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

[Sports announcer:] “Hello and welcome to Sports Update. In NHL action: with two seconds left in OT, Penguins¹’ winger Jean Jejune² nailed a wrist shot from the point that sent the puck skidding³ through the five-hole.”

Now, if you were a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, you’d be whooping⁴ with delight. If you don’t like the Penguins, you might be shaking your head in dismay. If you don’t follow hockey, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. That’s because immersing yourself in a sport actually makes your brain better at processing language—language that relates to that sport.

We all know that practice makes perfect, whether you’re polishing your slapshot or your vocabulary. But in the September 2nd issue of the Proceedings⁵ of the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists show that playing hockey, or even listening to a broadcast, can enhance comprehension of words that describe ice-hockey action. In their study, fans and players who heard sentences that relate to the sport showed increased activity in brain regions associated with planning and performing physical actions. That extra activity may give them a jump on parsing⁶ the lingo⁷. Even if we’re talking about slipping one through the old five-hole—otherwise known as shooting the puck between the goalie’s legs.

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

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1 penguins
n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？来自《简明英汉词典》 Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 jejune
adj.枯燥无味的，贫瘠的
参考例句：
They were of great service in correcting my jejune generalizations.他们纠正了我不成熟的泛泛之论，帮了我大忙。 I detected a jejune air that had not inbed me before.我感到一种沉闷的空气，这种感觉是以前从来没有的。

3 skidding
n.曳出，集材v.（通常指车辆）侧滑( skid的现在分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区
参考例句：
All the wheels of the truck were tied up with iron chains to avoid skidding on the ice road. 大卡车的所有轮子上都捆上了铁链，以防止在结冰的路面上打滑。来自《用法词典》 I saw the motorcycle skidding and its rider spilling in dust. 我看到摩托车打滑，骑车人跌落在地。来自互联网

4 whooping
发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的
参考例句：
Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。 Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗？

5 proceedings
n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报
参考例句：
He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。 to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

6 parsing
n.分[剖]析，分解v.从语法上描述或分析（词句等）( parse的现在分词 )
参考例句：
A parsing program, or parser, is also called a recognizer. 分析过程又称作识别程序。来自辞典例句 This chapter describes a technique for parsing using the bottom-up method. 本章介绍一种使用自底向上方法的分析技术。来自辞典例句

7 lingo
n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语
参考例句：
If you live abroad it helps to know the local lingo.住在国外，学一点当地的语言自有好处。 Don't use all that technical lingo try and explain in plain English.别尽用那种专门术语，用普通的词语解释吧。