2009年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解C

How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feeling
房间设计如何影响我们的工作和感觉

Architects have long had the feeling that the place we live in can affect our thoughts, feeling and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused, and lead to relaxation.
长期以来，建筑师一直认为我们居住的地方会影响我们的思想、感觉和行为。但现在科学家们正在给这种感觉提供一个经验基础，他们正在研究空间设计如何促进创造力、让人们集中注意力以及获得放松。

Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room’s ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.
研究表明，物理环境的各个方面都会影响创造力。2007年，明尼苏达大学的Joan Meyers-Levy报告说，房间天花板的高度影响人们的思考。她的研究表明，较高的天花板鼓励人们更自由地思考，这可能导致他们建立更抽象的联系。另一方面，较低的天花板可能会引发更详细的展望。

In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant's ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.
除了天花板的高度，建筑物提供的视野可能会影响居住者的专注能力。南希·威尔斯和她的康奈尔大学的同事们发现，因为搬家周围绿植有大幅增长的孩子在标准的注意力测试中表现最好。

Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.
佐治亚大学的学院设计与规划实验室负责人C. Kenneth Tanner的一项研究表明，用自然来提高注意力可以获得学业上的回报。Tanner和他的团队发现，窗户外至少50英尺视野畅通无阻的教室里，学生在词汇、语言艺术和数学测试中的得分高于那些教室位于道路和停车场旁的学生。

Recent study on room lighting design suggests that dim light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner, or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.
最近关于室内照明设计的研究表明，暗淡的光线有助于人们放松。如果这是普遍的真理，那么在晚餐或派对上保持暗淡的光线有助放松。哈佛医学院的研究人员还发现，边缘呈圆形的家具有助游客放松。

So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. “We have a very limited number of studies, so we are almost looking at the problem through a straw,” architect David Allison says;“How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalize use of them? That is what we are all struggling with.”
到目前为止，科学家们主要集中在公共建筑上。“我们的研究数量非常有限，所以我们只是管中窥豹”，建筑师大卫·艾利森说；“如何回答非常具体的问题，并广泛、概括地使用？这就是我们都在努力解决的问题。”