时间:2019-02-16 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力文摘 English Digest


英语课

  Most people who hold babies know that the moment babies go to sleep, they seem to gain weight. Of course, a baby’s weight doesn’t really change when they fall asleep, so why does the limp, floppy 1 weight of a sleeping baby seem greater than it actually is?

A sleeping baby in your arms feels heavier because you must constantly adjust your own movements to compensate 2 for their floppiness 3. Your muscles work harder to carry a child who’s asleep, and your brain perceives this increase in work as an increase in the child’s weight, though, of course, the weight of the baby stays the same.

To picture this, think about carrying a twenty-pound bag of water. You would continually have to rearrange how you were holding that bag to make up for how the weight shifted due to the water sloshing around.

In a similar way, you must continually adjust how you are holding or carrying a sleeping baby because they aren’t able to control their own muscles to maintain a steady posture 4. Their inability to control their posture and movements makes them floppy, just like that bag of water.

Now, freeze your twenty-pound bag of water. Though it would be cold and slippery, it would feel lighter 5 because it is a solid weight that doesn’t require you to constantly make minute adjustments in order to carry it. This is how you perceive the weight of a conscious person.

Babies aren’t the only ones who seem heavier when they go limp. Dogs and cats also seem to gain weight when they go to sleep. And political protesters take advantage of this phenomenon by completely relaxing their muscles when police try to drag them away from a protest.

limp:无精神的

floppy:松软的

slippery:滑的



adj.松软的,衰弱的
  • She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
  • Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗?
vt.补偿,赔偿;酬报 vi.弥补;补偿;抵消
  • She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
  • Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
学英语单词
AACC (American Automatic Control Council)
ab stomacho laeso vertigo
Aberteifi
acid phosphat of lime
Almaluez
altitude-control valve
alveosphaera bimurata
anaplasmas
anilinparasulfonic acid
Bonner sphere spectrometer
bonsaiing
bottom oiler
boulton process
capillary packed column
carbohydrate isomerase
carbon-
centrifugal vane wheel type flowmeter
Chrysomyxa
cipher component
coffery
concurrent bus
corn snapper
corvorant
customer's free credit balance
delta voltage
demise premises
disbursement and settlement
dull red purple
dumbsizing
durnins
Elaeagnus conferta
equivalent current
exophylactic
fabiolas
goerdeler
grumbledory
guided missile stability
homogony
homologous sera
horse hair brush
HVEM
imperial society of teachers of dancing (istd)
indian rupees
input-bound
inquest
institutionalizings
interactive computing
intervening transformer
issue broker
keep-alive circuit
lead corrosion test
location-tracking
mask hole
mat type
match up to something
maximum overtemperature
method of plate orientation elements
mica washer
multiverses
Mus.B.
NAVFOODMGTM
neuroendoscopes
neuroroentgenography
nonlinear viscous flow
Oleiros
out of funds
palting
peak brightness
peels
photosynthesis physiology
polv
polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon
prithees
pseudodendrothrips lateralis
pyocyanine
reassessments
recovery procedure
renovating
Salina B.
Schizosaccharomycoideae
scratch marks
self-confidently
short-circuit breaking capacity
silbermann
sizing plot
spirit road
superior rectal artery
telescopicity
to the extent
torni
triadelphia diversa
trial periods
trimanual
typhoon shelter
vanis
vaporizer pressure regulator
vegetable shredder
well-worked
whole step
wwii
yellow brick road