英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎管淑平

Reading a nasty word in a second language may not pack the punch it would in your native tongue, thanks to an unconscious brain quirk that tamps down potentially disturbing emotions, a new study finds.

用第二語言唸一個不雅字眼，威力或許不如用母語讀來得大，這是拜大腦一種無意識的奇怪特性之賜，新研究發現，這種特性會壓制可能令人不安的情緒。

When reading negative words such as "failure" in their non-native language, bilingual Chinese-English speakers did not show the same brain response as seen when they read neutral words such as "aim." The finding suggests that the brain can process the meaning of words in the unconscious, while "withholding" information from our conscious minds.

說中英雙語的人以非母語語言唸像「失敗」這類負面字眼時，不會出現讀到「目的」等這類中性字眼時同樣的大腦反應，這項發現表示，大腦可在無意識下處理字句意義，「壓制」訊息不讓我們有意識的心智察知。

"We think we’ve identified, for the first time, the mechanism by which emotion controls fundamental thought processes outside consciousness," study researcher Yanjing Wu, a psychologist at Bangor University in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

「我們認為，我們首次找出了情緒在人的意識之外控制基本思維過程的機制」，進行這項研究的英國班戈大學心理學家吳嚴金（Yanjing Wu）在聲明中說。

It’s not yet clear why the brain dampens the response to these words, the researchers report in the Journal of Neuroscience.

研究人員在「神經科學期刊」發表的報告中說，目前還不清楚大腦為何抑制對這些字眼的反應。

◎陳維真

A Colorado man who was admitted to the hospital for a kidney stone received surprising news when the nurse came back with test results revealing he was actually a woman.

科羅拉多州一名男子因為腎結石而住院，卻在護士領回檢查報告時接到一個令人訝異的消息，原來他是女兒身。

Denver photographer Steve Crecelius said he’s felt a little different all his life."When I was about 6 years old, I started having these feminine feelings, but that was in the ’60s. Wearing my mom’s makeup, I thought I looked pretty."

丹佛攝影師史帝夫．克里塞勒斯說他這輩子一直覺得自己有點不同。「我6歲時開始有這些女性的感覺，但那是60年代。我塗上媽媽的化妝品，覺得自己好漂亮。」

So when he went to the emergency room five years ago, he wasn’t too shocked when the nurse told him she found traits of both genders in his ultrasound results. He was intersex, meaning he had both male genitalia and internal female sex organs.

所以5年前他進入急診室，護士向克里塞勒斯表示，她在超音波檢查結果中發現克里塞勒斯有雙性性徵時，他沒有太過訝異。克里塞勒斯是雙性人，他有男性生殖器，體內也有女性的性器官。

Steve, who now goes by "Stevie," said his wife and their six children accepted his new identity right away.

現在被叫做「史蒂薇」的史帝夫表示，他的妻子和6個小孩馬上就接受了他的新身分。

◎魏國金

More than 13,000 people have been killed in Syria since an anti-regime revolt broke out in March 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP on Sunday.

自2011年3月敘利亞爆發反阿塞德總統政權動亂以來，已有超過1萬3000人被殺害，敘利亞人權瞭望台的拉曼週日對法新社指出。

"In total, 13,004 people were killed," Abdel Rahman said, adding that 9,183 of them were civilians.

「總共有1萬3004人被殺。」拉曼說，他補充，當中9183人是平民。

Another 3,072 were regime troops and 749 were army defectors, he added, noting that civilians who had taken up arms during the increasingly militarised revolt were being counted under the category of "civilians."

他補充提到，另外3072人是當局部隊，749人是倒戈軍人。在武裝反叛日盛之際，拿起武器戰鬥的百姓被算在「平民」的範疇。

The violence has been relentless despite an April 12 ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan.

儘管聯合國與阿拉伯聯盟和平特使安南促成4月12日的停火，然而暴力衝突卻不間斷。

◎國際新聞中心

Scientists say a gene variation could contribute up to 155g to a child’s birthweight.

科學家說，一種基因的變異可能會讓兒童出生體重增加多達155公克。

The gene studied is believed to act as a growth suppressor, reducing birthweight. But the UK-based researchers found a particular variant passed down from the mother can add 93g to the birthweight, or 155g if passed down from the maternal grandmother.

研究針對的這種基因據信扮演生長抑制者的角色，會降低出生體重。但英國研究人員發現一種從母親遺傳的特別基因變異，可能讓出生體重增加93公克，從外婆遺傳的基因變異，可能讓出生體重增加155公克。

Professor Gudrun Moore of University College London and colleagues looked at a gene called PHLDA2 in nearly 9,500 DNA samples taken from mothers and their babies, collected in three separate studies.

倫敦大學學院的摩爾教授與同僚，從取自母親與她們小孩的將近9500份DNA樣本中，研究一種稱為PHLDA2的基因。這些樣本取自於3份不同的研究。

They found a gene variant called RS1 appeared to change the way in which the gene functioned, leading to higher birthweights. "The gene is already known to have a profound effect on birthweight by acting as a growth suppressor," Prof Moore said.

摩爾教授說，他們發現一種稱為RS1的基因變異似乎會改變基因運作方式，導致出生體重增加，摩爾說：「這種基因已知會扮演生長抑制者的角色，對出生體重有深遠影響。」

◎陳成良

Google Inc is planning to open an online store to sell tablet PCs directly to consumers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Google正打算開設一家線上商店，直接賣平板電腦給消費者，據華爾街日報週四報導。

The online store would offer tablets made by Samsung Electronics Co and Asustek Computer Inc based on Google’s Android software, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources and which Reuters was not able to confirm.

該線上商店將供應由三星電子及華碩電腦公司製造、以Google的Android軟體為基礎的平板電腦，該報導引述不具名消息人士說。路透無法證實這項消息。

Google briefly sold a specially-designed Android smartphone--the Nexus One--directly to consumers in 2010, but closed the store after four months saying it had not lived up to expectations.

Google曾在2010年直接向消費者出售特別設計過的Android智慧型手機Nexus One，但4個月後就關門大吉，指該店銷售情況未如預期。

Google now relies on retail and carrier partners to sell Android smartphones made by a variety of handset makers and Android has become the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system, ahead of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.

Google目前仰賴零售及電信營運商夥伴來銷售由各家手機廠生產的Android智慧型手機，而Android已經成為全球排名第一的智慧型手機作業系統，領先iPhone製造商蘋果公司。