双语：经常做好事的人心情愉快，甚至能有效抵御疾病

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If you are driving in the United States, you may see a common bumper sticker on passing vehicles that reads: “Perform random acts of kindness.” The saying is meant to urge people to do kind things for others without thinking or planning ahead.

如果你在美国开车，可能会在驶过的车辆上看到一个常见的保险杠贴纸，上面写着：”随意善举。”这句谚语的意思是敦促人们为他人做好事，而不事先考虑或计划。

But several studies suggest there are some very good reasons to think about ways to be kind and actually plan out that type of behavior.

但几项研究表明，有一些非常好的理由让我们思考如何变得善良，并实际计划出这种行为。

Research shows that acts of kindness can make us feel better and improve our health. Researchers also say kindness played an important part in how humans developed. In other words, they say scientific evidence suggests that we are designed to be kind.

研究表明，善意的行为可以让我们感觉更好，改善我们的健康。研究人员还表示，善良在人类的发展过程中发挥了重要作用。换句话说，他们说科学证据表明我们生来就是善良的。

The Associated Press spoke with several researchers who have studied the subject.

One of them is Michael McCullough, a psychologist at the University of California San Diego. Kindness, he said, is as much a part of us “as our anger or our lust or our grief or as our desire for revenge.”

美联社采访了几位研究这一课题的研究人员。加州大学圣地亚哥分校的心理学家迈克尔•麦卡洛(Michael McCullough)就是其中之一。善良，他说，就像我们的愤怒，我们的欲望，我们的悲伤，我们的复仇欲望一样，是我们的一部分。

University of Oxford anthropologist Oliver Curry is the research director at Kindlab. Kindlab is a non-profit organization. Its goal is to educate and urge people to choose kindness.

牛津大学人类学家奥利弗•库里(Oliver Curry)是Kindlab的研究主任。Kindlab是一个非盈利组织。它的目标是教育和敦促人们选择善良。

Curry claims that “kindness is much older than religion.” He adds that it “does seem to be universal,” meaning it is something all humans share.

库里声称，善良的历史要比宗教悠久得多。他补充说，这似乎是普遍存在的，也就是说，这是所有人类共有的。

“The basic reason why people are kind,” he explained, “is that we are social animals.”

他解释说，人类善良的基本原因是我们是社会动物。

Other research has shown that many people prize kindness over other values.

其他研究表明，许多人认为善良比其他价值更重要。

University of London psychologist Anat Bardi studies value systems in people. In one study, researchers gave people a list of values—such as kindness, creativity, ambition, tradition, security, seeking social justice, and seeking power. When asked to pick the most important, kindness won.

伦敦大学的心理学家阿纳特•巴迪（Anat Bardi）研究人类的价值体系。在一项研究中，研究人员给人们一张价值清单，比如善良、创造力、雄心、传统、安全感、寻求社会公正和寻求权力。当被要求选出最重要的一个时，善良胜出。

Curry said there is another reason people want to be kind. Under the right conditions, “we all benefit from kindness.”

库里说，人们想要变得善良还有另外一个原因。在适当的条件下，我们都能从善良中获益。

When it comes to a species surviving, “kindness pays, friendliness pays,” said Brian Hare, an anthropologist at Duke University in North Carolina. He wrote the book “Survival of the Friendliest.”

北卡罗来纳州杜克大学的人类学家布莱恩•黑尔(Brian Hare)说，当涉及到一个物种的生存时，善良和友好会带来好处。他写了《最友好的人的生存》一书。

Hare said kindness and working together can be good for many species—whether it’s bacteria, flowers or bonobos. He explained that the more friends you have, and the more individuals you help, the more successful you become.

黑尔说，善良和合作对很多物种都有好处——无论是细菌、鲜花还是倭黑猩猩。他解释说，你的朋友越多，你帮助的人越多，你就越成功。

As an example, he compared bonobos with chimpanzees. Chimps can attack those outside their group. Bonobos, on the other hand, do not kill but help outsiders. Male bonobos, Hare added, are far more successful at mating than male chimps.

