SSS 2008-12-15_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

Members of the jury have you reached verdict?

When it comes to making decisions about innocence¹ and guilt², the human brain acts as both judge and jury. Now a study published in the journal Neuron shows that, just like in the courtroom, the brain’s judge and jury sit in separate places.

When someone’s put on trial, two types of decisions have to be made. First, is the person guilty? And second, what punishment, if any, does that person deserve? Scientists at Vanderbilt University got to wondering how the brain actually makes those two different decisions. So they used functional³ MRI to monitor the brain activity of subjects as they read about various crimes, and decided⁴ how severely⁵ the perpetrators should be punished, or whether they should be punished at all.

What the researchers found is that a brain region involved in analytical⁶ thought was most active when the subject was deciding whether the perpetrator was actually guilty. But a different area, one more in tune⁷ with emotion, weighed in on how to make the punishment fit the crime. The study was funded by the MacArthur Foundation Project on Law and Neuroscience, and it suggests that when it comes to crime and punishment, we may be impartial⁸ but we’re not without passion.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

Announcer: For more on the MacArthur Foundation’s Law and Neuroscience Project, check out the November 27th, 2007, episode of Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American, at sciam.com/podcast

点击

收听单词发音

1 innocence
n.无罪；天真；无害
参考例句：
There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。 The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

2 guilt
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。 Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

3 functional
adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的
参考例句：
The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。 The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

4 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 severely
adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地
参考例句：
He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。 He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

6 analytical
adj.分析的；用分析法的
参考例句：
I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。 As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

7 tune
n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整
参考例句：
He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。 The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

8 impartial
adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的
参考例句：
He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。 Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。