VOA慢速英语：不友善之词会伤害大脑

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道。
There is a popular saying in the English language: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."
英语里有一种俗语：“棍棒和石头可能会打断我的骨头，但是恶言恶语永远伤不到我。”
Well, that is not true.
这种说法是不正确的。
Unkind words, name-calling or even the so-called "the silent treatment" can hurt children as much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so.
不友善之词、辱骂甚至是所谓的“冷遇”对孩子的伤害不亚于遭受身体殴打，有时候甚至更甚。
A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal abuse by other children can harm development in the brain. The study was a project of researchers at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.
最近一项针对中学生的研究表明，其他孩子的语言暴力会损害大脑发育。这项研究是马萨诸塞州哈佛医学院研究人员的一个项目。
Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, ages 18 to 25. These young men and women had no experience with domestic violence, sexual abuse or physical abuse by their parents.
研究员马丁·泰契尔(Martin Teicher)及其团队研究了年龄在18到25岁的青年。这些青年男女都未曾遭受过家庭暴力、性虐待或父母身体虐待。
The researchers asked the young people to rate their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from both parents and other children. Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of the subjects.
研究人员让这些青年评价他们遭受父母或其他孩子语言暴力的童年。然后研究人员对这些受试者进行大脑成像测试。
The images showed that the individuals who reported suffering verbal abuse from their peers in middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain.
图像显示，自称在中学遭受了同龄人语言暴力的这些个人的左脑和右脑之间存在着欠发达的连接。
The two sides of the brain are connected by a large bundle of connecting fibers called the corpus callosum. This was the area that was underdeveloped.
大脑两侧通过一大束被称之为胼胝体的连接纤维互相连接，这就是所提到的欠发达的大脑区域。
The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing. So, unkind, hurtful comments from children or adults during this period had the greatest effect.
中学是大脑连接发育的阶段。所以，在此期间来自儿童或成人不友善的、伤害性的言论的影响最大。
The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study. The tests showed that this same group of individuals had higher levels of fear, depression, anger and drug abuse than others in the study.
研究人员测试了这项研究中所有青年的精神和情感状态。测试表明，和这项研究中的其他人相比，这群人都存在较高程度的恐惧、抑郁、愤怒和滥用药物。
The researchers published their findings online on the American Journal of Psychiatry's website.
研究人员在《美国精神病学杂志》的网站上发表了他们的研究结果。
We cannot control what other people say to our children. But we can prepare them. A website called CreativeWithKids.com suggests 64 things that all children need to hear.
我们无法控制别人怎么说我们的孩子。但是我们可以让他们做好准备。CreativeWithKids.com网站给出了孩子需要听到的64句话。
Here, are our top 20.
以下是前20句。
I am curious what you think.
我很好奇你是怎么想。
You are creative.
你很有创意。
I believe in you.
我相信你。
You can ask for help.
你可以求助。
You make me smile
你让我开心。
I have faith in you.
我对你有信心。
You are imperfect. So am I.
你我都不完美。
You are a good friend.
你是一个很好的朋友。
I will do my best to keep you safe.
我会尽全力保护你。
Trust your instincts.
相信你的直觉。
My world is better with you in it.
我的世界有你才更好。
I love you.
我爱你。
It's fun to do things with you.
和你一起做事真有趣。
You are valuable.
你很有价值。
Your choices matter.
你的选择很重要。
You can change your mind.
你可以改主意。
You make a difference.
你与众不同。
I'm ready to listen.
我在听。
You can learn from your mistakes.
你可以从错误中吸取教训。
I'm proud of you.
我为你感到骄傲。
Share one or more of these statements with a child in your life. Actually, maybe we all need to hear some of these statements.
在生活中和孩子们分享这些语句。其实，也许我们大家都需要听到这些语句。
Choose another and say it to an adult you care about.
选择另一句说给你关心的成年人听吧。
I'm Anna Matteo.
我是安娜·马特奥。