other. Then they took one monkey from each group and put her into another group. This meant she was the "new girl" and was at the bottom of the group. When scientists checked the health of the monkeys, they found that the "new girl" was unhealthier than the other monkeys.

一项新的研究发现，社会地位低对我们的健康不利。这项研究是对猴子进行的。来自美国杜克大学的研究人员查看了45只雌性猴子的行为和健康状况，发现社会地位较低的猴子健康问题更多。这些猴子被分成五组，每组九只。研究人员给每组猴子足够的时间来相互了解。然后他们从每组猴子中挑选出一只放进另外一组。这意味着她是新来的，在新的一组中处于最底层。当科学家检查这些猴子的健康状况时，他们发现新来的猴子比其他猴子健康状况更差。

The researchers said that although their study focused on monkeys, the findings³ could also be true for humans because we share a lot of our DNA⁴ with monkeys. Professor Graham Rook, from University College London, told the BBC News that the findings of the study may also apply to humans. He said governments must understand that people with a lower social status suffer more from health problems. He said that just because "people at the bottom" have got cars and TVs, it does not mean they are happy. If they feel they are at the bottom compared with richer people, their health will worsen. People who are richer can live up to two decades longer than those who are poorer.

研究人员表示，尽管研究是针对猴子进行的，然而人类应该也是这样，因为我们和猴子有许多类似的DNA。来自伦敦大学学院的Graham Rook教授告诉BBC新闻，该研究的结果也适用于人类。他说，政府应该理解，社会地位低的人存在更多健康问题。他说，底层的人拥有了汽车和电视并不意味着他们快乐。如果他们感到自己比有钱人的地位低，他们的健康状况就会恶化.富有的人可能比贫穷的人多活20年。

1 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。