托福閱讀材料之Apologies go down better through right ear, study finds

　　Saying sorry isn’t always enough to earn forgiveness but you have more chance of getting your message across if you speak into someone’s right ear, research indicates.

　　Scientists found that when we are angry, the right ear becomes more receptive to sound than the left.

　　The discovery has led to the theory that by targeting the right ear, the penitent are more likely to succeed in talking someone round.

　　Researchers came to the conclusion after carrying out hearing tests on 30 young men who had been worked up into a fury.

　　The participants were given a folder of hostile statements to read to anger them, while scientists observed their heart rate, blood pressure and testosterone levels rise.

　　The research team from the University of Valencia found that when angry, the participants’ right ears were significantly more susceptible to sound.

　　However, there was no change in the left ear, according to the research, published in the journal Hormones and Behaviour.

　　It is thought this is because the left side of the brain processes sounds that come in through the right ear.

　　If anger activates it, noise from the right, but not the left, will be heard more keenly.

　　Previous research has shown that if you want to persuade someone to do something, you should also speak in their right ear.

　　一聲“對(duì)不起”往往不足以求得別人的原諒，但一項(xiàng)最新研究表明，如果這聲“對(duì)不起”是對(duì)著對(duì)方的右耳說(shuō)，他會(huì)更容易“聽(tīng)進(jìn)去”。

　　科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)人們?cè)谏鷼獾臅r(shí)候，右耳變得比左耳更敏銳。

　　根據(jù)這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，研究人員提出，對(duì)著對(duì)方的右耳說(shuō)對(duì)不起更容易獲得對(duì)方的原諒。

　　研究人員在對(duì)30名年輕男性進(jìn)行聽(tīng)力測(cè)試后得出了這一結(jié)論。這些男性在測(cè)試中都被激怒。

　　研究人員讓研究對(duì)象閱讀了一些挑釁性的言論以激怒他們，同時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)，研究對(duì)象的心率、血壓和荷爾蒙水平都有所上升。

　　瓦倫西亞大學(xué)的研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，在生氣時(shí)，研究對(duì)象的右耳會(huì)對(duì)聲音變得格外敏感。

　　而左耳對(duì)聲音的敏感度卻沒(méi)有明顯變化。這項(xiàng)研究成果在《荷爾蒙與行為研究》期刊上發(fā)表。

　　研究者認(rèn)為，這是因?yàn)槿说淖竽X主要負(fù)責(zé)處理從右耳傳入的聲音。

　　當(dāng)生氣使左腦變得活躍時(shí)，從右耳傳入的聲音會(huì)被聽(tīng)得更清楚。

　　之前的研究表明，如果你想說(shuō)服別人去做什么事情，最好也對(duì)著他的右耳說(shuō)。

　　Notes：

　　1.get the message across：傳遞出信息，讓對(duì)方明白

　　2.talk someone round：to persuade somebody to accept something or to agree to something(說(shuō)服某人)

　　3.work up：to move or stir the feelings; excite(激動(dòng)，生氣)