新奇事件簿 高跟鞋让女性腿部肌肉变短

Scientists have found out that women who wear high-heel shoes make the calf¹ muscles shorter. The heels also give many women pain in their legs when they take them off and walk. The researchers tested different women aged² between 20 and 50 who wore heels that were 5cm or higher. The research, which covered a two-year period, also looked at women who never wore high heels. The research team used ultrasound to measure the length of the fibres in the calf muscles. Their results showed that the muscle fibres of high-heel wearers were 13 per cent shorter than those in the non-high-heel-wearing women. Lead researcher Professor Marco Narci said: "This confirmed the hypothesis³ that when you place the muscle in a shorter position, the fibres become shorter.”

科学家发现，穿高跟鞋的女性腓肠肌会变短。脱掉高跟鞋之后行走，她们的双腿还会疼痛。研究人员检测了20岁至50岁之间经常穿5厘米以上高跟鞋的不同女性。该研究历时两年时间，还观察了从来不穿高跟鞋的人。研究团队使用超声波来测量腓肠肌纤维的长度。他们的结果显示，穿高跟鞋的女性肌肉纤维比从来不穿高跟鞋的人短13%。首席研究人员Marco Narci教授说：“这证实了一个假设，当你把肌肉放在较短的位置，纤维也会变短。”

The researchers also found that women who regularly wore high heels suffered more muscle aches and pains when they took their shoes off. This is because their muscles are being overstretched for long periods and do not have time to relax. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He did advise women to do simple stretching exercises to relieve⁴ the pain. "If you stand on your tip toes and lower your heels up and down again it will stretch out the tendons making it easier to walk without heels,” he said. He did not suggest women stop wearing high heels but recommended wearing flat shoes a little more often."Fashion is intended to be uncomfortable and none of the women in the study planned to give up their high heels," he said.

研究人员还发现，经常穿高跟鞋的女性脱下鞋子之后更容易肌肉疼痛。这是因为她们的肌肉长期过度拉伸，没有时间放松。Narci教授表示，当她们把鞋子脱掉之后更难舒展双脚。他建议女性做一些简单的伸展运动来缓解疼痛。“用脚尖站立，上下移动脚跟，可以伸展肌腱，脱掉高跟鞋之后走路更容易。”他不反对女性穿高跟鞋，但是建议更经常穿穿平底鞋。“时尚会让人不那么舒服，研究中的所有女性都不计划放弃高跟鞋。”他表示。

1 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 hypothesis   

n.假说，假设，(无根据的)猜测，揣测

参考例句：

• We have proved the hypothesis.我们已经证明了这种假设。
• The results confirmed his hypothesis on the use of modal verbs.结果证实了他的关于情态动词用法的假设。

4 relieve   

v.缓解，减轻，解除(痛苦、忧虑、麻烦)

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• The doctors did their best to relieve the patient.医生们尽力减轻病人的痛苦。