新奇事件簿 时髦的名字让蔬菜看上去更美味

Researchers have discovered that people eat more vegetables if the veggies have trendy labels. A research team from Stanford University in the USA found that sales of vegetables increased by 25 per cent after they were given trendy-sounding names. The researchers conducted their research on 600 diners for several months at the university canteen. They labelled all vegetable dishes in four different ways each day. Diners could select vegetable dishes with a "basic" label (for example with just the word "carrots"), a "healthy restrictive" label ("carrots with sugar-free citrus dressing"), a "health positive" label ("smart-choice vitamin C citrus carrots") or a trendy label ("twisted citrus-glazed carrots").

研究人员发现，如果一种蔬菜标签上的名字比较时髦，人们更喜欢吃。来自美国斯坦福大学的一个研究小组发现，他们给一些蔬菜写上比较好听的名字之后，蔬菜的销量增加了25%。研究人员在大学餐厅对600名就餐者进行了几个月的研究。他们每天以四种不同的方式给所有蔬菜贴标签。就餐者可以根据四种标签选择蔬菜：基本标签（例如只有一个词“胡萝卜”），健康限制标签（无糖柑橘酱胡萝卜），健康积极标签（精心选择的维他命C柑橘胡萝卜），或者时髦的标签（螺旋柑橘酱胡萝卜）。

Researchers gave diners a wide choice of vegetables to see how effective the trendy labels were. They used beetroot, butternut squash¹, carrots, corn, courgettes, green beans and sweet potato in their test. These had names like "twisted garlic-ginger butternut squash wedges," or "dynamite² chilli," and "tangy lime-seasoned beets³". They found that the vegetable dishes with the trendy labels were by far the most popular. These dishes were 25 per cent more popular than those with the "basic" labelling, and 41 per cent more popular than those with the "healthy restrictive" labelling. A researcher said: "Labels really can influence our sensory⁴ experience, affecting how tasty and filling we think food will be."

研究人员给就餐者提供了许多蔬菜供他们选择，查看时髦标签的效果。他们的试验使用的是甜菜根，白胡桃泥，胡萝卜，玉米，小胡瓜，四季豆和红薯。他们给这些菜起了非常时髦的名字“螺旋姜蒜甜菜根”，“激情辣椒”，“美味酸橙甜菜”等等。他们发现，标签时髦的蔬菜最受欢迎。这些菜品的受欢迎程度比基本标签多25%，比健康型标签蔬菜的受欢迎程度多41%。一名研究人员表示：“标签确实可以影响我们的感官体验，影响我们对食物味道和满足感的幻想。”

1 squash   

n.壁球，摺皱不堪，拥挤嘈杂的人群，浓缩果汁，美国南瓜；vt.压扁，压制；vi.变扁，压榨

参考例句：

• He is drinking lemon squash.他正在喝柠檬露。
• She sprained her ankle playing squash.她在打软式墙网球时扭伤了脚踝。

2 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

3 beets   

甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红

参考例句：

• Beets are Hank's favorite vegetable. 甜菜根是汉克最爱吃的蔬菜。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

4 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。