编者按:下面文章是为2004年全国中学生英语翻译大赛提供的。如果您对此感兴趣,请您将译文于2004年9月15日前寄至:吉林省通化市西昌工贸开发区2号英语辅导报社“翻译大赛”组委会高三版 黎 明 收(邮编:134001)。请您在译文后注明姓名、学校、年级、班级、家庭详细地址、邮编及联系电话。请在信封左下角用汉语写出译文的题目。(详情请见本版第1期第1面《2004年全国中学生英语翻译大赛启事》)

　　Recently, researchers have discovered that nature has a profound effect on an individual’s behavior. Changes in the barometric pressure(the weather), seasons, and even the phases of the moon affect everyone’s mental attitude.

　　The local weatherman always points to his weather map to illustrate the high- and low-pressure areas explaining what effect

　　they will have on our local weather. What he doesn’t predict is how that high- or low-

　　pressure system will affect our mental attitude tomorrow. During a high-pressure system our days are usually bright and sunny with clear, blue skies. Our attitude reflects that weather. We tend to smile and laugh more often. We are friendly and cheerful. We even greet perfect strangers with a smile and a nod of the head or a friendly“Hello”. Personal problems seem to melt away — at least for the time being.

　　Low-pressure systems seem to have the opposite effect on us. If a low-

　　pressure system invades our area during the night, we tend to feel it from the moment the alarm awakens us. We find it more difficult to crawl out of bed. Physicially we feel drained. A depression that varies from slight to severe settles on us. We tend to be listless and melancholy. Our carefree, friendly attitude flies out of the window as we grumble a greeting to a friend and totally ignore strangers we pass.

　　We see this change in our mental outlook on an even greater scale when we consider the change in seasons. Winter, with its cold, grey, wet days, plays havoc with our mental attitude. In northern areas, and especially cities, we shut ourselves up in our homes and retreat into our shells. We quickly venture out to take care of our business and then rush back to our homes. As winter lingers, our depression intensifies. In springtime we shrug off our cabin fever and stroll outside. It takes us longer to get anywhere because we take time to see the buds start popping out on the trees or the flowers poking out of the ground. We become happier and friendlier, and the depression that set in during the long winter melts away with the snow.

　　Scientists and behaviorists are even more mystified when they try to consider how the phases of the moon, especially the full moon, affect our behavior and mental health. We tend to exhibit more violent tendencies when the moon is full. Police departments have noted dramatic increases in crime during a full moon.

　　The effects of nature on our mental health will continue to be a mystery to us no matter how hard researchers and behaviorists try to understand it. Maybe the phases of the moon or the effects of changes in barometric pressure on our mental health will remain a mystery to us. After all, we are not supposed to understand everything.

　　(文/“翻译大赛”组委会；英语辅导报高三版2003-2004学年第7期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)