Этой статьёй открываю рубрику Читаем в оригинале. Англоязычные статьи могут и должны стать доступнее для всех, кто интересуется английским. Новый формат будет интересен тем, кто изучает язык, но мало читает аутентичных материалов из-за их повышенной сложности. Чтение в оригинале подразумевает работу с лексикой, но не у всех есть на это время. Читайте вместе со мной. Каждую неделю на канале будет выходить две аутентичные статьи авторства лучших англоязычных изданий - The Guardian, The Independent, The BBC, National Geographic. Я буду делать лексический разбор статьи, отмечая новые и интересные выражения, а также давать дополнительные примеры их использования. Сегодняшняя статья для всех любителей шоколада. Правда ли что от шоколада столько пользы, как об этом пишут? Разбираемся вместе с Leo Benedictus. Уровень языка, необходимый для прочтения - Intermediate. Оригинал статьи здесь.
Can chocolate make you smarter? (And thinner? And healthier?)
A new study claims chocolate can improve cognitive performance – joining research that indicates it can prevent heart attacks and help you lose weight. But dig a little deeper and all is not what it seems …
If there’s one thing that people love more than chocolate, it’s science claiming that chocolate is good for you. The most recent is a study that found a link between eating chocolate and improved cognitive performance. However, given how much fat and sugar most chocolate also contains, are the reports of its benefits worth taking seriously?
improve cognitive performance = улучшить когнитивную деятельность
performance в данном случае имеет значение how well or badly you do something; how well or badly something works (Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary)
Sales forecasts were based on past performance.
This machine delivers excellent performance at a very competitive price.
Her academic performance has been inconsistent.
prevent heart attacks = предотвращать сердечные приступы
She died of a massive heart attack.
He suffered a fatal heart attack while cycling.
dig deeper = копать глубже
Вот какое значение этой идиомы дает Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: to search for information in a careful and detailed way
You'll need to dig deep into the records to find the figures you want.
given = принимая во внимание
Given his age, he's remarkably active.
Given her interest in children, teaching seems the right job for her.
Makes you cleverer
This new study, based on nearly 1,000 people from New York, is not the first to link chocolate to brain function, but what it actually tells us remains very vague. “It’s not possible to talk about causality, because that’s nearly impossible to prove with our design,” said one of the researchers, meaning that we can’t tell whether clever people like chocolate or chocolate makes you clever. Or indeed if there is something messier going on.
vague = расплытый, размытый, смутный
I am vague about what happened during the rest of the night.
I have a vague recollection of meeting him when I was a child.
They had only a vague idea where the place was.
causality = причинно-следственная связь
Nevertheless, definite causality was not established in this case report.
It can determine whether there is causality relationship between variables.
Helps weight loss
Can this really be true? It was certainly widely reported last year, but in fact, the news turned out to be a scam, perpetrated by the science journalist John Bohannon to prove how susceptible the media is to pseudoscience. Bohannon did conduct a real trial with some people eating chocolate and some not, but he measured so many things about them that he knew some sort of fluke “effect” would probably show up. And what do you know? The chocolate-eaters happened to lose weight; the abstainers didn’t.
scam = афера, мошенничество, надувательство
Вот какое значение этого слова дает Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: a clever and dishonest plan for making money
The lottery scam involves fake notices of lottery wins.
perpetrate = совершать (преступление)
We will not tolerate violence perpetrated against women and children.
They believed that a crime had been perpetrated against them.
Теперь рассмотрим значение слова susceptible. Словарь даёт такое определение: very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by something. Русский аналог - склонный, подверженный.
Some of these plants are more susceptible to frost damage than others.
He's highly susceptible to flattery.
trial = испытания
Human trials of the vaccine could begin within two years.
The new drug is undergoing clinical trials.
conduct a trial = проводить испытания
Australia and the US have conducted joint trials of the drone.
Pseudoscience словарь определяет как a set of theories, beliefs or methods that some people claim are based on scientific fact even though in reality they are not. Русский аналог - лженаука.
There's a lot of pseudoscience and misinformation here.
The book is considered to be pseudoscience.
Fluke = везение, счастливое стечение обстоятельств
Так выглядит определение слова: a lucky or unusual thing that happens by accident, not because of planning or skill
They are determined to show that their last win was no fluke.
It was a sheer fluke that I happened to pick the winning number.
abstainers = воздержавшиеся
At the show of hands beforehand, the audience was evenly split (83 for, 87 against, 61 abstainers).
Not one of the 33 No-voters, let alone the 24 abstainers, was prepared to go on television on Tuesday night to stand by Sir Anthony.
Prevents heart attacks and strokes
There are mountains of research papers claiming this to be true. Some, such as a 2012 analysis of 37,103 Swedish men, look quite authoritative, showing that the rate of stroke among middle-aged and older men was 17% lower among those who ate a lot of chocolate, despite controlling for other factors. Still, the results weren’t statistically significant. And eating a lot of chocolate certainly is a good way to become unhealthily overweight – probably better to hold off the Dairy Milk for now.
Слово authoritative в нашем случае имеет значение that you can trust and respect as true and correct. Русский аналог - надежный, достоверный.
The survey was widely reviewed and accepted as authoritative.
The most common recommendations from reasonably authoritative sources are presented below.
stroke = инсульт
The stroke left him partly paralysed.
Smoking increases the risk of stroke.
Improves fitness
Research from UC San Diego suggests that chocolate might act as a kind of performance-enhancing drug– until you look at the detail. The 2011 study is really about a compound called epicatechin, which is present in chocolate, and its effect on mice, who are not people. Epicatechin dramatically improved the endurance of the mice while they were running on a treadmill. Whether this would translate to humans isn’t known, but even if it did, you’d probably need such a tiny dose of epicatechin that it would be like eating half a square of chocolate. Any more and the effect might be reversed. It also has to be dark chocolate – epicatechin is destroyed by the process of making milk chocolate.
Вот какое определение performance-enhancing предлагает Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: that people take so that they will be more successful in a sports competition. Русский аналог - улучшающий, повышающий результаты.
The athletes were tested for performance-enhancing drugs.
present in = присутствующий, обнаруженный
Levels of pollution present in the atmosphere are increasing.
Analysis showed that traces of arsenic were present in the body.
treadmill = беговая дорожка
I try to do half an hour’s exercise on the treadmill every morning.
translate to = приводить к
More government spending translates to higher healthcare costs.
This translates to improved efficiency and reduced heat loss.
the effect might be reversed = может иметь обратный эффект
Ironically, the economic liberalization had a reversed effect on Pakistan's economic development, unlike neighbouring India who started the economic liberalization later than a year in Pakistan.
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