Q: What is an example of one of these deadly heart rhythms?

　　A: In most cases, it's probably ventricular fibrillation that causes these sudden deaths from fear. Ventricular fibrillation basically causes the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) to vibrate in a way that hampers their ability to deliver blood to the body.

　　问：举一个这些致命的非正常心跳节奏的一个例子？

　　答：大多数情况下，很可能是由于心室颤动导致恐惧引发的突然死亡。心室颤动主要导致心室（心脏下方的腔室）的振动，这种振动阻碍了心室向全身供血的能力。

　　Q: What other emotional states besides fear could lead to these fatal heart rhythms?

　　A: Any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, "I can die now"—and then he dropped dead. A study in Germany found an increase of sudden cardiac deaths on the days that the German soccer team was playing in the World Cup. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.

　　问：除了恐惧之外，还有哪些其它情绪状态能导致这些致命的心跳节奏？

　　答：任何强的正面的或者负面的情绪，比如快乐和悲伤，都能导致这些致命的心跳节奏。有人曾经在性交或者狂热的宗教激情中死去。曾经有一个高尔夫球手，他打了一个一杆进洞，然后转向他的伙伴说到：“我现在可以死了”---然后他倒地就死了。在德国进行的一项研究表明，在德国足球队踢世界杯的期间，死于突发性心脏病的病例提高了。在9/11恐怖分子袭击世贸大楼和五角大楼之后大约7天里，纽约市民中死于突发性心脏病的病例增多了。

　　Q: Who is most likely to suffer from sudden death?

　　A: A predisposition to heart disease would probably increase your risk of sudden death, but it happens at all ages and can happen to otherwise healthy people.

　　问：哪些人最易罹难于突然死亡？

　　答：易患心脏病的人可能会增大突然死亡的风险，但是它也发生于所有年龄段的人，而且也可能发生在健康人身上。

　　Vocabulary：

　　Elude：逃避

　　Cop：（口语）警察

　　Botched：糟糕的；搞砸的

　　Fugitive：逃亡的

　　Prosecutor：检察官

　　Felony：重罪

　　Neurology：神经（病）学

　　Physiology：生理学

　　Dilate: 放大

　　Pupil: 瞳孔

　　Jaguar: 美洲豹

　　Primitive: 原始的

　　Rev up: 增大；提高

　　Hormone: 荷尔蒙

　　Adrenaline: 肾上腺激素

　　Neurotransmitter: 神经递质

　　Visceral: 内脏的

　　Receptor: 受体

　　Cardiac: 心脏的

　　Myocyte: 肌细胞

　　Sinoatrial: 窦房的

　　Atrioventricular: 心房与心室的

　　Ventricle: 心室

　　Hamper: 阻碍

　　Predisposition: 倾向性（编辑：胡慧）

　　（英语原文来自SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN《科学美国人》http://www.sciam.com）