在线英语听力室

英文科普：人体站立时击打力度最大

时间：2011-05-23 08:03:10

（单词翻译:单击）

A University of Utah study shows that men hit harder when they stand on two legs than when they are on all fours, and when hitting downward rather than upward, giving tall, upright males a fighting advantage. This may help explain why our ape-like human ancestors began walking upright and why women tend to prefer tall men.

"The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that our ancestors adopted bipedal（二足的） posture1 so that males would be better at beating and killing2 each other when competing for females," says David Carrier, a biology professor who conducted the study. "Standing3 up on their hind4 legs allowed our ancestors to fight with the strength of their forelimbs, making punching much more dangerous."

"It also provides a functional5 explanation for why women find tall men attractive," Carrier adds. "Early in human evolution, an enhanced capacity to strike downward on an opponent may have given tall males a greater capacity to compete for mates and to defend their resources and offspring. If this were true, females who chose to mate with tall males would have had greater fitness for survival."

Carrier's new study is being published Wednesday, May 18 in the online Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.

The idea is not new that fighting and violence played a role in making human ancestors shift from walking on all fours to walking on two legs. But Carrier's new study physically6 demonstrates the advantage of fighting from an upright, two-legged posture.

Carrier measured the force of punches by male boxers7 and martial8 arts practitioners9 as they hit in four different directions: forward, sideways, down and up.

A punching bag fitted with a sensor10 measured the force of forward and sideways punches. For strikes downward and upward, the men struck a heavy padded block on the end of a lever that swung up and down because it was suspended from an axle（车轴） .

In either case, the men struck the target as hard as they could both from a standing posture and on their hands and knees.

The findings: for all punching angles, men hit with far more force when they were standing, and from both postures11 they could hit over twice as hard downward as upward.

英语科普


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1 posture q1gzk     
n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势
参考例句：
  • 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。
2 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财
参考例句：
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
3 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
4 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的，后部的
参考例句：
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
5 functional 5hMxa     
adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的
参考例句：
  • The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
  • The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。
6 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律
参考例句：
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
7 boxers a8fc8ea2ba891ef896d3ca5822c4405d     
n.拳击短裤；（尤指职业）拳击手( boxer的名词复数 )；拳师狗
参考例句：
  • The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The boxers slugged it out to the finish. 两名拳击手最后决出了胜负。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 martial bBbx7     
adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的
参考例句：
  • The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
  • The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。
9 practitioners 4f6cea6bb06753de69fd05e8adbf90a8     
n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）
参考例句：
  • one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
  • The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句
10 sensor sz7we     
n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）
参考例句：
  • The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
  • He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。
11 postures a8fae933af6af334eef4208a9e43a55f     
姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场
参考例句：
  • Modern consciousness has this great need to explode its own postures. 现代意识很有这种摧毁本身姿态的需要。
  • They instinctively gathered themselves into more tidy postures. 她们本能地恢复了端庄的姿态。