这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报告。
How active you are early in life may affect how able-minded you are late in life. That was the finding of a new study of cognitive impairment, or a loss in mental abilities.
一个人早年的活跃程度将影响到晚年的脑力健康。这是一项关于认知障碍或精神损伤研究的新发现。
The study involved more than nine thousand women in the United States over the age of sixty-five. They answered questions about their level of physical activity as teenagers and at age thirty, fifty and late in life.
该研究涉及美国超过9千名65岁以上年龄的妇女。她们回答了一些关于她们在青少年、30岁、50岁期间和晚年时身体锻炼水平的问题。
Laura Middleton of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Canada led the study.
加拿大桑尼布鲁克（Sunnybrook）健康科学中心的劳拉·米德尔顿主导了这项研究。
LAURA MIDDLETON: "People who were physically active on a regular basis had lower risk of cognitive impairments in late life. But it seemed that teenage physical activity was particularly important in terms of the prevention of cognitive impairments."
劳拉·米德尔顿：“定期进行身体锻炼的人们晚年患认知障碍风险更低。但似乎青少年时期的身体锻炼在预防认知障碍方面尤为重要。”
Speaking by Skype, Laura Middleton noted two long-lasting effects that physical activity can have on teenagers. Exercise could help strengthen the blood vessels that carry blood and oxygen to the brain. Also, physical activity is known to improve the brain's ability to repair itself.
通过Skype，劳拉指出了身体锻炼对青少年产生的两个持久影响。运动有助于增强血管传输血液和氧气到大脑的能力。此外，众所周知身体锻炼能提高大脑的自我修复能力。
The study is in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
这项研究发表在美国老年学会杂志上。
Women who said they were physically active even once a week showed less cognitive impairment as measured by a test. There was not a strong link between the amount of physical activity and the extent of impairment. But the link was strongest among those who were active as teenagers.
一项测试显示，每周即使锻炼一次的妇女也较少患认知障碍。认知障碍程度与运动量之间并无明显联系，但与青少年时期的锻炼联系紧密。
Laura Middleton says other studies of exercise and cognitive skills have found a stronger link in women than in men. Still, she says, there is no reason to suggest that the finding about teenage physical activity should not apply to men as well.
劳拉表示，一些关于运动和认知能力的研究发现在妇女中这两者的联系比在男性更强。但她表示，没有任何理由表明，关于青少年时期的身体锻炼（与认知能力之间）的发现不适用于男性。
Now speaking of teenagers, they were the subject of another new study. It looked at the effects of a later start to the school day.
说到青少年，他们还是另一项研究的对象。该研究考察了推迟上学时间的影响。
For the study, an independent high school in Rhode Island delayed morning classes from eight o'clock to eighty-thirty. The change affected about two hundred students in grades nine through twelve.
在这项研究中，罗德岛州一所独立的高中将上午的上课时间从8点推迟到了8点半。这个变化影响到大约2百名9-12年级的学生。
In online surveys, students reported feeling less sleepy during the day. They rated themselves as less depressed and more active in school. They also reported sleeping longer on school nights and making fewer tiredness-related visits to the school health center.
在网上调查中，学生反映称白天感觉更少困倦。他们评价自己在学校不再沮丧，更加活跃。他们还反映由于晚上在学校睡眠时间更长，因疲劳而到学校健康中心治疗的次数减少。。
Judith Owens of the Hasbro Children's Hospital led the study. It appears in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
孩之宝儿童医院的朱迪思·欧文斯主导了这项研究，研究结果发表在《儿童与青少年医学文献》上。
The study says class attendance improved. It also says teachers and sports coaches had resisted the change. And administrators had planned to return to the eight o'clock start time after the study. But students and teachers voted to keep the half-hour delay for another term.
该研究称课堂出席率有所提高，它还表示教师和体育教练曾抵制这项变化，而学校管理人员也曾计划在研究结束后恢复到8点上课，但师生们投票决定下学期继续保持推迟半小时上学。