托福阅读材料之出生日期影响职业与健康

The time of year a baby is born can shape what profession they will embark on in later life, a new study has suggested.

一项新研究表明婴儿出生的月份可能决定其将来所从事的职业。

Being born in a certain month appears to indicate the statistical likelihood of what job a person will end up with, the study by the Office for National Statistics found.

英国国家统计局发现，人们出生的月份似乎能暗示将来此人从事的职业。

Researchers have uncovered that the month in which babies are born could also affect everything from intelligence to length of life.

研究人员已经揭示：婴儿出生的月份可能会影响此人的智力、寿命等一切。

A child born December is more likely to become a dentist while someone whose birthday falls in January will tend to a debt collector, they found.

他们发现，12月份出生的孩子很有可能成为牙医，而1月份出生的孩子将来可能成为收账员。

A February birth appears to increase the chances of being an artist while March babies appear to go on to become pilots.

2月份出生的人成为艺术家的可能性更高，而3月份出生的人则可能成为飞行员。

Meanwhile, April and May are said to have a fairly even spread of professions, births in the summer months mean a much lower chance of becoming a high-earning football player, doctor or dentist.

与此同时，4月份和5月份则多可能为专业人员。夏季月份出生的孩子成为高收入足球运动员、医生或牙医的可能性较低。

The study was derived by researchers who analysed the birth months of people in 19 separate occupations using information from the last census, the Daily Mail reported.

据《每日邮报》报道，这项研究是研究者们在最近的人口调查中仔细分析19大不同职业领域人们的出生月份得出的。

Although these trends may be difficult to explain, correlations between birth months and specific health problems have a scientific basis.

虽然以上这些趋势很难解释，但出生月份和某些特定健康问题之间的关联还是有科学根据的。

Spring babies are at greater risk of illnesses including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma and autism.

春天出生的宝宝患精神分裂症、阿兹海默氏症、哮喘和孤独症的几率更高。

They may also be less clever than classmates born in other parts of the year.

他们也有可能不如班里其他月份出生的孩子聪明。

Research has suggested many of the differences are linked to a mother’s exposure to sunlight in pregnancy.

研究暗示这些不同可能跟妈妈们在怀孕期间接受阳光照射的时间有关。

Sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D in the body and lack of this in the first months of life may have long-lasting effects.

阳光是促成体内维生素D生成的因素，胎儿在最初几个月缺乏这些会造成长时间持续影响。

Speaking earlier this year, Russell Foster, an Oxford University neuroscientist, said the effects were small “but they are very, very clear”.

今年早些时候牛津大学一位神经系统科学家Russell Foster说道，这些影响虽然很小，但十分明显。

“I am not giving voice to astrology – it’s nonsense – but we are not immune to seasonal interference,” he said. “It seems absurd the month in which you are born can affect life chances, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb.”

“我这不是在占星——因为它很荒谬。但是我们对季节干扰并不是免疫的。”他说道，“出生月份能影响你的人生机会，这听起来很可笑，但是你能活多久，你会长多高，你在学校会表现如何，你成年后的体重指数，你对早晚的偏好和你将来可能会生什么病确实在某种程度上跟你从娘胎里出生的时候有关。”