第三十九篇Sauna

Ceremonial bathing has existed for thousands of years and has many forms, one of which is the sauna. The Finns have perfected the steam bath，or sauna, which may be taken, usually in an enclosed room, by pouring water over hot rocks or as a dry heat bath. The Japanese, Greeks, Turks and Russians as well as Native Americans have forms of the sweat bath in their bathing rituals. Dry heat and steam baths had advocates in ancient Rome and' pre-Columbian Americans used sweat lodges.

The earliest saunas were probably underground caves heated by a fire that naturally filled with smoke as chimney making was unknown at that time. A fire kept in a fire-pit would heat the rock walls of the cave. After reaching full heat, the smoke was let out of the cave and the stones would retain heat for several hours. A few people today say that the smoke sauna, " savusauna"，is the only true sauna experience and that all saunas should have at least a background odor or smoke. Today most saunas use electric stoves, although gas and wood-burning stoves are available.

Saunas are relaxing and stress relieving, Those with muscle aches or arthritis may find that the heat relaxes muscles and relieves pain and inflammation. Asthma patients find that the heat enlarges air passageways of the lung and facilitates breathing. Saunas do not cure the common cold but they may help to alleviate congestion arid speed recovery time. The body's core temperature usually rises a 1-2 degrees while in the sauna, thus imitating a slight fever. The sauna could be considered to follow the old saying "feed a cold，starve a fever' The regular use of a sauna may decrease the likelihood of getting a cold in the first place.

Sauna is good for your skin as the blood flow to the skin increases and sweating occurs. Adults sweat about 2 lbs8 of water per hour on average in a sauna. A good sweat removes dirt and grime from pores and gives the skin a healthy glow. The loss in water weight is temporary as the body's physiological mechanisms will quickly restore proper volumes. The cardiovascular system9 gets a work out10 as the heart must pump harder and faster to move blood to the surface for heat exchange. Heart rate may increase from 72 beats per minute on average to 100-150 beats per minute.

A normal heart can handle these stresses but those with heart trouble wishing to begin to use a sauna should seek a doctor's advice. The elderly and those with diabetes should check with their doctor prior to beginning to take saunas. Pregnant women should not take saunas, particularly in the first three months. Indeed, everyone just starting out should take short sessions11 at first to become accustomed to this type of bath.

詞匯：

sauna n.(芬蘭式）蒸汽浴，桑拿浴

congestion n.阻塞;擁塞

odor n.氣味，味道

arthritis 關(guān)節(jié)炎

inflammation n.炎(癥）

grime n.污垢；塵垢

cardiovascular adj.心、血 管的

diabetes n.糖尿病

注釋：

1.ceremonial bathing:儀式性的沐浴。許多宗教都有這種以沐浴作為儀式的習(xí)俗。

2.pre-Columbian Americans:哥倫布前的美洲人。Columbian是Columbus的形容詞形式，意思是"哥倫布的";pre-是前綴,意思是:在……前。pre-Columbian Americans，其完整的意思是: 哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲大陸前的美洲人。

3.fire-pit:火槽

4.relaxing and stress relieving:能使人放松并消除壓力。

5.alleviate congestion and speed recovery time:減輕胸悶感，加快康復(fù)的速度。

6.imitate: to appear like; resemble:像;類似

7.feed a cold, starve a fever:[謗]傷風(fēng)時宜吃，發(fā)熱時宜餓;傷風(fēng)不怕吃，熱病不怕餓。

8.lb: pound(磅)的縮寫形式。

9.cardiovascular system:心血管系統(tǒng)

10.a work out:做名詞用，意為"運動，鍛煉"。

11.sessions:(做某事或進行某活動的)一段時間

練習(xí)：

1.Ceremonial bathing _________.

A)is called the sauna by Finns

B)is equivalent to the steam bath

C)has various forms

D)is held in an enclosed room

2.What is understood by some people to be the true sauna experience?

A)Saunas in underground caves.

B)Saunas with smoke.

C)Saunas using wood burning stoves.

D)Saunas using electric stoves.

3.According to the third paragraph, saunas can do all of the following EXCEPT.

A)reducing the chance of getting cold

B)speeding recovery

C)relieving stress

D)curing asthma

4.According to the fourth paragraph, sauna gives the skin a healthy glow because_________.

