SSS 2012-03-22_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)

A quarter of all police shootings involve unarmed suspects. In a few recent cases, officers mistook cell phones and hairbrushes for guns, and shot and killed the victims. Now a study may explain—in part—these errors. Researchers found that when a person holds a gun, they’re more likely to think they see a weapon being carried by another. That study is in the Journal of Experimental Psychology¹: Human Perception and Performance.

Researchers had volunteers hold a Wii handgun or a foam² ball. Then they flashed images of people either holding guns or objects like soda³ cans, and asked volunteers to decide if they'd seen a weapon. The subjects holding the Wii gun were more likely to mistakenly see a gun in the hands of their onscreen "foe⁴." When researchers varied⁵ the experiment, subjects holding shoes were more likely to see shoes onscreen.

The reason, the authors say, is that just planning to possibly use an object—like a pistol—might prime the brain for spotting that object. Which might be a great advantage for quickly noting when a suspect is indeed armed. But can cause tragic⁶ overreactions when there’s really no gun in sight.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American 60 Second Science, I am Christopher Intagliata

点击

收听单词发音

1 psychology
n.心理，心理学，心理状态
参考例句：
She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。 He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 foam
v./n.泡沫，起泡沫
参考例句：
The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。 The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

3 soda
n.苏打水；汽水
参考例句：
She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。 I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

4 foe
n.敌人，仇敌
参考例句：
He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。 A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

5 varied
adj.多样的，多变化的
参考例句：
The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。 The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

6 tragic
adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的
参考例句：
The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。 Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。