中英對照讀新聞／Catching a yawn "a family matter" 被傳染打呵欠是「家務事」

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Contagious yawning may show the closeness of your relationships rather than your tiredness, say scientists. The fact that it is contagious has never been fully explained, but one theory suggests it is linked to empathy between people.

科學家說，傳染性的打呵欠可能顯示你的關係親密度，而不是你的疲累程度。打呵欠會傳染的事實從未被充分解釋，但有個理論顯示這和人與人之間的同理心有關。

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An Italian study in the journal PLoS One found people were more likely to yawn in response to a close relative rather than just a friend. The finding suggests contagious yawning may have evolved as a way of maintaining alertness within a group.

義大利一份刊登在《公共科學圖書館—綜合》期刊的研究發現，親近的親戚打呵欠時，人跟著打呵欠的可能性，比只是朋友打呵欠時被傳染的機率高。這項發現顯示，隨著演化，傳染性的打呵欠可能逐漸形成在團體裡維持警覺性的方式。

The University of Pisa researchers observed 109 men and women from a variety of nationalities in their day-to-day activities, and recorded instances of contagious yawning. They found it was most likely between directly-related family members, slightly less likely between friends, and then less likely still between acquaintances and strangers.

比薩大學研究人員觀察109名來自多個國籍的男女日常活動，並記錄傳染性打呵欠事例。他們發現，跟著直系親屬打呵欠的可能性最高，跟著朋友打呵欠的可能性略低，跟著熟人以及陌生人打呵欠的可能性更低。

The researchers wrote："Our results demonstrate that yawn contagion is primarily driven by the emotional closeness between individuals and not by other variables, such as gender and nationality."

研究人員寫道：「我們的研究顯示，打呵欠會不會傳染，主要是受到人與人之間的情感親密度、而非其他如性別與國籍等變數驅使。」

新聞辭典

still：副詞，（強調比較級）更、還要。例句：I’ll meet you at the theatre. No, better still, let’s meet in a pub and have a drink first.（我在戲院跟你碰頭，不，我們在Pub碰頭先喝一杯更好。）

acquaintance：名詞，熟人、（與人）認識。例句：It was at the Taylors’ party that I first made his acquaintance.（我是在泰勒的派對上第一次認識他。）

variable：名詞，變數。例句：The data was analysed according to neighbourhoods, but other key variables like credit rating, job history, savings and marital status were ignored altogether.（這份資料是根據鄰里分析，但忽略了信用評等、儲蓄與婚姻狀況等重要變數。）