举个例子，他将倭黑猩猩与黑猩猩进行了比较。黑猩猩会攻击群体之外的人。另一方面，倭黑猩猩不杀生，而是帮助外来者。黑尔补充说，雄性倭黑猩猩在交配方面要比雄性黑猩猩成功得多。

McCullough says bonobos are the exception, not the rule. Most animals are only helpful to those in their close “family” groups but are not kind or helpful to strangers. This, he adds, separates us from other species. It shows our human ability to reason.

麦卡洛说倭黑猩猩是例外，而不是规则。大多数动物只会帮助它们的家庭成员，而不会对陌生人友善或乐于帮助它们。他补充说，这将我们与其他物种区分开来。这显示了我们人类的推理能力。

For example, humans realize that there is not much difference between those close to us and strangers. Strangers can help us if we are kind to them, McCullough said. He adds that this reasoning “is the secret ingredient.” It is why we help strangers in need. In English we even have the expression: to rely on the kindness of strangers.

例如，人类意识到与我们亲近的人和陌生人之间并没有太大的区别。麦卡洛说，如果我们对陌生人友善，他们就能帮助我们。他补充说，这个推理就是”秘方”。这就是为什么我们帮助有需要的陌生人。在英语中，我们甚至有这样的表达：依靠陌生人的好意。

But research shows that our bodies can also reward us for being kind.

但研究表明，我们的身体也会因为我们的善良而奖励我们。

University of California Riverside psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky has tested this idea in many experiments over the past 20 years. She has found repeatedly that people feel better when they are kind to others, even more so than when they are kind to themselves.

加州大学河滨分校的心理学教授索尼娅•柳博米尔斯基（Sonja Lyubomirsky）在过去20年的许多实验中验证了这一观点。她反复发现，人们善待他人时感觉更好，甚至比善待自己时感觉更好。

“Acts of kindness,” Lyubomirsky said, “are very powerful.”

柳博米尔斯基说：”善良的行为是非常强大的。”

In one experiment, the AP reports, she asked people to perform three acts of kindness for other individuals each week. She asked a different group to do three acts of self-kindness. These acts could be small, like opening a door for someone. The people who were kind to others reported feeling happier and more connected to the world.

据美联社报道，在一个实验中，她要求人们每周为其他人做三件好事。她让另一组人为自己做三件美好的事。这些行为可能很小，比如为某人打开一扇门。对他人友善的人感觉更快乐，与世界的联系也更紧密。

Curry, from Oxford, examined many different studies that were similar to Lyubomirsky’s research. He found at least 27 studies showing the same result—that being kind makes people feel better emotionally.

来自牛津大学的库里调查了许多与柳博米尔斯基的研究相似的不同研究。他发现至少有27项研究显示了同样的结果——善良使人在情感上感觉更好。

But it is not just emotional. It is also physical. Lyubomirsky studied a group of people with the disease multiple sclerosis. She found that they felt better physically when helping others.

但这不仅仅是情感上的。它也是身体上的。柳博米尔斯基研究了一组患有多发性硬化症的人。她发现他们在帮助别人时身体感觉更好。

Her research also showed that people who performed more acts of kindness had less inflammation, or harmful swelling, in their bodies. And in other studies, Lyubomirsky said more antiviral genes were found in people who performed acts of kindness.

她的研究还表明，做更多善事的人体内的炎症或有害肿胀较少。柳博米尔斯基说，在其他研究中，人们在做好事的人身上发现了更多的抗病毒基因。

知识积累：

谚语：

Perform random acts of kindness. 随意善举。

to rely on the kindness of strangers 依靠陌生人的善意

重点词汇：

species (plural species) n. a group of animals or plants whose members are similar and can breed together to produce young animals or plants 种，物种（分类上小于属）

connect v. to join together two or more things; to be joined together（使）连接；联结

本文英文来自VOA，经改编已选入《快捷英语 活页英语时文阅读理解 高一年级20》，转载需注明出处。

“快捷英语 活页英语时文阅读理解 20（七年级、八年级、中考、高一年级、高二年级、高考）