摘要：The term aesthetics is defined as the perception, interpretation, and appreciation of beauty. In the presence of beautiful things,
英汉双语阅读97：蜂鸟悬停和倒飞的秘诀是什么？
审美愉悦的发生
一、生词准备
1. aesthetics [iːsˈθetɪks] n. 美学；审美学
2. perception [pəˈsepʃn] n. 感知；认识；看法
3. interpretation [ɪnˌtɜːprɪˈteɪʃn] n. 解释；阐释；口译
4. appreciation [əˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃn] n. 欣赏；感激；增值
5. fascination [ˌfæsɪˈneɪʃn] n. 着迷；魅力；吸引力
6. admiration [ˌædməˈreɪʃn] n. 钦佩；赞赏；羡慕
7. ultimate [ˈʌltɪmət] adj. 最终的；终极的；根本的 n. 终极；顶点
8. accomplished [əˈkʌmplɪʃt] adj. 技艺高超的；有成就的；完成的
9. craving [ˈkreɪvɪŋ] n. 渴望；热望；迫切需求
10. aroma [əˈrəʊmə] n. 芳香；香气；香味
11. immersed [ɪˈmɜːst] adj. 沉浸在… 中的；专心于… 的
12. intensively [ɪnˈtensɪvli] adv. 强烈地；集中地；深入地
13. fluency [ˈfluːənsi] n. 流畅；流利；通顺
14. subjectivist [ˈsʌbdʒɪktɪvɪst] n. 主观主义者 adj. 主观主义的
15. aesthetically [esˈθetɪkli] adv. 审美地；美学上地；从美学观点看
16. shaved [ʃeɪvd] adj. 剃光的；刮干净的
17. mainstream [ˈmeɪnstriːm] n. 主流；主要倾向 adj. 主流的；大众的
18. stimulation [ˌstɪmjəˈleɪʃn] n. 刺激；激励；激发
19. increment [ˈɪŋkrəmənt] n. 增加；增量；定期加薪
20. savor [ˈseɪvə(r)] v. 品味；品尝；欣赏 n. 味道；风味；意味
二、短文内容
The term aesthetics is defined as the perception, interpretation, and appreciation of beauty. In the presence of beautiful things, we feel a broad range of emotions, such as fascination and admiration. Scholars have identified some of the key features of the aesthetic appreciation of everyday life experiences.
1. Beauty is the ultimate value. Beauty is something that we pursue for its own sake. The focus is on the pleasure that arises from the act of doing something rather than achieving some ultimate goal. For example, for an accomplished chef baking a cake could bring process pleasure. The act of eating the cake is a different kind of pleasure (satisfy a craving). However, it is difficult to separate the content of a work of art from its form. The taste of coffee cannot be separated from its aroma. What is beautiful seems interesting, good, and usable.
2. Being fully absorbed. Aesthetic experience is similar to the concept of flow. During this state of mind, people are intensively immersed in what they are doing, with strong involvement in the process of the activity. During the aesthetic experience, persons are strongly focused on and fascinated with a particular object. For instance, absorption can occur when a person is watching movies, reading novels, or listening to music.
3. Beauty in simplicity. Aesthetic pleasure is a function of the perceiver’s ease-of-processing. People prefer things that are easy to think about. The more effortlessly the perceiver can process an object, the more enjoyable is his or her experience. For example, when a complex idea is presented in an accessible way, it creates a particularly strong experience of aesthetic pleasure. The power of fluency is similar to the idea of “Occam’s razor” to look for the simplest explanations.
4. Beauty in the eye of the beholder. Aesthetic emotions are influenced by aesthetic judgment. Knowing is seeing. That is, we apply our knowledge of the world to interpret what we see. This subjectivist view, reflected in expressions like taste cannot be debated. People disagree about much of what they find beautiful, ugly, or otherwise aesthetically moving. For example, you might like Bach, but your friend likes the Rolling Stones. However, research suggests that the beholder may be changing constantly. For example, people used to prefer a clean-shaved man. But, now men with beards are the mainstream. Our judgments of beauty can shift over time in response to the media and popular culture.
5. Pacing reward. Pacing reward means to scale back stimulation deliberately and maintain it permanently at the lower level of increasing return. At that level, every additional increment of stimulation provides increasing satisfaction. This means not to maximize consumption but to keep them under control, to pace it (a mindful living). For example, one may wolf down a lovingly prepared meal, or one may take time and savor every bite mindfully.
