有些人会晕车，给生活带来了不便。虽然有晕车药，但都是短期有效的，坐一次车就要吃一次，而且还有一定的副作用。那么，为什么晕车不容易根治呢？
Why motion sickness is so hard to cure
by Spencer Salter
Motion sickness happens when there is a mismatch between what your eyes are telling your brain and what your inner ears sense as motion.
motion /ˈməʊʃ(ə)n/ n. 移动、运动
sickness /ˈsɪknəs/ n. 恶心、呕吐
mismatch /ˈmɪsmætʃ/ n. 不匹配、不协调（由match加上表示否定的前缀mis-）
inner /ˈɪnə(r)/ adj. 内部的（inner ear就是内耳，它是负责平衡感觉的器官）
sense /sens/ v. 感知、感觉到
In a car, this means that if you look down at a phone, a newspaper or a stationary（静止的） object, your eyes are telling your brain that you're not moving. But your vestibular（耳前庭的） system (the organs of balance in your ear) is telling your brain that you are moving. This is the reason that having a good view of the road ahead and looking at the horizon prevents motion sickness: What your eyes see matches what your body senses.
object /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/ n. 物体
organ /ˈɔːɡən/ n. 器官
balance /ˈbæl(ə)ns/ n. 平衡
horizon /həˈraɪz(ə)n/ n. 地平线
match /mætʃ/ v. 匹配、跟…相似
Humans aren't the only species to get motion sickness. Dogs, cats, horses, amphibians（两栖动物）, fish, crabs, lobsters（龙虾）, crayfish（小龙虾）, and many other animals experience motion sickness, even if symptoms vary slightly between species. It seems to be a sign of something working as it should.
species /ˈspiːʃiːz/ n. 物种（单数和复数都是species）
crab /kræb/ n. 螃蟹
even if 即使、就算
symptom /ˈsɪmptəm/ n. 症状
slightly /ˈslaɪtli/ adv. 稍微（由slight加后缀-ly变成副词）
But what triggers motion sickness in other species, and how could it be an evolutionary advantage? To answer this, we need to look at what kinds of motion exist in natural environments.
trigger /ˈtrɪɡə(r)/ v. 触发、引发
evolutionary /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/ adj. 进化的（由evolution加后缀-ary变成形容词）
In the ocean, waves don't just exist above the surface. They are felt below the surface too, at levels between 0.16 and 0.2Hz. Seasickness could be the way a fish's body lets it know it's in danger. Indeed, some fish have been shown to move out to calmer water during storms.
surface /ˈsɜːfɪs/ n. 表面
level /ˈlev(ə)l/ n. 水平、数量
Hz 赫兹（频率单位，0.2Hz是每秒0.2次，也就是每5秒一次）
seasickness /ˈsiːsɪknəs/ n. 晕船（由sea和sickness组成）
Interestingly, the amount of motion a human can withstand without getting sick is very close to that for a fish (0.2Hz), which also corresponds to the frequency of wind-generated waves. This could be a coincidence, but it is more likely that it points to a deep connection that still exists between the human body and the ocean.
interestingly /ˈɪntrəstɪŋli/ adv. 有意思的是（由interesting加后缀-ly变成副词）
withstand /wɪðˈstænd/ v. 承受
correspond /ˌkɒrɪˈspɒnd/ v. 对应、与…一致
frequency /ˈfriːkwənsi/ n. 频率
generate /ˈdʒenəreɪt/ v. 产生
coincidence /kəʊˈɪnsɪd(ə)ns/ n. 巧合
connection /kəˈnekʃ(ə)n/ n. 联系
On land, trees protect many animals, including our recent ancestor, the ape. But like the ocean, trees can be turbulent. It's possible that evolution favored the species that kept their aversion（厌恶） to motion, as they moved to lower, less mobile branches, so reducing their risk of falling to their death.
ancestor /ˈænsestə(r)/ n. 祖先
ape /eɪp/ n. 类人猿
turbulent /ˈtɜːbjulənt/ adj. 摇来晃去的
evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/ n. 进化
favor /ˈfeɪvə(r)/ v. 偏爱
mobile /ˈməʊbaɪl/ adj. 易移动的
branch /brɑːntʃ/ n. 树枝
risk /rɪsk/ n. 风险
Humans may think they've left trees and swaying branches behind, but the tall buildings we live and work in have a tendency to sway silently in the wind much as trees do, with some people sensitive to motion sickness reporting dizziness, loss of concentration, drowsiness（半梦半醒）, or nausea（恶心想吐）.
sway /sweɪ/ v. 摇晃、摇摆
tendency /ˈtendənsi/ n. 倾向（由tend加后缀-ency变成名词）
silently /ˈsaɪləntli/ adv. 无声地（由silent加后缀-ly变成副词）
sensitive /ˈsensɪtɪv/ adj. 敏感的
dizziness /ˈdɪzinəs/ n. 眩晕
concentration /ˌkɒns(ə)nˈtreɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 专心、专注（由concentrate加后缀-ion变成名词）
Our vestibular and other systems have evolved over millions of years for walking, so it's not that surprising that boats, cars, camels, and, more recently, hyper-realistic VR head-mounted displays cause motion sickness. Our sensory systems have not had time to adapt to new technologies and environments. Any solution to motion sickness is fundamentally at odds with millions of years of evolution, which is why it is so difficult to remedy.
evolve /ɪˈvɒlv/ v. 进化
camel /ˈkæm(ə)l/ n. 骆驼
hyper- 前缀，表示“过度”
realistic /ˌrɪəˈlɪstɪk/ adj. 逼真的
VR = virtual reality 虚拟现实
mount /maʊnt/ v. 固定
cause /kɔːz/ v. 造成
sensory /ˈsens(ə)ri/ adj. 感官的
adapt /əˈdæpt/ v. 适应
fundamentally /ˌfʌndəˈment(ə)li/ adv. 根本上、本质上（由fundamental加后缀-ly变成副词）
at odds with 跟…不一致、和…相抵触
remedy /ˈremədi/ v. 纠正、矫正
（如果您发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，请把您使用的浏览器升级到最新版本就能正常显示了。）
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