打哈欠竟从胎儿时就开始会传染

看到别人打哈欠，你是不是也不由自主地张开嘴想打哈欠？

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. According to the passage, which of the following is a potential mechanism for fetal yawning?

A. The fetus visually observes the mother's yawn through the uterine wall.

B. The mother's yawn causes hormonal changes that directly trigger fetal yawning.

C. The physical movement of the mother's yawn exerts pressure on the uterus.

D. The fetus mimics the mother's yawn as a form of early empathy.

无注释原文：

Yawning is contagious — even in the womb

From: Science News

A fetus doesn't have to see a yawn to catch it.

Mothers can spread yawns to their yet-to-be-born offspring during pregnancy, researchers report in Current Biology.

Yawning is contagious among many social creatures, including humans, dogs, lions and parakeets. While the behavior is generally thought to boost blood flow to the brain for cooling and alertness, yawning could also help synchronize group movements and be a primitive form of empathy. And yawning begins even before birth. In utero yawns support brain development, ensuring that all the necessary muscles and brain connections needed for yawning and breathing are in working order.

But researchers largely attributed these prenatal yawns to natural body programming, different from the socially contagious reflex that strikes children and adults alike. It was unknown if a mother's yawning had any impact on fetuses.

Pregnancy is a time when mothers and their fetuses are inextricably linked not just physiologically, but perhaps behaviorally, says Giulia D'Adamo, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Parma in Italy. “During pregnancy, everything is groundwork for what is going to happen next.”

To test whether fetuses catch yawns from their mothers, D'Adamo and colleagues showed videos of yawning people to a group of 38 pregnant women who were in their third trimester. Cameras captured the mothers' video-prompted yawns while ultrasound monitored their fetuses.

Roughly 64 percent of the mothers yawned at least once in response to the video. Just over half of the fetuses responded to their mothers, yawning themselves around a minute and half later. (The upper limit to “catching” a yawn for humans is around five minutes.) That fetal yawn was far more likely to follow a maternal one than to happen spontaneously.

It's possible that the physical movement of a yawn puts pressure on the uterus in ways that signals to the fetus that it should yawn, too, D'Adamo says. Hormones could also prompt a fetal yawn. Future studies examining women at various stages of pregnancy could help uncover how mothers pass on their yawns.

But for now, it's unclear why fetuses catch yawns, and if those yawns serve to benefit any future behaviors. The real social context, D'Adamo says, happens after birth.

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为AI翻译，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Yawning is contagious — even in the womb

From: Science News

A fetus doesn't have to see a yawn to catch it.

胎儿无需亲眼看到打哈欠，也能被传染。

fetus /ˈfiːtəs/ 表示“胎儿，胎”，英文解释为“a young human being or animal before birth, after the organs have started to develop”，英式拼写：foetus.

yawn /jɔːn/ 表示“打哈欠”，英文解释为“to open the mouth wide and take a lot of air into the lungs and slowly send it out, usually when tired or bored”举个🌰：I can't stop yawning - I must be tired. 我一个劲儿打哈欠——肯定是累了。

Mothers can spread yawns to their yet-to-be-born offspring during pregnancy, researchers report in Current Biology.

研究人员在《当代生物学》（Current Biology）上报告称，母亲在怀孕期间会将打哈欠传染给腹中的胎儿。

offspring /ˈɒf.sprɪŋ/ 1）表示“（人的）后代，子女，子嗣”，英文解释为“a person's children”举个🌰：His sister came over on Saturday with all her offspring. 他的姐姐星期六带着她的一大群子女过来串门。

2）表示“（动物的）幼崽，崽兽”，英文解释为“the young of an animal”举个🌰：In the case of the guinea pig, the number of offspring varies between two and five. 以豚鼠为例，它一胎产2到5个幼仔。

Yawning is contagious among many social creatures, including humans, dogs, lions and parakeets. While the behavior is generally thought to boost blood flow to the brain for cooling and alertness, yawning could also help synchronize group movements and be a primitive form of empathy. And yawning begins even before birth. In utero yawns support brain development, ensuring that all the necessary muscles and brain connections needed for yawning and breathing are in working order.

打哈欠在许多群居动物中都具有传染性，包括人类、狗、狮子以及长尾鹦鹉。虽然这一行为通常被认为能促进大脑的血液流动，从而帮助降温和保持警觉，但它也可能有助于协调群体行动，甚至是一种原始的共情形式。打哈欠其实在出生前就已经开始了。在子宫内打哈欠有助于大脑发育，确保打哈欠和呼吸所需的所有必要肌肉及神经连接都能正常运作。

contagious /kən'teɪdʒəs/ 1）表示“（疾病）接触传染的”，英文解释为“A disease that is contagious can be caught by touching people or things that are infected with it.”

