新概念美音版第四冊 Lesson 4 Seeing hands 能看見東西的手

Lesson 4  Seeing hands 能看見東西的手

First listen and answer the following question.

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。

How did Vera discover she had this gift of second sight?

Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can detect colours with their fingers, and even see through solid and walls. One case concerns an eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova, who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls. This ability was first noticed by her father. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe. Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in bundles.

Vera's curious talent was brought to the notice of a scientific research institute in the town of Ulyanovsk, near where she lives, and in April she was given a series of tests by a special commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federal Republic. During these tests she was able to read a newspaper through an opaque screen and, stranger still, by moving her elbow over a child's game of Lotto she was able to describe the figures and colours printed on it; and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her foot the outlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet. Other experiments showed that her knees and shoulders had a similar sensitivity. During all these tests Vera was blindfold; and, indeed, except when blindfold she lacked the ability to perceive things with her skin. It was also found that although she could perceive things with her fingers this ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.

                ERIC DE MAUNY Seeing hands from The Listener

New words and expressions

Solid      adj. 堅實的

Safe       n.  保險櫃

Ulyanovsk  n.  烏裏揚諾夫斯克

Commission  n.  委員會

opaque    adj. 不透明的

lotto      n.  一種有編號的紙牌

slipper    n.  拖鞋

blindfold  adj.& adv. 被蒙上眼睛的

參考譯文

俄羅斯最近報導了幾個事例，有人能用手指看書識字和辨認顏色，甚至能透過厚實的門和牆看到東西。 其中有一例談到有一個名叫維拉.彼托洛娃的11歲學生。她的視力與常人一樣，但她還能用皮膚的不同部位辨認東西，甚至看穿堅實的牆壁。是她父親首先發現她這一功能的。一天，維拉走進父親的辦公室，偶然把手放在一個鎖著的保險櫃的門上，她突然問父親為什麽把這麽多的舊報紙鎖在櫃子裏，還說了報紙捆紮的情況。

維拉的特異功能引起了她家附近烏裏揚諾夫斯克城一個科研單位的注意。4月裏，俄羅斯衛生部一個特別委員會對她進行了一係列的測試。在這些測試中，她能隔著不透明的屏幕讀報紙。更為奇怪的是，她把肘部在兒童玩的“羅托”紙牌上移動一下，便能說出印在紙牌上的數字和顏色。還有一次，她穿著長筒襪子和拖鞋，能用腳步識別出藏在地毯下麵的一幅畫的輪廓和顏色。其他實驗表明，她的膝蓋和雙肩有類似的感覺能力，在所有這些實驗中，維拉的雙眼都是蒙著的。如果不蒙上雙眼她的皮膚就不再具有識別物體的能力。這是千真萬確的。同時還發現，盡管她能用手指識別東西，但她的手一旦弄濕，這種功能便會立即消失。