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（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

 

If you spent any time in your car this summer you probably sat in some traffic. Maybe you’re in a jam right now. If so, a study in an upcoming issue of Physical Review Letters might help pass the time. According to scientists, building new roads won’t make traffic any lighter1. It could even make things worse. What might help, though, is shutting a few streets down.

Imagine that there are two routes that take you to work: one a long wide freeway and the other a short, narrow bridge. In this example, everyone’s drive time would be minimized2 if half the motorists took the bridge and the other half the highway. Of course nobody cares about minimizing3 the collective commute4. Every driver wants to get there first. So some of the highway drivers will switch to the bridge, thinking that’ll be quicker. When the bridge backs up, some will head for the highway. The upshot of all this back-and-forth is that everyone’s commute takes longer—in real life, up to 30 percent longer, the physicists5 find. The solution, they say, is to close off a few carefully selected avenues to limit all that to-and-fro. With less choice, and less chaos6, everyone moves faster. It sounds counterintuitive. But it could beep worth a try.

 

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin .


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1 lighter 5pPzPR     
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
  • 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。
2 minimized cba83766c000e8a727c03c2ed5b4941a     
把…减至最低数量[程度]( minimize的过去式和过去分词 )； 对（某事物）作最低估计，极力贬低（某事物）的价值[重要性]
参考例句：
  • Target deterioration can be minimized by providing adequate cooling. 提供适当的冷却，可以减小靶的损伤。
  • Possible complications would be minimized. 可能发生的纠纷，将减至最低程度。
3 minimizing d5a78085349f41d14f0d7608067b121b     
极小化，求最小参数值
参考例句：
  • It was a new production technique aimed at minimizing wastage. 这是一项旨在使损耗减至最低的新生产技术。
  • The filters should be cemented together, thus minimizing the surface reflection losses. 为了尽量减少表面的反射损失，应该把这些滤色镜胶合在一起。
4 commute BXTyi     
vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通
参考例句：
  • I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
  • Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。
5 physicists 18316b43c980524885c1a898ed1528b1     
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。
6 chaos 7bZyz     
n.混乱，无秩序
参考例句：
  • After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
  • The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

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