三、短文注释
1. in the presence of：在…… 面前；当…… 在场时。例如文中 “In the presence of beautiful things” 表示处于美好事物的环境中，在美好的事物面前。
2. a broad range of：一系列的；各种各样的；范围广泛的。用于描述事物的多样性，如 “we feel a broad range of emotions” 意思是我们会产生各种各样的情感。
3. aesthetic appreciation：审美鉴赏。指对美的事物、艺术作品等进行感知、理解和评价的能力与过程，在文中探讨的是对日常生活体验的审美鉴赏。
4. ultimate value：终极价值。表示事物所具有的最高层次、最根本的价值，文中认为美是一种终极价值，人们追求美是因其自身的价值。
5. process pleasure：过程愉悦。强调在做某件事情的过程中所获得的快乐和满足感，而不是关注最终的结果，如厨师烘焙蛋糕时从烘焙过程中获得的愉悦。
6. be intertwined with：与…… 交织在一起；与…… 紧密相连。用于描述事物之间相互关联、相互融合，难以分离的状态，比如 “Our emotions are intertwined with our aesthetic experiences”，意思是我们的情感与审美体验紧密相连，相互影响。
7. flow（心流）：心理学概念，指人在专注进行某行为时所表现出的一种投入、沉浸且享受其中的心理状态，此时人们会忘记时间流逝和外界干扰，与审美体验中人们高度投入的状态类似。
8. be immersed in：沉浸在…… 中，专心于……。在文中 “people are intensively immersed in what they are doing” 表示人们高度专注于自己正在做的事情，全身心投入到特定的活动或情境中。
9. ease-of-processing：处理便捷性（信息处理的难易程度）。在审美中，指人们理解和处理审美对象（如艺术作品、自然景观等）的容易程度，越容易处理的对象，越能带来审美愉悦。
10. Occam’s razor（奥卡姆剃刀原理）：一种科学和哲学原则，主张在多种可能的解释中，最简单的解释往往是正确的，在文中用于类比审美中人们倾向于简单、易于理解的事物，即简约之美。
11. subjectivist view：主观主义观点。在审美领域，这种观点认为审美判断是主观的，因个人的经历、喜好、文化背景等不同而各异，即 “美在观者眼中”，不同人对美的认知和感受不同。
12. aesthetic judgment：审美判断。是人们对事物的审美价值（如美丑、优劣等）进行评估和判断的过程，它会受到个人的知识、经验、情感等多种因素的影响，进而影响审美情感。
13. media and popular culture：媒体和流行文化。媒体包括各种传播信息的渠道，如电视、报纸、网络等；流行文化则是在社会中广泛传播和流行的文化现象、潮流等。它们共同作用，影响着人们对美的认知和判断，使人们的审美观念随时间发生变化。
14. in response to：作为对…… 的回应；响应。表明某事物是对另一事物的反应或应对。“Our judgments of beauty can shift over time in response to the media and popular culture.” 意思是我们对美的判断会随着时间推移，因媒体和流行文化的影响而发生变化。
15. pacing reward：节奏性奖励。指通过有意识地控制刺激的节奏和程度，以获得持续且递增的满足感，类似于在审美或生活中不过度追求强烈刺激，而是保持适度的节奏，从而获得更好的体验。
16. scale back stimulation：减少刺激。在审美或生活中，主动降低外界刺激的强度或频率，以达到一种更舒适、更能享受的状态，避免过度刺激带来的疲劳或不适。
17. increasing return：递增回报。在文中指在一定条件下，随着某种行为（如对审美对象的体验）的持续进行，所获得的满足感或收益会逐渐增加，前提是保持在适当的刺激水平。
18. mindful living：正念生活。一种注重当下，用心感受和体验生活的方式，强调对自身行为和周围环境的觉察，类似于在审美体验中全神贯注、用心感受的态度。
19. maximize consumption：最大化消费。通常指追求消费的数量、频率或程度达到最高，在文中与 “pacing reward” 所倡导的适度、有节奏的生活方式相对，提醒人们在审美和生活中不应只追求无节制的消费。
20. savor every bite：细细品味每一口。原指在饮食时用心感受食物的味道和口感，延伸到审美和生活中，代表一种用心、专注地体验和享受当下事物的态度，不匆匆而过，而是充分感受其中的美好。
【Source】www.britannica.com
【Translated by】Spark Liao (廖怀宝)
【Illustration】From Bing
来源：沪上英语教与学