Maika Hsu的英語小教室

Animal studies confirm that the relief some of us get from eating sugar is not just psychological--- it is an actual brain-chemistry reaction. In one experiment, Blass and colleagues studied two groups of baby mice who were separated from their mothers and left alone for six minutes. Their resulting “isolation distress” was considered to be a kind of animal equivalent to our human version of depression. The depressed mice who were given sugar water cried only seventy-five times during their isolation--- as compared to the more than three hundred cries that came from the mice left alone with no sweet treat to alleviate their emotional pain. Apparently, the young mice were literally “medicating” their depression with sugar.

Why did sugar have this remarkable effect? Researchers thought that perhaps the sweet food stimulated the release of extra beta-endorphin molecules. Since these molecules help us cope with physical and emotional pain, the sugar had a literally soothing effect. Researchers confirmed their theory by giving both groups of mice Naltrexone, a drug that blocks beta-endorphin receptors. If you take Naltrexone, it does not matter how many beta-endorphins you release--- you will not get any relief from pain. Sure enough, when the sugar-fed mice were given Naltrexone, they lost all interest in the sweet substance, suggesting that their only reason for their sweet tooth had been to stimulate the release of beta-endorphins.

`Numbed by Naltrexone, both groups of mice cried equally often. The poor baby mice were still depressed--- but now even sugar could not make them feel better.

翻譯：

        動物實驗證實，某些人吃甜食會感到心情放鬆不只是心理因素─這的確是一種腦部化學反應。在一次實驗中，巴斯和他的同事研究兩組幼鼠。這兩組幼鼠與母親分開並獨處六分鐘。結果這些幼鼠會產生“隔離憂鬱”，也就是被視為相當於人類憂鬱症的一種動物憂鬱症。有餵食糖水的憂鬱幼鼠在隔離期間只哭了75次。作為對照組的幼鼠並未餵食糖水來緩和情緒上的傷痛，在隔離期間哭了超過三百次。顯然這些幼鼠確實是以糖當作為藥物，治療牠們的憂鬱症。

        為什麼糖有如此神效？研究學者認為可能是因為甜食刺激額外的β腦內啡分子的釋放。因為這些分子可以幫我們處理心理上和情緒上的傷痛，所以糖確實有安撫情緒的作用。研究學者藉由給予兩組老鼠那曲酮來證實這項理論。那曲酮是一種阻斷β腦內啡接受體的藥物，如果你服用了那曲酮，無論你釋放的多少β腦內啡分子─你永遠也不會覺得疼痛得到舒緩。的確是這樣的，當餵食糖水的幼鼠也服用了那曲酮，牠們會失去對甜食的興趣。這就表示牠們吃甜食的唯一理由是為了要去刺激β腦內啡的釋放。

        因為那曲酮而失去感覺，所以兩組幼鼠哭泣的頻率一樣。這些可憐的幼鼠仍然感到憂鬱─但是現在即使是有糖也無法讓牠們感覺舒服一點。

psychological (adj.) 心理的

chemistry (n.)化學

reaction (n.) 反映

colleague (n.) 同事

isolation (n.) 隔離

distress (n.) 悲痛，憂傷

consider (v.) 認為

equivalent (n.) 相等物

version (n.) 版本

depression (n.) 憂鬱症

depressed (adj.) 沮喪的，憂鬱的

compare (v.) 比較

emotional (adj.) 情緒的

apparently (adv.) 顯然地

medicate (vt.) 用藥物治療

remarkable (adj.) 非凡的，卓越的

stimulate (v.) 刺激，促使

endorphin (n.) 腦內啡

molecule (n.) 分子

confirm (v.) 證實

receptor (n.) 感受體

substance (n.) 物質

numb (vt.) 使失去感覺

C36. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) People can medicate their depression with sugar.

(B) Baby mice suffered so much from isolation that they should be given some sweet food to relieve their pain.

(C) The soothing effect of sugar is not just something psychological but has a lot to do with an actual chemical reaction.

(D) The result of the mice experiment suggests that people should take more sweet substances to cope with depression.

C36.本文的主旨為何？

(A) 人類能以糖來治療牠們的憂鬱症。  (B) 幼鼠因為隔離而遭受太多痛苦，所以應該餵牠們吃甜食來舒緩痛苦。

(C) 甜食具有安撫情緒的效果不只是因為心理作用，更多是因為化學反應的作用。(D) 老鼠實驗顯示，人類應該多攝取甜食來治療憂鬱症。

B 37. Which of the following statements about the experiment is true?

(A)“Isolation distress” was caused by lack of sweet treat.

(B) Sugar helped the depressed mice to cope with isolation distress.

(C) The depressed mice who were given no sugar water all died of depression.

(D) The depressed mice who were given sugar water cried hundreds of times.

B 37. 下列關於這個實驗的敘述何者正確？

(A)“隔離憂鬱”是因缺乏甜食而引起的。(B) 糖能幫助憂鬱得老鼠治療隔離憂鬱。

(C) 沒有給糖水的憂鬱老鼠都抑鬱而終。(D) 給予糖水的憂鬱老鼠哭了數百次。

C 38. According to the article, why does sugar have a soothing effect?

(A) Sweet food can block beta-endorphin receptors.

(B) Sweet food can numb the mice so that they feel no pain.

(C) Sweet food can stimulate the release of beta-endorphins, which help alleviate physical and emotional pain.

(D) Sweet food can stimulate the release of Naltrexone, which helps alleviate physical and emotional pain.

C 38. 根據本文，為什麼糖有安撫情緒的效果？

(A) 甜食可以阻斷β腦內啡的接受器。(B) 甜食能使老鼠麻木，如此一來便感覺不到疼痛。(C) 甜食可以刺激β腦內啡的釋放。β腦內啡可以緩和生理和心理的疼痛。(D) 甜食可以刺激那曲酮的釋放。那曲酮可以緩和生理和心理的疼痛。

C 39. How did researchers confirm their theory about the remarkable effect of sugar?

(A) They stopped feeding both groups of mice any more sugar.

(B) They found that both groups of mice lost interest in the sweet food.

(C) They gave both groups of mice a drug that blocks the release of beta-endorphins.

(D) They measured the amount of beta-endorphins released in the blood of the mice.

C 39. 研究學者如何證實他們所提出，關於糖有神奇功效的理論？

(A) 他們不再餵食兩組幼鼠更多的糖。(B) 他們發現兩組老鼠都失去對糖的興趣。

(C) 他們給兩組老鼠藥物來阻斷β腦內啡的釋放。(D) 他們測量老鼠血液內β腦內啡的釋放量。