历年六级阅读理解逐句翻译：2006年12月（1）

　　一、

　　In a purely biological sense, fear begins with the bodys system for reacting to things that can harm us -- the so-called fight-or-flight response.

　　从纯生物角度来说，恐惧始于人体系统对会伤害我们的事情的反应----即所谓的战斗或逃脱反应。

　　An animal that cant detect danger cant stay alive, says Joseph LeDoux. Like animals, humans evolved with an elaborate mechanism for about potential threats.

　　不能觉察到危险的动物无法生存Jeseph LeDoux。像动物一样，人类进化过程中形成了一个精巧的机制，以处理潜在威胁的信息。

　　At its core is a cluster of neurons deep in the brain known as the amygdala .

　　该机制的核心是大脑内部的一束被称为扁桃核的神经元。

　　LeDoux studies the way animals and humans respond to threats to understand how we form memories of significant events in our lives.

　　Ledoux研究了动物和人类对危险的反应方式，以理解我们对于生活中重要事件是如何形成记忆的。

　　The amygdala receives input from many parts of the brain, including regions responsible for retrieving memories.

　　扁桃核从大脑的很多部位中接受输入的信息，包括负责回收记忆的部位。

　　Using this information, the amygdala appraises a situation - I think this charging dog wants to bite me - and triggers a response by radiating nerve signals throughout the body.

　　使用该信息，扁桃核对情景进行分析---我觉得这只充满攻击性的狗想咬我---进而通过体内神经信号的辐射启动效应。

　　These signals produce the familiar signs of distress: trembling, perspiration and fast-moving feet, just to name three.

　　这些信号产生与危险相似的信号：颤抖、流汗和快步逃跑，这仅是其中的三种反应。

　　This fear mechanism is critical to the survival of all animals, but no one can say for sure whether beasts other than humans know theyre afraid.

　　恐惧机制对所有动物的生存都是至关重要的，但是没有人敢肯定地说除了人以外，动物是否感受到了恐惧。

　　That is, as LeDoux says, if you put that system into a brain that has consciousness, then you get the feeling of fear.

　　正如Ledoux所言：如果你把该机制放进一个有知觉的大脑中，你就会有恐惧的感觉

　　Humans, says Edward M. Hallowell, have the ability to call up images of bad things that happened in the past and to anticipate future events.

　　Edward M.Hallowell说人类拥有回忆过去发生的不好事情的图像和预测未来的能力。

　　Combine these higher thought processes with our hardwired danger-detection systems, and you get a near-universal human phenomenon: worry.

　　把这些高级思维过程与我们固有的危险探测系统结合在一起，你将会获得一个几乎是人类所共有的现象：担忧。

　　Thats not necessarily a bad thing, says Hallowell, When used properly, worry is an incredible device, he says.

　　Hallowell说，这未必是件坏事。如果使用恰当，担忧式中难以置信的设计他说。

　　After all, a little healthy worrying is okay if it leads to constructive action -- like having a doctor look at that weird spot on your back.

　　毕竟，稍许健康的担忧是未尝不可的，如果担忧可以带来建设性的行为----如让医生检查一下你背上奇怪的斑点。

　　Hallowell insists, though, that theres a right way to worry.

　　但是Hallowell坚持认为，担忧存在着一种正确的模式。

　　Never do it alone, get the facts and then make a plan, he says.

　　永远不要只是担忧，要获取事实，然后指定计划他说。

　　Most of us have survived a recession, so were familiar with the belt-tightening strategies needed to survive a slump.

　　我们中的大多数都有从衰退中熬过来的精力，所以我们都熟知度过低潮所需要的节约政策。

　　Unfortunately, few of us have much experience dealing with the threat of terrorism, so its been difficult to get facts about how we should respond.

　　不幸的是，我们中仅有少数人有处理恐怖主义危险的经验，所以要获取我们应该如何应对的信息变得十分困难。

　　Thats why Hallowell believes it was okay for people to indulge some extreme worries last fall by asking doctors for Cipro and buying gas masks.

　　这就是为什么Hallowell认为在去年秋天的时候，人们向医生获取抗炭疽菌的药物和购买防毒面具并由此深陷于某种极度担忧中的行为是可以理解的。