运动监测软件不能帮你减肥！

有朋友说，想看吃什么东西能快速减肥？

刚好今天是，8月8日全民健身日，我们来看看什么不能帮你减肥！

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. The researchers chose participants aged 18-35 mainly because:

A) Younger people are more motivated to lose weight

B) This age group is more tech-savvy with wearables

C) Older adults were unwilling to join long-term studies

D) Metabolic rates decline significantly after age 35

无注释原文：

Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss Efforts

From: The New York Times

Wearable activity monitors can count your steps and track your movements, but they don't, apparently, help you lose weight. In fact, you might lose more weight without them.

The fascinating finding comes from a study published today in JAMA that found dieting adults who wore activity monitors for 18 months lost significantly fewer pounds over that time than those who did not.

The results suggest that activity monitors may not change our behavior in the way we expected, and raise interesting questions about the tangled relationships between exercise, eating, our willpower and our waistlines.

So for the new study, University of Pittsburgh scientists from the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center and their colleagues gathered almost 500 young, overweight men and women who wanted to lose weight. The recruits ranged in age from 18 to 35 since, presumably, these younger volunteers would be familiar with and competent using technologies such as activity trackers and any learning curve would be slight.

The volunteers were weighed and their general health and fitness assessed.

Then, for the first six months of the study, the volunteers followed a straightforward, low-calorie diet designed to provide steady weight loss and were urged to start moving more, aiming for at least 100 minutes of moderate activity each week. They kept daily food and exercise diaries and attended weekly counseling sessions.

By the end of six months, everyone had lost weight. And then the actual experiment began.

The scientists now divided their volunteers in half. One group was told to start logging their daily exercise sessions onto a study website.

The others were given a monitor designed to be worn on the upper arm that would track their physical activity and provide feedback about whether they were achieving goals for step counts, calorie expenditure and so on.

“We were pretty confident” that the volunteers in the group using the activity monitors would exercise more, monitor their calorie intake better, and lose more weight than the people in the self-monitoring group, says John Jakicic, a distinguished professor in the department of health and physical activity at the University of Pittsburgh and the study's lead author.

After 18 months — and two years after the beginning of the study — all of the volunteers returned to the lab to repeat their measurements from the start.

Those who had not worn activity monitors were, on average, about 13 pounds lighter now than two years ago.

Those who had worn the monitors, however, weighed only about 8 pounds less than at the start.

“We were definitely surprised,” Dr. Jakicic says.

The reasons for the difference in weight loss are not immediately clear, he says.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss Efforts

From: The New York Times

Wearable activity monitors can count your steps and track your movements, but they don't, apparently, help you lose weight. In fact, you might lose more weight without them.

可穿戴式活动监测设备能计算你的步数，并追踪你的运动，但它们对减肥似乎没有帮助。实际上，不用它们的话，你的减肥效果可能更好。

wearable /ˈweə.rə.bəl/ 表示“（科技产品）可穿戴的”，英文解释为“Wearable technology consists of things that can be worn, such as clothing or glasses, that contain computer technology or can connect to the internet.”举个🌰：Wearable technology such as "smart clothes" can be used to monitor heart rate. 像“智能衣服”这样的可穿戴产品将可以用来监测心跳频率。

monitor /ˈmɒn.ɪ.tər/ 作动词，表示“监控；监测；监视，密切注视”，英文解释为“to watch and check a situation carefully for a period of time in order to discover something about it”举个🌰：The new findings suggest that women ought to monitor their cholesterol levels. 新发现表明女性应当密切关注她们的胆固醇水平。

作名词，表示“显示器，屏幕”，英文解释为“a computer screen or a device with a screen on which words or pictures can be shown”如：a computer monitor 计算机显示器。

track /træk/ 作名词，表示“（录制在CD、唱片或磁带上的）一首歌曲；一首乐曲”，英文解释为“A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD, record, or tape.”