A)pores are cleaned by sweat

B)water is lost by sweating

C)blood moves to the surface for heat exchange

D)the heart pumps harder and faster

5.Who are advised not to take a sauna?

A)Elderly people.

B)Pregnant women.

C)People with heart trouble.

D)All of the above.

答案與題解：

1.C第一段的第一句告訴我們，ceremonial bathing有多種形式，其中一種是sauna。所以只有C是正確的選項。

2.B根據(jù)文章第二段的第四句，smoke sauna被有些人認為是真正的sauna。句中a background odor也是指煙熏的氣味。

3.D 該段最后一句說 The regular use of a sauna may decrease the likelihood of getting a cold; 第四句說 they may help to ... speed recovery time; 第一句說 Saunas are ... stress relieving。 所 以，A、B、C 都是桑拿可以做的。第三句說 Asthma patients find that the heat enlarges air passageways of the lung and facilitates breathing,這不足以說明桑拿有治愈哮喘的作用。因此，應(yīng)選擇D項。

4.A該段第三句提供了答案。

5.D文章最后一段告誡幾種人不能蒸桑拿浴，包括心臟病患者、老人、糖尿病患者、孕婦等。所以D是正確的選項。

參考譯文

第三十九篇桑拿浴

儀式性的沐浴已經(jīng)有幾千年的歷史，并S有多種形式，其中的一種就是桑拿浴。芬蘭人完善了蒸汽浴，也就是桑拿浴。它可以在一個封閉的房間里將水澆在滾燙的石頭上，或是一種干熱浴。日本人、希臘人、土耳其人、俄國人以及美洲土著人在他們的沐浴傳統(tǒng)中都有發(fā)汗浴這一形式。用干熱浴發(fā)汗的方式是古羅馬優(yōu)先使用的，而哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲大陸前的美洲人則使用發(fā)汗小屋。

最早的桑拿浴很有可能是在地下山洞里。由于當(dāng)時還沒有掌握煙?技術(shù)，山洞里總是充滿著火焰引起的。人們在火槽里生火，加熱山洞的四壁。當(dāng)墻壁達到一定的溫度時，將濃煙排出洞外，這使得墻壁還能保持幾個小時的高溫。今天，有一些人認為有煙的桑拿浴，"煙熏桑拿"， 才是真正的桑拿體驗，而所有的桑拿浴都應(yīng)該至少有煙熏或煙味兒的背景?，F(xiàn)在，盡管煤油爐和燒木頭的火爐仍然可以使用，大多數(shù)的桑拿浴都是用電妒。

桑拿浴能使人放松并消除壓力。肌肉疼痛或關(guān)節(jié)炎都可以利用桑拿浴的熱氣減輕疼痛和炎癥。 熱氣還可以拓展哮喘患者的肺部通道，使呼吸更加順暢。桑拿浴并不能治愈普通的感冒，但它可以減輕患者的胸悶感，加快康復(fù)的速度。在蒸桑拿浴時，人體溫度通常會上升1~2攝氏度，就像 發(fā)低燒一樣的感覺。因此，蒸桑拿可以說是印證了一句老話："傷風(fēng)時宜吃，發(fā)熱時宜餓。"定期 蒸桑拿浴可以在第一時間預(yù)防感冒的發(fā)生。

蒸桑拿對皮膚也有好處，它可以促進皮膚的血液循環(huán)和出汗。在這個過程中，成年人一般每 小時要蒸發(fā)2磅的水。出汗可以清除毛孔中:的污垢Y使皮膚變得光潔。失水只是暫時性的，人體 機能能夠很快補充合適的水量。在熱氣交換的過程中，心臟跳動得更快，這就使心血管系統(tǒng)也得 到了鍛煉。蒸桑拿浴時的心率能從原來的平均每分鐘72下增加到每分鐘100 -150下。

健康的心臟可以承受這種變化，而那些心臟病患者在蒸桑拿浴之前應(yīng)該征求醫(yī)生的建議。同樣的，老年人和糖尿病患者也應(yīng)如此。孕婦則不能蒸桑拿浴，尤其是在懷孕的頭三個月。其實， 每個人在剛開始嘗試桑拿浴時都應(yīng)該先是短時間的，直到適應(yīng)了這種沐浴方式。

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（責(zé)任編輯：vstara）

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