2）表示“（感情、态度、行动）富于感染力的，会蔓延的”，英文解释为“If a feeling, attitude, or action is contagious, other people are quickly affected by it and begin to have it or do it”，如：her contagious enthusiasm 她那富有感染力的热情。

parakeet /ˌpær.əˈkiːt/ 表示“长尾小鹦鹉”，英文解释为“one of many types of small parrot with a long tail”如：Before I got my first pet parakeet, I had no idea you could bond with a bird.

synchronize /ˈsɪŋ.krə.naɪz/ 表示“（使）同步，（使）同时发生”，英文解释为“to (cause to) happen at the same time”举个🌰：The show was designed so that the lights synchronized with the music. 根据设计，演出的灯光和音乐是同步的。

primitive /ˈprɪm.ɪ.tɪv/ 表示“原始的，早期的，远古的”，英文解释为“relating to human society at a very early stage of development, with people living in a simple way without machines or a writing system”举个🌰：Primitive races colonized these islands 2,000 years ago. 原始种族2000年前开拓了这些岛屿。

But researchers largely attributed these prenatal yawns to natural body programming, different from the socially contagious reflex that strikes children and adults alike. It was unknown if a mother's yawning had any impact on fetuses.

但研究人员主要将这些产前哈欠归因于身体的自然程序，它不同于那种在儿童和成人中都会出现的社会性传染反射。母亲打哈欠是否会对胎儿产生影响，此前尚不清楚。

prenatal /ˌpriːˈneɪ.təl/ 表示“产前的”，英文解释为“relating to the medical care given to pregnant women before their babies are born”如：prenatal care/classes 产前保健/学习班。

Pregnancy is a time when mothers and their fetuses are inextricably linked not just physiologically, but perhaps behaviorally, says Giulia D'Adamo, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Parma in Italy. “During pregnancy, everything is groundwork for what is going to happen next.”

意大利帕尔马大学（University of Parma）的神经科学家兼心理学家朱莉娅·达达莫（Giulia D'Adamo）说，怀孕是母亲和胎儿不仅在生理上，而且可能在行为上紧密相连的时期。“在怀孕期间，一切都是为接下来要发生的事情打基础。”

inextricably /ˌɪn.ɪkˈstrɪk.ə.bli/ 表示“密不可分地”，英文解释为“in a way that is unable to be separated, released, or escaped from”举个🌰：His name was inextricably linked with the environmental movement. 他的名字与环保运动紧密联系在一起。

To test whether fetuses catch yawns from their mothers, D'Adamo and colleagues showed videos of yawning people to a group of 38 pregnant women who were in their third trimester. Cameras captured the mothers' video-prompted yawns while ultrasound monitored their fetuses.

为了测试胎儿是否会从母亲那里传染打哈欠，达达莫和同事向一组处于孕晚期的孕妇（38名）展示了人们打哈欠的视频。摄像机捕捉了母亲因视频引发的哈欠，同时超声波监测了她们的胎儿。

trimester /trɪˈmes.tər/ /traɪˈmes.tər/ 表示“（人类妊娠的）三月期”，英文解释为“any of the three three-month periods that a human pregnancy is divided into”举个🌰：The second trimester is generally the easiest part of a pregnancy. 一般说来，第二个三月期是怀孕期间最轻松的一段时间。

Roughly 64 percent of the mothers yawned at least once in response to the video. Just over half of the fetuses responded to their mothers, yawning themselves around a minute and half later. (The upper limit to “catching” a yawn for humans is around five minutes.) That fetal yawn was far more likely to follow a maternal one than to happen spontaneously.

大约64%的母亲因视频至少打了一次哈欠。略超过一半的胎儿对母亲做出回应，大约一分半钟后自己也打了哈欠。（人类“传染”打哈欠的上限约为五分钟。）胎儿打哈欠更可能发生在母亲打哈欠之后，而不是自发出现。

maternal /məˈtɜː.nəl/ 表示“母亲的；母亲般的”，英文解释为“behaving or feeling in the way that a mother does towards her child, especially in a kind, loving way”如：maternal instincts 母亲的天性。

spontaneously /spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/ 表示“自然的，自发的”，英文解释为“in a way that is natural, often sudden, and not planned or forced”举个🌰：This story may prompt you to burst spontaneously into uncontrollable sobs. 这个故事可能会让你不由自主地抽泣起来。

It's possible that the physical movement of a yawn puts pressure on the uterus in ways that signals to the fetus that it should yawn, too, D'Adamo says. Hormones could also prompt a fetal yawn. Future studies examining women at various stages of pregnancy could help uncover how mothers pass on their yawns.

达达莫说，打哈欠的身体运动可能以某种方式对子宫施加压力，向胎儿发出信号，表明它也应该打哈欠。激素也可能促使胎儿打哈欠。未来对处于不同怀孕阶段女性的研究可能有助于揭示母亲如何传递打哈欠。

hormone /ˈhɔːməʊn/ 表示“激素；荷尔蒙”，英文解释为“a chemical substance produced in the body or in a plant that encourages growth or influences how the cells and tissues function; an artificial substance that has similar effects”如：growth hormones 生长激素。

But for now, it's unclear why fetuses catch yawns, and if those yawns serve to benefit any future behaviors. The real social context, D'Adamo says, happens after birth.

但目前尚不清楚胎儿为何会传染打哈欠，以及这些哈欠是否有助于未来的行为。达达莫说，真正的社会情境发生在出生之后。

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