High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 8 · The Headline and the Original Study
Audio track 08
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
A headline on my phone claimed that a certain fruit could double memory. It sounded perfect during exam week, so I opened the article. Near the bottom was a link to the original study.
The researchers had not tested students eating fruit. They had examined a substance found in the fruit, using a small group of volunteers and a short memory task. The results were interesting, but the researchers described them as preliminary. The article had turned a careful possibility into a confident promise.
I sent the study to our science teacher, who helped me read its summary. We listed what was measured, who took part, and what remained uncertain. Then I wrote a short note for my friends: enjoy the fruit if you like it, but do not expect a new exam strategy from one study.
A headline is written to catch attention. The original research usually asks a narrower question. Reading both taught me that the exciting word in a headline may be the very word I need to check.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
手机上一则标题声称，某种水果能让记忆力提高一倍。考试周看到这话，我立刻打开文章。页面靠下处有一条通往原始研究的链接。
研究者并没有测试学生吃这种水果的效果。他们研究的是水果所含的一种物质，对少数志愿者做了一项简短的记忆任务。结果有意思，但研究者称它只是初步发现。文章却把谨慎的可能性写成了肯定的承诺。
我把研究发给科学老师，请他帮我读摘要。我们列出测了什么、谁参与了、哪些地方仍不确定。我又给朋友们写了条短消息：喜欢这种水果就尽管吃，但别因为单项研究就期待它成为新的备考方法。
标题是为吸引注意而写，原始研究通常只回答范围更窄的问题。把两者都读一遍，我明白了：标题中最令人兴奋的那个词，往往正是最该核查的词。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- headline
- 标题；声称水果能提高记忆。
- claimed
- 宣称；结论写得过于肯定。
- original study
- 原始研究；需查实验实际做了什么。
- substance
- 物质；研究的是水果中的成分。
- volunteers
- 志愿者；受试群体很小。
- preliminary
- 初步的；研究者对结果的限定。
- possibility
- 可能性；不能被写成保证。
- measured
- 测量；明确检测了什么。
- uncertain
- 不确定的；还有待研究的地方。
- narrower
- 更窄的；原研究提问范围有限。
Background notes (Chinese)
媒体标题可能把初步、有限的研究结果扩大成确定功效。文中学生查看原研究的对象、方法和措辞，避免把‘研究某种物质’误读成‘吃水果可使记忆翻倍’。