也可表示“音轨，声道”，英文解释为“a part of a magnetic strip onto which sound can be recorded, with several tracks on one magnetic strip”举个🌰：I only like two of the ten tracks on this CD. 我只喜欢这张CD上的10首歌曲中的2首。

📍周末多睡2小时抑郁风险降低48%文中作动词，1）表示“跟踪，追踪”，英文解释为“to follow a person or animal by looking for proof that they have been somewhere, or by using electronic equipment”

2）表示“追踪，记录…的进展”，英文解释为“to record the progress or development of something over a period”举个🌰：We continued tracking the plane on our radar. 我们继续用雷达追踪那架飞机。

🎬 电影《博物馆奇妙夜3》（Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb）中的台词提到：You're sort of set up to track my phone? You track my phone? 你装定位追踪我的手机？你竟然追踪我的手机？

The fascinating finding comes from a study published today in JAMA that found dieting adults who wore activity monitors for 18 months lost significantly fewer pounds over that time than those who did not.

这项非常有趣的发现来自《美国医学会杂志》(The Journal of the American Medical Association)今天发表的一项研究。该研究发现，在18个月的时间里，戴活动监测设备的成人减肥者体重下降的磅数，明显少于不戴活动监测设备的人。

fascinating /ˈfæs.ən.eɪ.tɪŋ/ 表示“极有趣的；吸引人的”，英文解释为“extremely interesting”举个🌰：I found the whole movie fascinating. 我觉得整部电影都很吸引人。

The results suggest that activity monitors may not change our behavior in the way we expected, and raise interesting questions about the tangled relationships between exercise, eating, our willpower and our waistlines.

相关结果表明，活动监测设备或许并不会以我们预计的方式改变我们的行为。它们也引出了有关锻炼、饮食、意志力和腰围之间错综复杂的关系的问题，颇为有趣。

tangled /ˈtæŋ.ɡəld/ 1）表示“纠缠的，纠结在一起的”，英文解释为“twisted into an untidy mass”如：tangled string 缠结在一起的线，举个🌰：She ran a hand through her tangled hair. 她用一只手梳理她缠在一起的头发。

2）表示“迷惘的；复杂的”，英文解释为“confused and complicated”如：a tangled issue 复杂的问题。

waistline /ˈweɪst.laɪn/ 表示“腰围；腰围线”，英文解释为“an imaginary line going round the narrowest part of your waist”如：a bulging/expanding waistline 日益变粗/逐渐变大的腰围。

So for the new study, University of Pittsburgh scientists from the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center and their colleagues gathered almost 500 young, overweight men and women who wanted to lose weight. The recruits ranged in age from 18 to 35 since, presumably, these younger volunteers would be familiar with and competent using technologies such as activity trackers and any learning curve would be slight.

就前文提到的新研究而言，匹兹堡大学(University of Pittsburgh)来自身体活动与体重管理研究中心(Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center)的科学家和他们的同事招募到了近500名想减肥的超重青年男女。他们的年龄在18到35岁之间，因为这些较年轻的志愿者大概会对活动追踪设备这类技术比较熟悉，能够正确使用它们，需要学习的话也会较为容易。

gather /ˈɡæð.ər/ 表示“聚集；集合”，英文解释为“When people or animals gather, they come together in a group.”举个🌰： A crowd had gathered to hear her speak. 一群人围拢过来听她演讲。

presumably /prɪˈzuː.mə.bli/ 表示“据推测，大概，可能”，英文解释为“used to say what you think is the likely situation”举个🌰：They can presumably afford to buy a bigger apartment. 他们大概买得起一套大一点的公寓。

competent /ˈkɒm.pɪ.tənt/ 表示“有能力的；能干的；称职的”，英文解释为“able to do something well”如：a competent rider/cook 能干的骑手/厨师。

learning curve /ˈlɜː.nɪŋ ˌkɜːv/ 表示“学习曲线（表示获得熟练技巧的进步过程）”，英文解释为“the rate of someone's progress in learning a new skill”举个🌰：It's a steep learning curve when you're thrown into a job. 当你没有准备突然开始一个新工作的时候，发展进步是很曲折的。

The volunteers were weighed and their general health and fitness assessed.

志愿者们称了体重，并接受了总体健康状况评估。

Then, for the first six months of the study, the volunteers followed a straightforward, low-calorie diet designed to provide steady weight loss and were urged to start moving more, aiming for at least 100 minutes of moderate activity each week. They kept daily food and exercise diaries and attended weekly counseling sessions.

