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The world is a crazy place. Even the most ordinary, boring, everyday stuff can turn out to have a weird backstory-or do something you had no idea it could. For example, did you know that worms eat four to six times their weight each day? Or that trained pigeons can tell the difference between Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso? Who knew? But there are dangers out there, too. Your cell phone is infested with bacteria (see below) and traces of the bubonic plague have been found in the New York City subway.
这个世界很疯狂。即使是那些最普通、最无聊、最日常的东西，也可能有着奇怪的背景--或者能做一些你想象不到的事情。例如，你知道虫子每天吃的东西是它们体重的4至6倍吗？或者受训的鸽子能分辨出莫奈与毕加索的区别？谁知道呢？但也存在着危险。你的手机被细菌感染（见下文），人们在纽约市的地铁里发现了腺鼠疫的痕迹。
1. HUMANS ARE THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT ENJOY SPICY FOODS
1. 人类是唯一喜欢吃辛辣食物的动物
It's an evolutionary mystery that scientists have had trouble explaining, but humans are the only animals who actually enjoy eating spicy food. There does not seem to be any health benefits to eating painful peppers (though some research finds that it may fight off fungus), so the best reason some have suggested is the thrill factor-no different than the fact that we are the only animals that like rollercoasters and scary movies.
这是科学家难以解释的一个进化之谜，但人类是唯一真正喜欢吃辛辣食物的动物。吃辣的要死的辣椒好像并没有什么健康益处（尽管有些研究表明吃辣或能杀死真菌），所以人们提出的最佳原因是：吃辣能够带来快感--就像我们是唯一喜欢坐过山车、看恐怖电影的动物一样。
2. HUMANS ARE ALSO THE ONLY ANIMALS WHOSE BRAINS SHRINK
2. 人类也是唯一一种大脑会收缩的动物
As we get older, our brains tend to shrink and can suffer from cognitive dysfunction like Alzheimer's disease and dementia. But as researchers can tell, we are the only animals to whom this shrinkage happens. Tests on other animals have found no similar phenomena-even chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys.
随着年龄的增长，我们的大脑往往会收缩，可能会遭受认知功能障碍，如阿尔兹海默症和老年痴呆症。但正如研究员说的那样，我们是唯一一种大脑会收缩的动物。对其它动物的测试并未发现类似现象--即使在黑猩猩和猕猴身上都未发现这种现象。
3. POTATO CHIPS CAUSE MORE WEIGHT GAIN THAN ANY OTHER FOOD
3. 薯片比其它食物更容易让人长胖
A Harvard University study of more than 120,000 people found that potato chips were to blame for the gain of an average of 1.69 pounds per person over four years. Other fatteners: potatoes (1.28 pounds), sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 pounds), and unprocessed red meats (0.95 pounds).
哈佛大学对超多12万人开展的一项研究发现，过去四年来，薯片使每个人平均长了1.69磅。下列这些食物也会使人变胖：土豆（1.28磅），含糖饮料（1.00磅）和未加工的红肉（0.95磅）。
4. BANANAS CAN'T REPRODUCE
4. 香蕉不可繁殖
The bananas we are all know and love, known as Cavendish, are in fact a hybrid of two other plant species. It has no seeds and has only been able to reproduce with the aid of farmers, who remove and transplant part of the plant's stem in order to create our favorite yellow fruit.
我们都知道也都爱吃的卡文迪什香蕉实际上是另外两种植物的混合物。香蕉没有籽，只有在农民的帮助下才能繁殖，农民会把植物的部分茎干移走重栽，这样就能长出我们最爱的香蕉了。
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