(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.
Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to demonstrate that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.
More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE - short for Advanced (Cognitive) Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most studied when they were more than 70 years old.
The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing - speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group - the control group did not get any training.
Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, lead study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.
Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of-processing did better on tests than the control group.
"We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found."
The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group. The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours.
Professor Rebort and his team are now considering ways to provide such training for lower cost.
"We are trying to make the training more broadly available. For example, we have a grant right now from the National Institute on Aging to try to make a web-based version of the ACTIVE memory training and put the training online."
One question still to be studied is how only a few hours of training can still be effective after ten years. The study appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
And that's the VOA Learning English Health Report. You can read more health reports on our website learningenglish.voanews.com, where you'll also find lessons to help you learn everyday American English. I'm Chirstopher Cruise.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.reasoning n. 推理；论证；评理
Their reasoning was based on a set of unstated assumptions.
他们的推理是以一系列未说明的假定为基础的。
2.cognitive adj. 认知的，认识的
As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper.
随着孩子们长大，他们的认知过程也变得越来越敏锐了。
3.mental adj. 精神的；脑力的；疯的 n. 精神病患者
The intellectual environment has a significant influence on the mental development of the children.
知识环境对孩子智力的发展有着重大的影响。
内容解析
1.We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training,
over time 随着时间的过去；超时
I think I only began to grasp its significance over time, gradually.
我想我只是随着时间的推移才逐步理解这意义的。
Over time, the technology is diffused and adopted by other countries.
久而久之，这项技术传播到了其他国家并得到利用。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
有些心智能力会随着年龄的增长而下降，然而研究似乎表明有的训练能改善这些技能。最近发表的一项研究似乎说明，培训的效果能在培训结束后持续多年。
美国马里兰州约翰·霍普金斯大学想弄明白，接受过培训的老年人的记忆力和思考技能能持续多久，这些人参加了一个十年研究项目。他们接受了提高记忆力、思维和日常行为的培训。
2800多人义务参加了这项名为ACTIVE的研究，其全称是老年个体高级认知训练，其中多数人在70岁以上。
志愿者参加了旨在帮助保持心智能力的几个课程中的一项，一个班级给参与者培训记单词表等技能，另一个组培训推理，第三个组得到快速处理的帮助，也就是快速接受和理解信息，第四个是控制组，没有得到任何培训。
早先的研究表明培训对参与者能起到5年的效果，现在，研究的首席作者乔治·里博克说，研究表明培训在10年后仍有效。
里博克教授和他的团队发现，那些接受过推理和快速处理培训的参加者在测试中表现比控制组好。
“我们想知道这些持久效果能持续到10年后，事实上这正是我们发现的。”
然而训练对记忆的效果似乎没那么长，不过三个组中的任何一个组的老人总体上在日常行为中都比控制组遇到更少的困难。老人接受的培训时间总共是10到15小时。
里博克教授和他的团队想思考以更低的成本提供此类培训。
“我们努力使得这种培训更加普及，比如，我们获得了国家老年问题研究所的拨款，来制作网页版的ACTIVE记忆培训，将培训放到网络上。”
一个仍需研究的问题是，为何几个小时的培训能见效10年，这份研究发表在《美国老年病协会杂志》上。
这就是美国之音慢速英语健康报道，登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多健康宝典，还能找到帮助你学习每日美语的课程，我是克里斯多夫·克鲁斯。
