生活英语：转动盘子换个方向 可能会让食物更好吃.docx

Rotating your plate as it is placed on the table may improve the taste of your food, psychologists claim.

心理学家称，食物摆上桌后，转动盘子，换一个方向，可能会让食物更好吃。

People have a subconscious1 preference for food that points away from them, according to Oxford2 University experts, to the extent that it can affect the flavour.

An experiment involving 12,000 people, carried out at London's Science Museum, suggests that most people prefer their meal to be aligned3 facing away from them, and marginally to the right.

The perfect orientation4, the scientists discovered, is for food to point at 3.2 degrees clockwise, a tiny fraction to the right of the vertical5 axis6 of the plate.

The effect is so pronounced that people actually experience an improved taste when the alignment7 is correct, the psychologists claim.

The results, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, were obtained after thousands of people took part in an experiment at the Science Museum's 'Cravings Exhibition', which explores the way reward circuits in the brain that determine flavour are altered by outside influences.

Charles Michel, a chef and researcher on food aesthetics8 at Oxford University, said many people instinctively9 adjust their plate when it is placed in front of them.

'This everyday action that some of us do might hint at the fact that we all enjoy our food more when it is "oriented" in the best way possible.

'Indeed, by arranging the food to "look better", we might be unconsciously enhancing its perceived value, and hence our enjoyment10 of it.'

词汇解析：
1 subconscious
n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)
参考例句：
Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。
2 Oxford
n.牛津（英国城市）
参考例句：
At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
3 aligned
adj.对齐的，均衡的
参考例句：
Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。
4 orientation
n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍
参考例句：
Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。
5 vertical
adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置
参考例句：
The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。
6 axis
n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线
参考例句：
The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。
7 alignment
n.队列；结盟，联合
参考例句：
The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。
8 aesthetics
n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学
参考例句：
Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。
9 instinctively
adv.本能地
参考例句：
As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 enjoyment
n.乐趣；享有；享用
参考例句：
Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

更多英语学习方法：企业英语培训