【原文及翻译】

Ⅰ①Exposure to natural settings has been linked with a vast array of human health benefits, from reduced rates of depression to increased immune functioning. ②Two recent studies found evidence suggesting that urban green spaces, such as parks and gardens, may also improve cognitive development and buffer against the effects of health inequality.

亲近自然对身体健康有很多好处，比如降低抑郁症的发病率，提高免疫功能。两项最近研究发现，公园和花园这样的城市绿地，也许还能够促进认知能力的发展，并且减轻健康不平等的影响。

Ⅱ①In research reported last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, investigators in Spain, Norway and the U.S. explored the cognitive development of 2,593 children between the ages of seven and 10 from 36 primary schools in Barcelona. ②At regular intervals over a period of 12 months, they tracked changes in memory and attentiveness using cognitive tests, and they used high-resolution satellite data to assess the children's proximity to green space at home and school and during their commute. ③After factoring out socioeconomic status and other potential confounders, they determined that children who were closer to parkland had better memory development and less inattentiveness than other children.

 《美国国家科学院学报》去年发表了一项研究，西班牙、挪威和美国的科研人员研究了2593名儿童的认知发展，他们年龄在7岁到10岁之间，来自巴塞罗那的36所小学。这项研究持续了12个月，在此期间，研究人员借助认知测试，定期记录孩子们的记忆力和专注力的变化，他们还用高分辨率的卫星数据确定孩子们与绿地的距离，包括家庭附近的绿地、学校附近的绿地、上学途中的绿地。排除社会经济地位和其他可能的干扰因素之后，研究人员发现，那些离绿地近的孩子有更好的记忆力发展和专注力。

 Ⅲ①The study authors suggest that green spaces may have a positive effect both directly and indirectly. ②“Green spaces provide children with opportunities to develop mental skills such as discovery and creativity,” says co-author Payam Dadvand, a physician and researcher at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona. ③More indirectly, green spaces may help by reducing exposure to air pollution and noise, increasing physical activity, and enriching microbial input from the environment, all of which have been associated with improved mental development, he says.

 该研究的作者表示，绿地的积极影响既有直接的，也有间接的。“绿地为孩子提供了发展心智技能的机会，比如探索能力和创造能力”，巴塞罗那环境与流行病研究中心的医生和研究员，本研究的联合作者裴曼·达万德如是说。他还说，绿地可以通过减少空气和噪音污染的危害，增加运动量，接触到更丰富的（有益）微生物，间接地促进智力发展。

Ⅳ①Natural settings may also help reduce the mental health burden that comes with socioeconomic inequality, according to a paper by researchers at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. ②A cross-sectional observational study published last year in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine sought to determine which neighborhood characteristics might be “equigenic,” or capable of disrupting the relation between socioeconomic disparities and health inequality. ③Using data from 21,294 adults living in urban areas in 34 European countries, the scientists examined associations between participants' level of financial stress and psychological well-being. ④Then they explored interactions between those variables and five neighborhood characteristics or services, including access to green spaces, banking and postal services, public transportation and cultural facilities. ⑤Results show that the difference in well-being scores among people experiencing the most and least financial difficulty diminished with greater access to green spaces, such that the health gap was 40 percent smaller among those with better access. ⑥No such benefits were found with any of the other variables studied.　

格拉斯哥大学和爱丁堡大学的研究者发现，绿地也许还能减轻社会经济不平等带来的心理压力。去年《美国预防医学杂志》发表一项横向观察研究，该研究试图确定何种社会环境因素有“创造平等”的作用，即打破社会经济不平等和健康不平等的关联。基于来自34个欧洲国家，21294名成人的数据，科学家研究了经济压力和心理健康的相互作用。他们接着研究了这两个变量和五个社区特点（服务）的相互作用，即：有无绿地，银行和邮政服务，公共交通和文化设施。研究结果表明，如果有更多机会享受绿地，最穷和最富人群的健康指数差别缩小了40%。除了绿地，其他四个因素都没有发现这种作用。

 Ⅴ①Approximately half of the world's current population lives in urban areas, and that number is expected to increase, Dadvand says. ②Findings such as these could influence policy makers to increase access to green spaces, in the hopes that doing so might boost mental health in nearby residents and improve academic achievement in children. ③“That could have long-term consequences for individuals, families and society as a whole,” Dadvand says.

达万德说，全球几乎一半的人口都居住在城市，并且这个数字还会增长。这些研究发现会影响政策制定者增加绿地面积，因为这有利于附近居民的心理健康和孩子的学术成就。“这将对个人、家庭和整个社会产生长期作用”达万德说。

 （ "City Parks May Mend the Mind". By Tori Rodriguez on May 1, 2016. Scientific American.）

【词汇短语】

1. a vast array of 大量

2. *buffer [ˈbʌfə(r)] v.缓冲

3. inequality 不平等

4. high-resolution 高分辨率

5. proximity [prɒkˈsɪməti] n.接近度；距离

6. *commute [kəˈmju:t] n.通勤；来往

7. factor out 提出因素；分解因素

8. *confounder [kənˈfaʊndə(r)] n.干扰因素

9. inattentiveness [ˌɪnə'tentɪvnɪs] n.注意力不集中

10. *microbial [maɪ'krəʊbɪəl] adj.微生物的

11. *disparity [dɪˈspærəti] n.悬殊；差别

12. well-being 健康；福祉

（标*为超纲词汇）

【点评】

段Ⅰ总括文章主要内容：城市绿地有利于认知能力的发展和心理健康。可以推知，下文肯定是从这两方面展开介绍。“has been linked with”（有关系），“found evidence suggesting that”（有证据表明）都是很严谨的措辞，避免了绝对化。

段ⅡⅢ介绍第一个研究：城市绿地能够增强儿童的认知能力的发展。段Ⅱ介绍了研者和研究对象（句①）、研究工具和研究方法（句②）、研究结果（句③）。段Ⅲ承接上文，对结果深入解读。段首句往往有提挈作用。句②说明绿地的直接作用。句③说明绿地的四个间接作用，作者列举了四种。理解“enriching microbial input”需要一定的常识，适当的接触微生物是有好处的，比如，有人就提出让小孩玩土，可以减少哮喘的发病率。“suggest”（表明）, “may”（可能）, “have been associated with”（有关系）都是严谨的学术语言。

段Ⅳ介绍第二个研究：城市绿地能够缓解社会经济地位不平等带来的健康不平等。和上文一样，基本是一个句子讲一方面的内容：研究目的（句②）、研究对象（句③）、研究方法（句④）、研究结果（句⑤⑥）。cross-sectional study意思为横断面研究，是在某一特定时间对某一定范围内的人群，以个人为单位收集和描述人群的特征，是健康领域中非常重要的研究方法。

段Ⅴ总结这些研究的现实意义。