然后，在研究的头六个月里，志愿者们遵循一种简单的低热量饮食计划。该计划的设计意图是实现稳定的体重下降。研究人员督促他们开始增加运动量，目标是每周至少进行100分钟的低强度活动。他们要写饮食和锻炼日记，还要参加每周一次的咨询辅导活动。

calorie /ˈkæl.ər.i/ 表示“卡，卡路里（测量食物所含热量的单位）”，英文解释为“a unit of energy, often used as a measurement of the amount of energy that food provides”举个🌰：There are about 50 calories in an apple. 一个苹果大约含有50卡路里的热量。

By the end of six months, everyone had lost weight. And then the actual experiment began.

六个月结束时，所有人的体重都下降了。然后，真正的实验开始了。

The scientists now divided their volunteers in half. One group was told to start logging their daily exercise sessions onto a study website.

科学家们把志愿者平分成两组。一组被要求把每天的锻炼时间记录在一个研究网站上。

The others were given a monitor designed to be worn on the upper arm that would track their physical activity and provide feedback about whether they were achieving goals for step counts, calorie expenditure and so on.

其他人则拿到了监测仪，它会被使用者戴在上臂上，以追踪用户的身体活动，并就用户是否即将完成步数和热量消耗等方面的目标提供反馈。

feedback /ˈfiːd.bæk/ 作名词，表示“反馈信息，反馈意见；反馈（到机器或产出系统，以改良产品）”，英文解释为“information or statements of opinion about something, such as a new product, that can tell you if it is successful or liked ”举个🌰：Have you had any feedback from customers about the new soap? 有关新款肥皂你有没有收到顾客的反馈意见？

expenditure /ɪkˈspen.dɪ.tʃər/ 表示“花费；消费；费用；开支”（the act of spending or using money; an amount of money spent）如：a reduction in public/government/military expenditure 公共/政府/军费开支的削减。

对比：

📍spending表示“（政府或其他机构的）开支，支出，花销”（the amount of money that is spent by a government or an organization）如：to increase public spending 增加公共开支。

📍outlay表示“（启动新项目的）开支，费用”（the money that you have to spend in order to start a new project）如：the initial outlay on advertising 初期的广告费。

“We were pretty confident” that the volunteers in the group using the activity monitors would exercise more, monitor their calorie intake better, and lose more weight than the people in the self-monitoring group, says John Jakicic, a distinguished professor in the department of health and physical activity at the University of Pittsburgh and the study's lead author.

匹茨堡大学健康与身体活动系的著名教授、这项研究的第一作者约翰·亚基奇科(John Jakicic)说，“我们本来非常相信”使用活动监测仪那个小组的志愿者会加大运动量，更好地监测热量摄入，因而减肥效果也会比自我监控小组的人好。

distinguished /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃt/ 1）表示“杰出的，突出的，卓越的”，英文解释为“used to describe a respected and admired person, or their work”如：a distinguished writer/director/politician 杰出的作家/导演/政治家。

2）表示“（尤指长者）气度不凡的，高雅的，睿智的”，英文解释为“used to describe a person, especially an older person, who looks formal, stylish, or wise”举个🌰：I think grey hair on a man can look very distinguished.

📍Distinguished Professor（特聘教授；杰出教授）是高校或研究机构对具有特殊学术贡献或专长的学者授予的荣誉称号，通常伴随一定期限的聘任合同。

After 18 months — and two years after the beginning of the study — all of the volunteers returned to the lab to repeat their measurements from the start.

在18个月，也就是研究开始两年后，所有志愿者都回到实验室，重新读出他们一开始的体重。

Those who had not worn activity monitors were, on average, about 13 pounds lighter now than two years ago.

不戴活动监测仪的人平均比两年前轻了大约13磅。

Those who had worn the monitors, however, weighed only about 8 pounds less than at the start.

而戴活动监测仪的人只比一开始瘦了大约8磅。

“We were definitely surprised,” Dr. Jakicic says.

“我们确实很惊讶，”亚基奇科说。

The reasons for the difference in weight loss are not immediately clear, he says.

他表示，减肥效果出现这种差异的原因目前还不清楚。

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