VOA慢速英语：乐观使人长寿

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

乐观使人长寿

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。

Imagine there is a glass of water on a table in front of you. It has water in it but it is not full. How do you describe the glass? Do you say it is half full or half empty?

假设你面前的桌子上有一杯水，杯子里水没满。你怎么描述这杯水呢?你会说它是半满的还是半空的?

If you say half full, you might be an optimist. If you say, half empty, you might be the opposite -- a pessimist.

如果你说它是半满的，你可能就是一位乐观主义者。如果你说它是半空的，你可能就相反是一位悲观主义者。

Optimism and pessimism represent your general attitude toward certain situations or to life in general. And your attitude about life may be more important to living than you think.

乐观和悲观代表了你对特定情况或日常生活的普遍态度。你的生活态度对人生的重要性可能超出了你的想象。

A new study suggests that your level of optimism may affect your health. People who are optimistic may live longer than those who are pessimistic.

一项新的研究表明，乐观程度会影响一个人的健康。乐观主义者可能比悲观主义者更为长寿。

Researchers at Harvard University's School of Public Health in Boston did the study. They compared women with "a general expectation that good things will happen" to women who were less optimistic. They found that the optimists had a much lower risk of getting several deadly diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and certain types of infection.

哈佛大学公共卫生学院的研究人员进行了这项研究。他们将乐观的女性同不那么乐观的女性进行了比较。他们发现乐观主义者患上致命疾病的风险更低，这些疾病包括癌症、心脏病、中风、呼吸道疾病和某些类型的感染。

The researchers published their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread and how they can be controlled.

研究人员在《美国流行病学》杂志上发表了他们的研究结果。流行病学研究疾病如何传播及控制。

Eric Kim is one of the study leaders.

埃里克·金姆(Eric Kim)是这项研究的负责人之一。

He says there is increasing evidence that strengthening psychological resilience may help prevent disease. Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulty or change. Kim says that these new findings suggest that people should make efforts to increase their resilience and optimism.

他说，越来越多的证据表明，增强心理韧性可能有助于预防疾病。韧性是指从困难或改变中恢复的能力。金姆表示，这些新的研究结果表明，人们应该努力增强自己的韧性和乐观。

He says optimism is connected with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of dealing with difficulty. Optimists tend to take better care of themselves by exercising, eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep.

他说，乐观涉及更健康的行为以及用更健康的方式面对困难。乐观主义者倾向于通过锻炼、健康饮食以及充足睡眠来更好地照顾好自己。

However, the researchers say that healthy behaviors of optimistic people only partly explain the connection with reduced risk of disease.

然而，研究人员表示，乐观主义者的健康行为只能部分解释同疾病风险降低之间的联系。

For the study, researchers looked at information gathered on 70,000 women in the Nurse's Health Study. This massive study began in 1975. It collects health information on those involved in the study every two years.

在这项研究中，研究人员查看了《护士健康研究》中收集到的7万名女性的信息。这项大规模研究始于1975年，它每两年收集一次研究参与者的健康信息。

The Harvard researchers looked at the level of optimism of the women, as well as other factors such as race, diet, physical activity level and overall health.

哈佛大学研究人员查看了这些女性的乐观程度，以及种族、饮食、身体活动水平以及整体健康状况等因素。

They found the most optimistic women had nearly a 30 percent lower risk of dying from disease. When compared to the least optimistic women in the study, the optimistic women had:

他们发现，最乐观的女性的病故风险降低了30%。与研究中涉及的不乐观的女性相比，乐观女性：

an almost forty percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, stroke and respiratory disease,

心脏病、中风以及呼吸道疾病死亡风险降低了近40%，

a fifty percent lower risk of dying from infection,

感染死亡风险降低了50%，

and a sixteen percent lower risk of dying from cancer.

癌症死亡风险降低了16%。

The researchers note that other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease. This, however, is the first study to link optimism with reduced mortality from other diseases.

研究人员指出，其它研究已经将乐观同降低心血管疾病死亡风险联系了起来。然而，他们这是第一项将乐观与降低其它疾病死亡率联系起来的研究。

Kaitlin Hagan, another study leader, says earlier studies show that a person can use simple, low-cost methods to increase optimism. For example, she says people can think about and write down the best possible outcomes for areas of their lives, like their careers or relationships.

这项研究的另一位负责人凯特琳·哈根(Kaitlin Hagan)表示，早期研究表明，人们可以通过简单、低成本的方式提升乐观。她说，例如人们可以思考并写下他们人生最好的结果，像是他们的事业或人际关系。

Leslie Ralph is a clinical psychologist and counselor at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She also blogs about stress management. Ralph has several ideas about how to increase optimism.

莱丝莉·拉尔夫(Leslie Ralph)是图森市亚利桑那大学的一位临床心理学家和心理顾问。她也在博客上发表文章谈到了压力管理。拉尔夫有几个提升乐观的主意。

She says each night plan to do two or three simple, enjoyable activities the next day. These activities might include watching the sun rise, visiting a friend, dancing to a favorite song or reading a story with your child.

她说，每天晚上策划第二天进行两到三项简单、愉快的活动。这些活动包括观看日出、访友、跟着喜欢的歌曲跳舞或是跟孩子一起读个故事。

She also suggests that if your day starts badly, simply close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. When you open your eyes, imagine your day has started over. It's like having your own restart button.

她还建议，如果这天出门就不顺，只要闭上眼睛深吸一口气。当你睁开眼睛时，设想这一天已经重新开始。这就像是自己有个重启按钮。

And the counselor adds offering praise or support to someone can also improve your own outlook. A smile and "thank you" from another person may help you feel more optimistic.

这位心理顾问补充说，赞扬或帮助某人也可以提升自己的人生观。来自他人的一个微笑和一句谢谢可能有助于让你感觉更乐观。

I'm Anna Matteo.

安娜·马特奥报道。